Final Entry.

My father works out at a coal mine, which I suppose is nothing special in Wyoming. He works with a very Republican crowd of grown men, which is also nothing special in Wyoming. Often, however, I hear him say how people at his work rag on our current president. I really have no problem with that, as I tend to avoid political conflict and parties in general, but it's when I hear that they claimed that when [Insert Government Official] passed this bill, or wants this done, they're purposely trying to (for lack of a better term) screw them over.

I posted in one of my earlier entries how I don't believe any politician or official does something to harm his country, and in this final blog post, I feel compelled to reinstate that this is exactly how I feel about Robert Strange McNamara's involvement in the Vietnam War. Before my research, all I had heard about him was mostly how he was an evil character who wanted nothing more than to bomb every country that the United States opposed. This was a major element in me wanting to blog about him. I've learned that he had a very difficult job that required intensely frightening decisions.

As my research has gone on, as my knowledge has grown, and as I reach the end of my journey, I've come to a conclusion. A conclusion that he is more than just a war monger, but in reality a smart, albeit sometimes cold, businessman with true concern for the country he lived in. His experiences at Ford Motor Company taught me that he was business savvy and filled with new ideas. He aimed to make money, but he didn't try to do so by sacrificing the needs and safety of his company's consumers. At the World Bank, it is my opinion that he shined the brightest. Never before had a World Bank President pushed so much for poverty reduction, which even today is one of the Bank's strongest goals. Any doubt of mine that, due to his actions as Secretary of Defense, he didn't care about his fellow mankind was obliterated.

It's easy to leave a legacy of hate and scandal, because that's more interesting than being good and holy. No matter what good Robert Strange McNamara did before or after his tenure as Secretary of Defense, it won't hold a candle to the troubles he encountered during that position. I only hope that people will remember me for my good, and not the bad actions that, like every other human, I have acted upon.

Thanks to everyone who has spent the time to read my blog. I hope that you've learned a bit about this intriguing man and enjoyed the trip, because I certainly have.