This tape captured Secretary of Defense Robert S. “Bob” McNamara speaking with President Kennedy in a moment of optimism about the war in Vietnam. McNamara had just returned from Honolulu, Hawaii, where U.S. military and civilian officials reviewed a plan to phase down U.S. forces in Vietnam from a projected 15,600 soldiers for Fiscal Year 1964 to 1,500 by the end of Fiscal Year 1968. Following the conference, Pentagon spokesman Arthur “Art” Sylvester proclaimed that “the corner has definitely been turned” toward victory.