Schmidt and McNamara are similar, but not alike enough to warrant prediction, I think. Reading through their Wiki pages briefly, the thing that stands out to m

Schmidt and McNamara are similar, but not alike enough to warrant prediction, I think. Reading through their Wiki pages briefly, the thing that stands out to me the most are the ages. McNamara was 42 when he became SecDef. Schmidt is currently 65. Those 23 years matter on the back end. Schmidt may have the dynamism still, but his career is set and his life's trajectory is on the downslope. McNamara's career apexed with the SecDef role. He was at the height of his working life. Sure, Schmidt is smart and hard working, but that fire doesn't seem to be there like it was with McNamara, understandably.