Professor William Taubman, guest author, reveals that by 1966, McNamara was a secret opponent of the war, admitting to aides that he desperately wanted to bring the troops home, yet he remained the public face of the conflict out of loyalty to the preside

Professor William Taubman, guest author, reveals that by 1966, McNamara was a secret opponent of the war, admitting to aides that he desperately wanted to bring the troops home, yet he remained the public face of the conflict out of loyalty to the presidency. He faced intense student protests at Harvard and was profoundly shaken by a Quaker's self-immolation outside his window, leading to a period of intense internal conflict. Despite his public defense of the Pentagon, he later claimed that if he had led the anti-war demonstrations, he would have successfully shut the building down. McNamara at War: A New History (7)