She knew him as Robert S. McNamara.  She didn’t know his middle name.  And when preparing invitations to their wedding, Margaret Craig called McNamara to find out what it was.

“It’s Strange,” said Robert.

‘I know it is, but what is it?’ she asked again.

‘That’s it,’ he said.  ‘It’s Strange.  It’s Robert Strange McNamara.’

This is one story McNamara tells in the 2003 Errol Morris Academy Award documentary, “The Fog of War; Eleven Lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara.”  It is an intimate portrait of the man who I believe is easily one of the most influential humans of the 20th Century.  McNamara cast a long shadow across the events of the past 60+ years.  His legacy is extensive; influential in the firebombing of Japan during World War II; the first President of Ford Motor Company outside the Ford family; Secretary of Defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson; architect of the Vietnam War; and World Bank President from 1968 to 1981.

The significant contribution of this brilliant documentary film is the intimate portrait of McNamara the man.  At times resolute, matter-of-fact and direct in his positions, and other times displaying deep emotion, the viewer- at least this viewer- comes away with the conviction that this is a man who has lived the examined life.  McNamara has likely suffered greatly the expense that heavy responsibilty brings to bear upon those placed in lofty and exalted positions of power.

In a sense, this film is McNamara’s act of contrition.  Not everyone would agree with that assessment.  Indeed, McNamara still has angry critics.

Yet as I watched, I couldn’t help but compare this man and his determination to understand the events and experiences of those epic days with that of the recently departed administration which also presided over similar great world events.

But I can’t imagine a George Bush or Dick Cheney ever doing the kind of soul-searching that I believe comes from McNamara.  Perhaps time will change that, and the long-view will bend them to their own kind of mea culpa.

But the essential character of this man, 85 years old at the time of the movie, is uncommon.

The films’ narrative follows the course of McNamara’s public life, and along the way we are given the 11 lessons he has learned through his experiences.  He begins by saying that ‘any military commander who is honest…will admit he has made mistakes in the application of military power.  He has killed people, unnecessarily…through mistakes, through errors of judgment.’

He goes on to say ‘I’m at an age where…I can derive some conclusions about my actions; my rule has been try to learn.  Try to understand what happened.  Develop lessons and pass them on.’

For anyone who recalls these tumultuous times in American history, it is deeply moving to watch as McNamara describes the horror of firebombing Japan, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians, a war he calls one of the most brutal in human history.  We also see him weep as he describes how he chose the burial place at Arlington National Cemetery for John Kennedy following the President’s assassination in Dallas, Texas, the man who lured him from his leadership position at Ford Motor Company to serve as Defense Secretary.  The treatment of this part of the story by filmmaker Morris reaches a depth of emotion with a temperament and pace that is moviemaking brilliance.

McNamara goes on to outline his involvement in the Vietnam War, and the mistakes that were made.  The primary lesson he articulates about Vietnam is “be prepared to reexamine your reasoning.”  He says that ‘we should never apply economic, political or military power unilaterally.  He adds that “if we would have followed that rule in Vietnam we wouldn’t have been there.  None of our allies supported us.  If we can’t persuade nations, with comparable values, of the merit of our cause, we had better reexamine our reasoning.”

The echo of that lesson by this giant of a player who held center stage during America’s cold war period apparently was lost on the leaders who unilaterally applied military power in a place called Iraq.

This poignant and powerful film accomplishes something very special.  In the gentle grip of the waning years of his life,  Robert Strange McNamara is presented to us on his journey of transformation to discover the self.  It is a wonder to behold.