The recent passing of Robert McNamara provides us with a critical opportunity to reflect on redemption, one of our most deeply held values. As an architect of the Vietnam War, McNamara is inextricably linked to one of the most controversial events in recent U.S. foreign policy. For some, the War, particularly its brutality, will be Mr. McNamara’s only legacy. To others, though, he serves as a powerful example of the human capacity to change and grow.
To many, Mr. McNamara’s position as Secretary of Defense in the first seven years of the War means that the blood of the millions of individuals who died in the conflict will be forever on his hands. Certainly, history will remember this more vividly than, for example, his efforts to eliminate racial and gender discrimination in the military. And, the Vietnam War will always overshadow Mr. McNamara’s more humanitarian post-Defense work, including international poverty alleviation efforts, lobbying for the elimination of nuclear weapons, and opposition to the 2003 U.S. Invasion of Iraq.
To Mr. McNamara’s detractors, his post-military career does little to atone for his sins. Perhaps this is true, but redemption is not about accounting for crimes or doling out retribution. Rather, redemption involves acknowledging that fallibility is inherent to the human condition, and that we all deserve the opportunity to show the world that we can learn from our mistakes. By this standard, we owe Mr. McNamara, if nothing else, the acknowledgement that his legacy is complex.
