Created on Wednesday, 25 March 2009 19:33

'The Fog Of War' is a documentary about Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, who subsequently became president of the World Bank. The documentary combines an interview with Mr. McNamara discussing some of the tragedies and glories of the 20th Century with archival footage and documents.

McNamara discusses his experiences and the lessons learned during his tenure as Secretary of Defense under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He talks about his work as a bombing statistician during World War II, his brief tenure as President of Ford Motor Company, and the Kennedy administration's triumph during the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, the film focuses primarily on his failures in Vietnam.

The theme of the film is his "eleven lessons" learned during this time. Some of these include improving military efficiency, understanding your enemy, and the frustrations of trying to deal with (and unsuccessfully trying to change) human nature.