After becoming chairman, he helped secure the first military pay raise since 1952 in 1965 despite opposition from the Secretary of Defense McNamara and President Johnson.
While a student at Harvard Law School in the 1960's, I attended a small defense policy seminar at which Secretary of Defense McNamara argued his support for the war.
Memorandum from Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Kennedy, Appendix I: Recommended Long Range Nuclear Delivery Forces 1963-1967, 23 September 1961.
On 15 May 1964, Secretary of Defense McNamara directed the accelerated phase-out of Atlas and Titan I ICBMs.
Faced with the worsening situation in Vietnam, Secretary of Defense McNamara had been "rejected" by President Johnson as he sought to bring some change in the situation.
He continued in this position until June, 1973, serving under Presidents Johnson and Nixon, and under Secretaries of Defense McNamara, Clifford, Laird, and Richardson.
Q: Former Secretary of Defense McNamara recently declared that the United States should have withdrawn from Vietnam after the murder of Diem.
The 6th Infantry Division was scheduled to be activated for deployment to Vietnam but Secretary of Defense McNamara cancelled its activation.
The "gap" did not in fact exist, as Secretary of Defense, McNamara, later admitted.
On the 28th, United States Secretary of Defense McNamara froze MACV strength.