Reconsiderations: Robert McNamara at the World Bank

From April 1, 1968 to June 30, 1981, Robert McNamara served as President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, more commonly known as the World Bank. Each of its five Presidents has left a distinct mark on the institution; none has had a greater personal impact on both the substance and style of its operations.

It is far too early to attempt any final judgment on the McNamara presidency. In the light of history, the ultimate test must be whether and to what degree the Bank, under his leadership, contributed constructively to the economic and social progress of the Third World, and thus to the well-being of the world as a whole. How will the projects and above all the new policy directions undertaken by the Bank in this period finally work out? We cannot possibly know at this stage, even in terms of tangible indicators, still less in terms of the intangibles of capacity and attitude that are likely in the long run to be decisive.

But it is not too early for a different kind of account and appraisal. What did McNamara set out to change, and how far did he succeed in achieving his objectives? How did he fare in coping with an already entrenched international bureaucracy, with a governing Board of 20 members representing over 100 member nations, and with the governments of the 45-odd countries that now receive loans from the Bank and of the 20-odd industrialized countries that supply the great bulk of the funds for these loans-in particular the most important of these, the United States? These are, perhaps, more limited questions. It may be, however, that an attempt to answer them will throw light not only on the past, but on the problems that now confront the Bank and its new President, A.W. Clausen.

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