McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919–September 16, 1996) was United States National Security Advisor to Presidents
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Lyndon Johnson from 1961 through 1966, and president of the
Ford FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
from 1966 through 1979. He is known primarily for his role in escalating the involvement of the United States in
VietnamThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
Raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Bundy came from a wealthy family long involved in
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
politics.
McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919–September 16, 1996) was United States National Security Advisor to Presidents
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Lyndon Johnson from 1961 through 1966, and president of the
Ford FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
from 1966 through 1979. He is known primarily for his role in escalating the involvement of the United States in
VietnamThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
Early life
Raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Bundy came from a wealthy family long involved in
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
politics. His mother, Katherine Lawrence Putnam, was the daughter of two
Boston BrahminBoston Brahmins, also called the First Families of Boston and cold roast Boston, are the class of New Englanders who claim hereditary and cultural descent from the English Protestants who founded the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and settled New England...
families listed in the
social registerSpecific to the United States, the Social Register is a directory of names and addresses of prominent American families who form the social elite , though until recently not necessarily the political or corporate elite...
. His father,
Harvey Hollister BundyHarvey Hollister Bundy Sr., , was an American lawyer, Special Assistant to the Secretary of War during the second World War, and father of McGeorge Bundy. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to McGeorge Bundy, a lawyer, he was grandson to Solomon Bundy, a lawyer and New York Congressman...
, was from
Grand RapidsGrand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River and is approximately 30 miles from Lake Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 197,800, making it the 114th largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Kent County,...
,
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and was a diplomat who helped implement the
Marshall PlanThe Marshall Plan was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger foundation for the countries of Western Europe, and repelling communism after World War II...
. Bundy attended the elite
Dexter SchoolFounded in 1926, the Dexter School is a private school for boys located in Brookline, Massachusetts. Its expansive campus is also home to its "sister school", Southfield School, a private school for girls founded in 1992....
in
Brookline, MassachusettsBrookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town was 57,107.-Etymology:...
, the
Groton SchoolGroton School is a private, Episcopal, college preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, U.S. It enrolls approximately 350 boys and girls, from the eighth through twelfth grades. For decades Groton was a portal to power whose graduates trod a well-worn path to the State...
, and
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
one year behind his brother
WilliamWilliam Putnam "Bill" Bundy was a member of the CIA and foreign affairs advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He had a key role in planning the Vietnam War. After leaving government service he became a historian.-Early years:Raised in Boston, Massachusetts he came from a...
. At Yale, he was a member of the
Skull and BonesSkull and Bones is a secret society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The society's alumni organization, which owns the society's real property and oversees the organization, is the Russell Trust Association, named for General William Huntington Russell, who co-founded Skull and Bones...
secret societySecret society is a term used to describe a variety of organizations. Although the exact meaning of the term is disputed, several of the definitions advanced indicate a degree of secrecy and secret knowledge, which might include denying membership or knowledge of the group, negative consequences...
(#322).
Career
For a year and a half 1945-47, Bundy co-wrote
Henry L. StimsonHenry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, who served as Secretary of War, Governor-General of the Philippines, and Secretary of State. He was a conservative Republican, and a leading lawyer in New York City...
's third-person autobiography with the just-retired
United States Secretary of WarThe Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
. Bundy's role as Stimson's "protege" is noted by
Stewart UdallStewart Lee Udall is a former American politician.-Early life and career:Born in St. Johns, Arizona, he is the son of Levi Stewart Udall. He was educated at the University of Arizona, and he saw combat as a gunner in the Army Air Corps during the Italian Campaign of World War II...
in Udall's 1994 assessment of the beginning of the
Atomic AgeThis article is about the historical era. For the comic-book miniseries, see Atomic Age The Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is a phrase typically used to delineate the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945...
and Stimson's central role in both the evolution of the "mass" (v. "strategic") conventional bombings of Japanese cities in 1945 and then of the dropping of atomic bombs on two previously spared Japanese cities.
In 1949, Bundy took a position at the
Council on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit and nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to improving the understanding of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
in New York to study
Marshall PlanThe Marshall Plan was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger foundation for the countries of Western Europe, and repelling communism after World War II...
aid to Europe. The study group included such luminaries as Dwight Eisenhower, Allen Dulles,
Richard M. Bissell, Jr.Richard Mervin Bissell, Jr. was an American CIA officer responsible for major projects such as the U-2 'spy plane' and the Bay of Pigs Invasion.-Early years:...
and
George KennanGeorge Kennan may refer to:* George Kennan * George F. Kennan , diplomat and historian; the explorer's great-nephew and architect of the U.S. containment policy during the Cold War...
. The group's deliberations were sensitive and highly secret, dealing as they did with the highly classified fact that there was a covert side to the Marshall Plan, where the CIA used certain funds to aid anti-communist groups in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
Bundy was one of Kennedy's "wise men," and noted professor of government at Harvard University, though he did not have a PhD (actually he only had a bachelor's degree). In 1953, Bundy was appointed Dean of the Faculty at Harvard at the age of thirty-four, the youngest in the school's history. He moved into public life in 1961, becoming national security adviser in the Kennedy administration. He played a crucial role in all of the major
foreign policyA country's foreign policy, also called the international relations policy, is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and militarily, and to a lesser extent, how the country will interact with non-state actors...
and defense decisions of the Kennedy and part of the Johnson administration. These included the
Bay of Pigs InvasionThe Bay of Pigs Invasion , was an unsuccessful attempt by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba with support from US government armed forces, to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro.The plan was launched in April 1961, less than three months after John F...
