President meets with Secretary of Defense. President Kennedy, Secretary McNamara. White House, Cabinet Room, ca. 06/19/1962. Image from Flickr. ARC Identifier: 194244From The New York Times:
On the morning of his 17th day as President, John F. Kennedy was still in bed at 8 a.m. and, as was his habit, reading The New York Times. One glance at the front page and he exploded, calling his Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara and saying: “What the hell is this ….”
“This” was a headline: “Kennedy Defense Study Finds No Evidence of a ‘Missile Gap.’ ”
Not good. Kennedy’s most powerful campaign line had been: “We are facing a gap on which we are gambling with our survival …”
McNamara, a Republican who had been the president of Ford Motors, was considered the best of the new president’s Cabinet choices. He may have been the best and the brightest, but he was a political amateur. The evening before, McNamara had invited reporters covering the Defense Department into his office for drinks and a get-acquainted session. Unfortunately, the new guy did not know the rules of the game.
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My Comment: It appears that we are repeating history. This is an excellent opinion piece from The New York Times.