S8 Ep272: MCNAMARA JOINS THE KENNEDY CABINET Colleague William Taubman. In 1960, Robert Kennedy and Sargent Shriver recruited a reluctant McNamara for the Kennedy cabinet; despite McNamara's insistenc

MCNAMARA JOINS THE KENNEDY CABINET Colleague William Taubman. In 1960, Robert Kennedy and Sargent Shriver recruited a reluctant McNamara for the Kennedy cabinet; despite McNamara's insistence that he was unqualified for the Treasury or Defense posts, he agreed to meet the President-elect. He accepted the position of Secretary of Defense on the condition that he could appoint his own staff based on merit and avoid the social cocktail circuit to remain a working secretary. Although President Kennedy agreed to these terms, he reportedly discarded McNamara's written list of conditions immediately after their meeting. NUMBER 4 11963