Longest-serving defense secretary dead at 93: Robert S. McNamara, the cerebral secretary of defense who was vilified for his role in escalating the Vietnam War, a role he later deeply regretted, died today. He was 93. McNamara died at 5:30 a.m. at his home, his wife Diana told the Associated Press. She said he had been in failing health for some time. McNamara was fundamentally associated with the Vietnam War, “McNamara’s war,” the country’s most disastrous foreign venture, the only American war to end in abject withdrawal rather than victory. Known as a policymaker with a fixation for statistical analysis, McNamara was recruited to run the Pentagon by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 from the presidency of the Ford Motor Co., where he and a group of colleagues had been known as the “whiz kids.” He stayed in the defense post for seven years, longer than anyone since the job’s creation in 1947.
Clears way for auto giant to get out from bankruptcy: A bankruptcy judge has ruled that General Motors Corp. can sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, potentially clearing the way for the automaker to quickly emerge from bankruptcy protection. U.S. Judge Robert Gerber said in his 95-page ruling late Sunday that the sale was in the best interests of both GM and its creditors, whom he said would otherwise get nothing. The ruling comes after a three-day hearing that wrapped up Thursday, during which GM and government officials urged a quick approval of the sale, saying it was needed to keep the automaker from selling itself off piece by piece. Attorneys for some of GM’s bondholders, unions, consumer groups and individuals with lawsuits against the company argued for its rejection, saying their needs were being pushed aside in favor of the interests of GM and the government.
