THE WHIZ KIDS AND FORD MOTOR COMPANY Colleague William Taubman. After the war, Tex Thorntonrecruited McNamara as part of the "Whiz Kids" team to modernize Ford Motor Company using statistical control methods, a role in which McNamara excelled and eventually rose to the presidency. Unlike his peers who settled in the executive enclave of Grosse Pointe, McNamara chose to live in the academic community of Ann Arbor, reflecting his desire to remain connected to intellectual life and serve society rather than focus solely on corporate profits. This period highlighted his tendency to serve strong, authoritative figures, a pattern that repeated with Henry Ford II, JFK, and LBJ. NUMBER 3

1929 CORD MOTOR COMPANY

MCNAMARA'S ACADEMIC BRILLIANCE AND PERSONAL DRIVE Colleague William Taubman. Taubmandetails McNamara's academic brilliance, noting his induction into Phi Beta Kappa at Berkeley and his status as the top student at Harvard Business School, where he sought to combine business with public service. His drive was shaped by a cold father and a mother who pushed him relentlessly to excel, while his wife Margie provided the emotional warmth and cheerfulness his own personality lacked. Despite his intellect, a 1939 trip to Europe, where he witnessed Hitlerspeak, left him surprisingly unaware of the imminent outbreak of war. NUMBER 2

1910

MCNAMARA'S ROLE IN THE FIREBOMBING OF TOKYO Colleague William Taubman. William Taubmandiscusses Robert McNamara's service in the Pacific during World War II, specifically his role as a statistician under General Curtis LeMay in the Marianas. McNamara's analysis revealed that B-29 bombers were missing targets because they flew too high, advising LeMay to order low-altitude firebombing raids on Tokyo, a tactic that devastated the city. Although LeMay made the final decision and flew the lead plane, McNamara later admitted that had the United States lost the war, they would likely have been prosecuted as war criminals for the high civilian death toll. NUMBER 1

B-29 ENGINEER

PREVIEW FOR LATER TONIGHT: Professor William Taubman discusses his new book, McNamara at War, recounting a vivid episode from 1967-68. McNamara traveled to Harvard Yard to address students but unexpectedly encountered a hostile anti-war mob, a surprising confrontation that the professor remembers vividly to this day.

1962. JFK AND BOB MCNAMARA VISIT LIVERMORE LAB.

PREVIEW FOR LATER TONIGHT: Historian Geoffrey Wawro details how North Vietnamese troops used human wave attacks to "cling" to American perimeters. By holding Americans "by the belt," they neutralized US artillery and air power, making it impossible for the US to bomb the enemy without hitting their own troops.

1968 WIA RETURNS.

PREVIEW FOR LATER TONIGHT: Geoffrey Wawro argues Nixon's diplomacy with Mao focused specifically on achieving peace in Vietnam rather than just triangulating superpowers. Following North Vietnamese refusal to bow to these plans, Nixon authorized the devastating Linebacker II bombing campaign, aiming to destroy Hanoi.

1972 LINEBACKER ORDNANCE

PREVIEW FOR LATER TONIGHT THE FAILED OSTER CONSPIRACY OF 1938 Colleague Charles Spicer. Charles Spicer discusses the 1938 Oster Conspiracy, a plot by Hitler's opponents to utilize police and army units to arrest him. This coup depended on Hitler attacking Czechoslovakia, but Neville Chamberlain's arrival and appeasement policy destroyed the conspirators' necessary casus belli, ruining a vital chance to stop the coming war.

0CT0BER 16, 1946. NUREMBERG WAR CRIMES CONVICTION HANGED ALFRED JODL. LAST WORDS, "I GREET MY FUHRER."

PREVIEW FOR LATER TONIGHT THE MISSED OPPORTUNITY IN THE RHINELAND Colleague Charles Spicer. In 1936, Hitler violated treaties by moving troops into the Rhineland. Despite prior warnings, London and Parisfailed to react due to prevailing pacifist sentiment. Spicer explains that because Hitler's soldiers lacked live ammunition, standing up to this aggression could have easily prevented the tragedy of World War II.

1945-46 NUREMBERG TRIBUNAL.

PREVIEW FOR LATER TONIGHT RIBBENTROP'S DESCENT FROM ANGLOPHILE TO ENEMY Colleague Charles Spicer. Joachim von Ribbentrop served as Hitler's ambassador to Britain, initially acting as a sophisticated Anglophile. However, after social gaffes and influence from his wife, his admiration turned to vitriolic hatred. Spicerdetails how this irrational shift influenced decisions leading up to the war and Ribbentrop's eventual hanging.

1945-46 DEFENSE ATTORNEYS NUREMBERG

PREVIEW FOR LATER TONIGHT UNILEVER AND THE ANGLO-GERMAN FELLOWSHIP Colleague Charles Spicer. Corporations like Unilever, fearing war and seeking to protect massive profits, formed the Anglo-German Fellowship to maintain dialogue with Berlin. Spicer explains how business leaders, hoping to "civilize" the Nazis, misinterpreted events like the Night of the Long Knives as signs of a stabilizing, less brutal regime.

DECEMBER 1945 WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL NUREMBERG GERMANY: THE ACCUSED PRIDONERS