Rest in Peace, Robert Strange

Robert Strange McNamara, US Secretary of Defence from 1961 to 1968, has died at the age of 93. He was best known for being at the centre of two of the 20th Century's most cruicial events-- the Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. One was his worst failure, the other his greatest success, but in both instances he displayed unflinching and amoral rationality, where the only golden rule was the good of the country.

One of his greatest contributions was to put rigourous analysis into public policy and planning. A trained economist and statistician, one of his early jobs was to maximise damage while minimising losses during World War II bombing sorties, probably using linear programming that any economics student knows today. Although nothing was said about his readings of Nash or Harsanyi, his analysis and actions during his tenure as Defence Secretary exhibited game theoretic brilliance.

To end, I give you his Eleven Lessons:

1. Empathise with your enemy
2. Rationality will not save us
3. There's something beyond one's self
4. Maximise efficiency
5. Proportionality should be a guideline in war
6. Get the data
7. Belief and seeing are often both wrong
8. Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning
9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil
10. Never say never
11. You can't change human nature.