one is that jungles aren't as easily penetratable as sensors as deserts are, and the other is that the big problem was not only the viet cong in the south and the infiltration and in the end invasion by the north vietnamese, it was the weakness and corruption of the south vietnamese government. as the vietnam war went on, mcnamara had less and less time for other matters. so the decisions were often passed down to the deputy secretary of defense. and they didn't have quite the same quality. my conclusion from all of this is that four years is long enough. there's an old saying that, for a secretary of defense, there's an old saying that in washington, friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. and when they accumulate enough, your effectiveness goes down. moreover, as time goes by, you come to think that you've seen it all, and you mistake your familiarity with wisdom. it's hard to rethink things. it's hard to clean up your own mess. and i think bob mcnamara was a very successful, almost unprecedentedly successful secretary of defense in his four years, and the last three were a trag

is that generals are not as easy penetratable as deserts are and the other is that the big problem was not only the vietcong in the south and the infiltration and in the end invasion by the north viet yam ease, it was the weakness and corruption of the south viet yam ease government. as the vietnam war went on, they had less and less time for other matters. the decision and so the decisions were often passed down to the deputy secretary of defense and they didn't have quite the same quality. my conclusion for all of this is four years is long enough. there is an old saying that for a secretary of defense friends come and go and enemies accumulate. when they accumulate enough, your effectiveness goes down. more over, as time goes by, you come to think you have seen it all and you mistake your famili familiarity with wisdom. it's hard to rethink things and clean up your own mess. mcnamara. secretary of defense in the first four years and the last three were a tragedy. i have very little to say about clark clifford on the secretary for a year. he devoted himself almost entirely to vietnam