The Vietnam War has no shortage of tragic chapters—but few are as little known and morally haunting as what Hamilton Gregory exposes in McNamara’s Folly: The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the Vietnam War. This disturbing exposé reveals how U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s quest for numbers and quotas led to a deeply unethical experiment: drafting tens of thousands of men who were intellectually unfit for combat.
Behind the bureaucratic language of “Project 100,000” was a brutal reality—young men with IQs too low to meet basic military standards were conscripted, trained inadequately, and sent to the front lines of one of America’s most chaotic wars. Gregory, a journalist and former army officer who witnessed this policy firsthand, delivers a deeply personal and meticulously researched indictment of how politics and war can devalue human lives.
What Was Project 100,000?
Launched in 1966 under McNamara’s leadership, Project 100,000 was pitched as a noble social experiment. The idea was that the military could serve as a vehicle of social uplift, giving underprivileged young men—particularly those from poor or minority backgrounds—access to job training, discipline, and opportunity.
The public was told these recruits, called “New Standards Men”, would benefit from military service. But behind the rhetoric, the reality was darker:
- The program lowered the required Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) scores.
- It accepted recruits with IQs in the bottom 10th percentile—some functionally illiterate.
- These men received no specialized training or support.
- They were often pushed into the most dangerous, low-skill combat roles.
While the program was sold as a chance to “lift men up,” it functionally used them as cannon fodder to meet manpower demands.
The Numbers Behind the Human Cost
Between 1966 and 1971, over 354,000 Project 100,000 recruits were drafted. These soldiers were:
- 2 to 3 times more likely to be killed in Vietnam than regular troops.
- More likely to suffer injuries, PTSD, and long-term disabilities.
- Less likely to be promoted, retained, or successfully transition into post-military careers.
Gregory points out that many of these men couldn’t grasp basic training instructions. In one tragic example, a soldier was unable to understand the concept of taking cover when under fire. Others failed to grasp how to clean or reload a rifle, or panicked under pressure. Despite their obvious unsuitability, they were sent into combat zones alongside better-trained peers, sometimes endangering their entire units.
McNamara’s Mindset: A Numbers Game Gone Wrong
Robert McNamara, a former president of Ford Motor Company and a known efficiency expert, brought a corporate mindset to the Pentagon. Obsessed with data and metrics, he believed wars could be won by optimizing inputs and outputs—like a factory.
Project 100,000 fit into this worldview. Instead of questioning the morality or strategic logic of the Vietnam War, McNamara focused on filling ranks. As middle-class resistance to the draft grew, the program became a convenient tool to tap into “undesirable” populations—often poor, Black, or rural—who lacked the social capital to resist or defer conscription.
Gregory paints McNamara as emotionally detached, a technocrat whose policies dehumanized individuals for statistical goals. Many critics now consider Project 100,000 not just a policy failure, but a moral catastrophe.
Firsthand Accounts and Human Faces
What sets McNamara’s Folly apart is Gregory’s use of real stories from veterans and families impacted by the program. These narratives add emotional weight:
- A young man with a 70 IQ who was so confused during basic training that he was ridiculed by drill sergeants and fellow soldiers.
- Another who couldn’t grasp the basics of map reading or weapon safety—and died within weeks of deployment.
- Family members who were never told that their son or brother had been drafted under a special, lowered standard.
Gregory also shares his own story—how he encountered these men during his time in the Army and realized they were being set up for failure. These firsthand testimonies powerfully expose the human cost of bureaucratic indifference.
The Aftermath: Lifelong Consequences
Most Project 100,000 veterans were dishonorably discharged or released without benefits. The military’s promise of job training and integration fell flat:
- Many ended up homeless, unemployed, or incarcerated.
- Some developed severe mental health issues, aggravated by trauma and a lack of support.
- Because of their low test scores and poor records, they were often ineligible for VA benefits or civilian jobs.
Far from empowering the underprivileged, the program condemned many to lifelong marginalization.
Race, Class, and the Draft
Gregory doesn’t shy away from the racial and class implications. Project 100,000 disproportionately affected:
- African Americans, who were already overrepresented in combat roles.
- Poor rural whites, especially from the South and Midwest.
- Urban minorities, including Latinos, who lacked the educational resources to meet draft standards.
This policy essentially became a form of class warfare, where society’s most vulnerable were sacrificed to preserve the lives of the middle class. College deferments, National Guard slots, and other escape routes meant that wealthier young men were insulated from the draft—and Project 100,000 filled the gap.
A Tragic Legacy and a Cautionary Tale
McNamara’s Folly is more than a historical account—it’s a moral reckoning. Gregory’s message is clear:
“The government knowingly sent unqualified, unprepared men to their deaths—not for victory, not for freedom, but to meet quotas.”
McNamara eventually expressed regret over his role in the Vietnam War, but Project 100,000 has never been formally acknowledged or apologized for. The book challenges readers to think critically about:
- Who fights America’s wars—and why.
- How data-driven policy can go horribly wrong without compassion.
- The invisible casualties of war: not just the dead, but the broken, forgotten survivors.
Final Thoughts: Why This Book Matters Today
In an age where military recruitment struggles continue, and new technologies make war seem increasingly impersonal, McNamara’s Folly remains deeply relevant. It warns against treating human beings as numbers, against letting technocracy override morality, and against the belief that “the ends justify the means”—especially when the means are people’s lives.
Hamilton Gregory has written a searing, compassionate, and necessary book. For anyone interested in military ethics, U.S. history, social justice, or policymaking, this book is essential reading.
TL;DR:
- Project 100,000 drafted low-IQ men into the Vietnam War.
- Promoted as a social welfare initiative, it was actually a manpower solution.
- These men were unfit for combat and suffered high death and injury rates.
- Most received no benefits, training, or post-service support.
- The program disproportionately affected the poor and minorities.
- McNamara’s Folly exposes how bureaucracy and indifference led to preventable tragedy.
