 John Laird's participation in the Moratorium march attracted much media attention who chose to spin it as a generational battle, in the same way that Robert Craig McNamara had publicly criticized his father Robert McNamara when he was Defense Secretary, through John Laird expressed much admiration for his father even as he stated his opposition to the war.Later that day on 15 October, Nixon asked Laird to stay behind at a meeting of the National Security Council.Both Nixon and Kissinger criticized him for his "softness", saying he should have found a way to silence his son.