US government administrator, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He studied at Yale, and became a junior fellow at Harvard (1941). After working in intelligence during World War 2, he joined Harvard as dean of arts and sciences (1953). He is remembered for his major role in foreign policy decisions during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, notably in the Vietnam War. After resigning (1966), he became president of the Ford Foundation, and was later appointed history professor at New York University.
McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson from 1961-1966, and then headed the Ford Foundation from 1966–1979.
Raised in Boston, Massachusetts he came from a prominent, wealthy family long involved in politics. His father, Harvey Hollister Bundy, was from Grand Rapids, Michigan and was a diplomat who helped implement the Marshall Plan. McGeorge attended both the Groton School and Yale University one year behind his brother William Bundy.
He was one of Kennedy's "wise men," a noted professor of government - although not a PhD - at Harvard University. He played a crucial role in all of the major foreign policy and defense decisions of the Kennedy and part of the Johnson administration.
He was a strong proponent for participating in Vietnam early in his tenure.
He left government in 1966 to take over direction of the Ford Foundation. Some critics such as Kai Bird have suggested that the Ford Foundation may not have been independent of US government foreign policy during that period (see The Color of Truth).
From 1979 to 1989, he was Professor of History at New York University.
His brother William Bundy was also a foreign policy figure during the Vietnam War.
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