, the
Cuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba in October 1962, during the Cold War. In Russia, former Eastern Bloc, and communist countries , it is termed the "Caribbean Crisis" , while in Cuba it is called the "October Crisis"...
, and, most controversially, the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
. From 1964 he was Chairman of the 303 Committee, responsible for coordinating government covert operations.
Bundy was a strong proponent of the Vietnam War early in his tenure. He supported escalating the American involvement and the bombing of
North VietnamNorth Vietnam, also called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976....
.
He later came to regret the decision, one of the first administration members to do so, and spent much of his later career analyzing and criticizing Vietnam policies.
He left government in 1966 to take over as president of the
Ford FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, a position he held until 1979. Some critics such as
Kai BirdKai Bird is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist, best known for his biographies of political figures.Bird was born in 1951 in Eugene, Oregon, but, since his father was a U.S. Foreign Service officer, he spent his childhood in Jerusalem, Beirut, Dhahran, Cairo and Bombay. He...
have suggested that the Ford Foundation may not have been independent of U.S. foreign policy during that period (see
The Color of TruthThe Color of Truth is a book by Kai Bird, published by Touchstone Books in June 2000. Subtitled McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy: Brothers in Arms, it is a biography focusing on the Bundys' role in American foreign policy, especially in the progression of the Vietnam War.Bird argues evidence...
). He was also named to the "master list" of President Richard Nixon's infamous "
Enemies ListA master list of Nixon political opponents was compiled to supplement the original Nixon's Enemies List of 20 key people considered opponents of President Richard Nixon. The master list of 30,000 some people was compiled by Charles Colson's office and sent in memorandum form to John Dean...
".
From 1979 to 1989, he was Professor of History at
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. He was scholar-in-residence at the Carnegie Corporation from 1990–1996.
Legacy
Gordon GoldsteinGordon M. Goldstein is a scholar and author of international affairs who has served as an international security adviser to the Strategic Planning Unit of the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General and as a Wayland Fellow and guest lecturer at the Watson Institute for...
's 2008 book
Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam was reported to be, in late September, 2009, the "must-read-book" amongst President
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
's war advisers, as they contemplated the alternative courses ahead in
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
. Richard C. Holbrooke, who had reviewed the book in late November, 2008, was now a member of the team of Presidential advisers.
Bundy in film
In the 2000
Thirteen Days (film)Thirteen Days is a 2000 historical film directed by Roger Donaldson about the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, seen from the perspective of the US political leadership.While the movie carries the same name as the book Thirteen Days by Robert F...
, McGeorge Bundy is portrayed by
Frank WoodFrank Wood may refer to:*Frank Wood *Frank Porter Wood, Canadian art collector*Frank Wood , American actorSimilar names:*Frank Woods *Frank Woodley, Australian comedian...
See also
- The Best and the Brightest
The Best and the Brightest is an account by journalist David Halberstam of the origins of the Vietnam War. The focus of the book is on the foreign policy crafted by the academics and intellectuals who were in John F...
by David HalberstamDavid Halberstam was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author known for his early work on the Vietnam War, his work on politics, history, business, media, American culture, and his later sports journalism.-Life and career:Halberstam was of Jewish ancestry and, after the family...
- Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
- Carnegie Corporation
- Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit and nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to improving the understanding of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
Further reading
- Bird, Kai. The Color of Truth: McGeorge and William Bundy, Brothers in Arms: A Biography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998. ISBN 0684809702.
- Bundy, McGeorge. Danger and Survival: Choices about the Bomb in the First Fifty Years. New York: Vintage Books, 1988. ISBN 0394522788.
- Bundy, McGeorge. "The Issue Before the Court: Who Gets Ahead in America?", The Atlantic Monthly 240, no. 5 (November 1977), pp. 41–54.
- Halberstam, David. "The Very Expensive Education of McGeorge Bundy". Harper's Magazine 239, no. 1430 (July 1969), pp. 21–41.
- Gardner, Lloyd. "Harry Hopkins with Hand Grenades? McGeorge Bundy in the Kennedy and Johnson Years", in Behind the Throne: Servants of Power to Imperial Presidents, 1898–1968, ed. by Thomas J. McCormick and Walter LaFeber. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993. pp. 204–229. ISBN 0299137406.
- Goldstein, Gordon M., Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam (NY: Times Books/Henry Holt & Co., 2008) 300 pp. ISBN-10: 0805090878 ISBN-13: 978-0805090871
- Nünlist, Christian. Kennedys rechte Hand: McGeorge Bundys Einfluss als Nationaler Sicherheitsberater auf die amerikanische Aussenpolitik, 1961–63. Zurich: Center for Security Studies, 1999. ISBN 3905641615.
- Preston, Andrew. The War Council: McGeorge Bundy, the NSC, and Vietnam. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006. ISBN 0674021983.
- Stimson, Henry and McGeorge Bundy, On Active Service in Peace and War (NY: Harper & Brothers, 1947).
External links