Robert McNamara

"Your reputation precedes you, sir."

- Robert McNamara in U.S.D.D., when Alex Mason first enters the limo.

Robert Strange McNamarais a character in Call of Duty: Black Ops. During the timeframe of Black Ops, McNamara is the Secretary of Defense, serving under President John F. Kennedy.

McNamara appears once during the campaign. He also appears as a playable character in the Zombies map "Five". He is also addressed in numerous Intel reports alongside other government officials.

Campaign
In 1963 he is seen in the mission U.S.D.D. and joins Alex Mason and Jason Hudson and escorts them to the Pentagon and through it until they reach the DEFCON level, where before meeting John F. Kennedy, Hudson leaves and after a brief conversation between the President, he doesn't speak again.

Death Quotes

 * "I think the human race needs to think about killing. How much evil must we do to do good?"
 * "Any military commander who is honest will admit he makes mistakes in the application of military power."
 * "If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merits of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning."
 * "In the end, it was luck. We were this close to nuclear war, and luck prevented it."
 * "The indefinite combination of human infallibility and nuclear weapons will lead to the destruction of nations."
 * "They'll be no learning period with nuclear weapons. Make one mistake and you're going to destroy nations."

Quotes in Black Ops
More quotes here: "Five"/Quotes
 * "Nothing less than our national security is at stake. He has no fear. No conscience. No weakness. This is Nikita Dragovich. I believe you two have already met." -- Handing Mason Dragovich's file.
 * "The finest people in the world, right here. 24/7, it never ends." -- At the Pentagon with Hudson and Mason.
 * "Distinguished heroes. Distinguished leaders." -- Pointing out portraits of historical American figures.
 * "The nerve center. I believe I'm correct in saying that civilization have been saved, more than once...in this room." -- Entering the "War Room" of the Pentagon.
 * "Mr. President?" -- After bringing Mason to the inner sanctum to meet with President Kennedy.
 * "Prime Minister Castro, this missile crisis was the last straw. We almost blew ourselves up. Now we invited you here today...(John F. Kennedy interrupts: "-In good faith!") ...in good faith, to sort this thing out." -- Five, talking to Fidel Castro.
 * "It appears the Pentagon has been breached." -- When zombies begin to break in.
 * "Any last words, Mr. President?" -- Preparing to face the zombies with Kennedy, Castro, and Nixon.

Trivia

 * Robert McNamara is voiced by.
 * He is one of the three characters to appear in both "Campaign" and "Zombies" mode. The other two are Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy.
 * Sometimes after killing a zombie, McNamara will say, "Lesson 2: Rationality will not save us", this is a reference to the 2003 documentary The Fog of War, in which Robert McNamara shares 11 lessons he learned during his time as Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. This however, was said regarding the prospects of nuclear war rather than a zombie outbreak.
 * He remarks that upon death, the Gas Zombies emit a "Fog of War". This is too, another reference to The Fog of War.
 * Some of McNamara's quotes can be said to break the fourth wall, as he makes references to mechanics in Real-Time Strategy Games (namely the "Fog of War" for killing a Gas Zombie and "Insufficient Funds" for trying to buy something without enough points).
 * Robert says "Honor is the key!" when he buys a certain gun off the wall, a quote that refers to Takeo Masaki, a character found in other Zombie maps.