Press conference Secretary of Defense McNamara, 1965 April 26

United States Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara conducts a press conference about the Vietnam War on April 26, 1965. McNamara reports on estimates of the North Vietnamese supply of arms and personnel to the Vietcong in South Vietnam, noting that most weapons are provided by Communist China. He also gives the number of successful U. S. air strikes against ammunition dumps and supply routes including railroads, highways and bridges. Secretary McNamara also answers questions on topics including the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict, re-establishment of supply routes by the North Vietnamese including those by sea, methods the United States armed forces are using to avoid civilian casualties, Vietcong and South Vietnamese casualty figures, plans to increase procurement of weapons and equipment, estimates of the possible length and cost of the war, and his reaction to the war being called McNamara's War.