| Movie Review | The Journal of American History, 92.3

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| Movie Review | The Journal of American History, 92.3 | The History Cooperative

Movie Reviews

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. Dir. by Errol Morris. Prod. by Errol Morris, Michael Williams, Julie Ahlberg, and Robert Fernandez. @radical.media and Senart Films Production, in association with Globe Department Store, 2003. 106 mins. (Sony Pictures Classics, 550 Madison Ave., 8th Floor, New York, NY 10022-3211; <http://www.sonyclassics.com> [Sept. 12, 2005])

This is a documentary film, when not masquerading as autobiography, concerning former secretary of defense Robert E. McNamara's experiences primarily during World War II, the Cuban missile crisis, and the U.S. war in Vietnam. Errol Morris interviewed McNamara for twenty-four hours over three sessions in 2001 and 2002 when McNamara was age eighty-five. The film includes Oval Office recorded conversations with John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson as well as news footage. McNamara reviews the eleven "lessons" learned from his experiences. Unfortunately, the former defense secretary's lessons include "Never answer the question that is asked of you. Answer the question that you wish had been asked of you." Too often, questions go unanswered. When McNamara discusses his involvement in the firebombings of Japan during World War II, he admits that if the United States had lost he could have been considered a war criminal, but he also insists "I don't fault Truman for dropping the nuclear bomb." Morris never deals with the question of whether there could be any inconsistency in such a position, especially coming from an arch-advocate of nuclear disarmament.

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