 McNamara later stated he "never heard back" from Johnson regarding the memo.Largely as a result, on November 29 of that year, McNamara announced his pending resignation and that he would become President of the World Bank.Other factors were the increasing intensity of the anti-war movement in the U.S., the approaching presidential campaign in which Johnson was expected to seek re-election, and McNamara's support—over the objections of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of construction along the 17th parallel separating South and North Vietnam of a line of fortifications running from the coast of Vietnam into Laos.