Numbers Man

Published on July 28, 2026 5:08 PM GMTThis is a crosspost of the full text of Numbers Man from In Development. If you enjoy the article, you can subscribe to In Development's substack here. History remembers two Robert McNamaras.Lingering in public memory is McNamara as US secretary of defense—the architect of America's escalation in Vietnam and, for a time, one of the most vilified figures in the country. Then, for a thin slice of development specialists, Robert McNamara is remembered as presid...