One morning in November 1966, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara arrived at Harvard University for what he imagined would be a day of spirited(充满活力的，激烈的) but harmonious dialogue with students and a group of professors. Voluble discontent with the Vietnam War had been growing on college campuses over the previous months, and McNamara, a principal architect of(……的主要策划者) the “Americanization” of the struggle in 1965, which saw the introduction of large-scale U.S. forces, was often the target of student protests. Still, he traveled to Harvard without a security detail(（此处）安保人员，小队).
1966年11月的一个早晨，美国国防部长罗伯特·麦克纳马拉抵达哈佛大学，他原以为这一天将会与学生们及一群教授进行一场活跃而和谐的对话。此前几个月，大学校园里对越南战争的不满情绪日益高涨，而麦克纳马拉作为1965年战争“美国化”的主要策划者——该行动导致美国大规模部队介入——常常成为学生抗议的目标。尽管如此，他前往哈佛时没有带安保人员。
As he stepped out of Quincy House after eating lunch with undergraduates, a mob(暴民，成群的人) of students surrounded McNamara, blocking his exit. As the crowd grew to several hundred, he managed to get to his car. He stepped onto the hood; someone handed him a microphone, and he agreed to answer questions. But he was overwhelmed by the jeering(嘲笑的，讥讽的) chorus of students. His temper rising(火气上升，开始生气), the defense secretary declared: “I spent four of the happiest years at the Berkeley campus doing some of the same things you are doing here. But there was one important difference: I was both tougher and more courteous(有礼貌的，谦恭的). . . . I was tougher then, and I’m tougher now.” Protesters called him a “fascist” and a “murderer.”
当他在昆西楼与本科生共进午餐后走出时，一群学生围住了麦克纳马拉，堵住了他的去路。当人群增加到几百人时，他设法走到了自己的车旁。他踩到引擎盖上；有人递给他一个麦克风，他同意回答问题。但他被学生们此起彼伏的起哄声淹没。国防部长火气上涌，宣称：“我在伯克利校园度过了最快乐的四年，做了一些你们现在在做的事情。但有一个重要的区别：我当时既更强硬，也更礼貌……我当时更强硬，现在更强硬。”抗议者称他为“法西斯分子”和“杀人犯”。
Despite his defiant(抗争的，挑衅的) posture, McNamara was privately troubled by the state of the war, as he made clear in a closed-door session(闭门会议，秘密会议) with professors later that day. “I don’t know of a single square mile of Vietnam that has been pacified(我不知道越南是否有一平方英里已经被平定。),” he told them. “Many military men disagree with me on this, but no one has yet identified that square mile. When they try, I tell them that I’m going to get in a jeep—without a battalion escort(营级护卫部队)—and ride through that area. Though some of them might like to see me try, none of them will let me. They wouldn’t ride through the area unescorted(无护卫的，独自的) either.”
尽管姿态强硬，麦克纳马拉私下里对战争状况深感忧虑，当天晚些时候他在与教授们的一次闭门会议中表明了这一点。“我不知道越南是否有一平方英里已经被平定，”他告诉他们，“许多军界人士不同意我的观点，但没有人能指出那平方英里在哪里。当他们试图找时，我告诉他们我要坐一辆吉普车——不带营级护卫——穿过那个地区。尽管他们中有些人可能想看我试试，但没人会让我去。他们自己也不会在没有护卫的情况下穿过那个地区。”
BEST AND BRIGHTEST
最优秀、最聪明的人
MILITARY CHARADE
军事闹剧
RESIGNED TO CONTINUE
勉强留任
MCNAMARA’S GHOST
麦克纳马拉的幽灵