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Distinguished Lecture Series at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum
On January 10, 2007, President Bush announced a dramatic change in strategy for the war in Iraq. The new strategy, which the media dubbed the “surge,” was the culmination of months of internal debate and review; and that review was the culmination of many more months of declining fortunes on the battlefield in Iraq. Join Peter Feaver, who as a Special Advisor at the National Security Council, participated in the internal review that led to the surge decision, for insight on one of the most consequential decisions by the national command authority in wartime in decades and what has become a fascinating case study of civil-military relations. A 2009 Dr. Richard H. Zeitlin Distinguished Lecture Series Event.
Fewer Americans were captured or missing during the Vietnam War than in any previous major military conflict in U.S. history. Yet despite their small numbers, American POWs inspired an outpouring of concern that slowly eroded support for the war. Michael J. Allen reveals how wartime loss transformed U.S. politics well before, and long after, the war's official end. Throughout the war's last years and in the decades since, Allen argues, the effort to recover lost warriors was as much a means to establish responsibility for their loss as it was a search for answers about their fate. Equally important, he explains, POW/MIA families' disdain for the antiwar left and contempt for federal authority fueled the conservative ascendancy after 1968. Mixing political, cultural, and diplomatic history, Until the Last Man Comes Home presents the full and lasting impact of the Vietnam War in ways that are both familiar and surprising. Lecture and book signing.
Join us for this special event with Vietnam Veteran and noted scholar Dr. Andrew Bacevich. In this lecture, he will describe the national security consensus that has informed US policy since World War II, and why this consensus persists. He will make the case that the consensus has become antithetical to the nation's well-being and should be abandoned. Following this event, Dr. Bacevich will give a free lecture entitled “The Enduring Relevance of the Wisconsin School: What William Appleman Williams Got Right and Where He Went Wrong” as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival at the Overture Center beginning at 5:30pm. A 2009 Wisconsin Book Festival Event and a 2009 Dr. Richard H. Zeitlin Distinguished Lecture Series Event.
Only two Americans held positions of great influence throughout the Cold War; ironically, they were the chief advocates for the opposing strategies for winning—and surviving—that harrowing conflict. Both men came to power during World War II, reached their professional peaks during the Cold War’s most frightening moments, and fought epic political battles that spanned decades. Yet despite their very different views, Paul Nitze and George Kennan dined together, attended the weddings of each other’s children, and remained good friends all their lives. Nitze’s grandson, Nicholas Thompson, weaves a fascinating narrative that follows these two rivals and friends from the beginning of the Cold War to its end, meanwhile telling the story of our nation during the most dangerous half century in history. Lecture and book signing. A 2009 Wisconsin Book Festival Event and a 2009 Dr. Richard H. Zeitlin Distinguished Lecture Series Event. Nation Building from Germany to Afghanistan: Learning and Unlearning Old Lessons
Jeremi Suri, Professor of History, UW-MadisonJuly 2, 2009
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Since the end of the Second World War the United States has devoted more blood and treasure to nation-building than any other country in history. American efforts showed remarkable successes in Germany, Japan, and South Korea. American efforts also came to dismal results in Vietnam and many parts of Latin America. Why does the United States have such a mixed record? In Iraq and Afghanistan the United States displayed disorganization in early years, with some signs of recent improvement. Professor Suri will address this long and complex history, and assess the future prospects for nation-building in the Middle East, Central Asia, and other parts of the globe. The Choice of War: Vietnam 1965 and Iraq 2003Fredrick Logevall, Professor of History, Cornell University
July 1, 2009
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Wisconsin Veterans Museum
How the United States got into Iraq is one the great foreign policy questions of our time. In this lecture Fredrik Logevall examines the decision-making that led to the invasion in March 2003 and compares it to another war of choice: Vietnam. In neither case, Logevall finds, was America’s national security seriously threatened, yet in both instances the presidents opted for war. He explores why they did so, paying particular attention to the domestic and international context in which they operated.
The Forgotten Wars: Overview of the Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Brian Williams, Professor of History, UMass-Dartmouth
May 7, 2009 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM, Wisconsin Veterans Museum Join noted Afghan War scholar Dr. Williams as he discusses the American relationship with and the role of Pakistan in the War on Terror, offers a survey of territory conquered by Taliban insurgency and their methods, and how both US and NATO tactics and strategy have evolved since the beginning of combat operations in 2001. Dr. Williams, who delivered an excellent lecture on the Taliban and the rise of suicide bombings in Afghanistan here at the Museum in late 2007, will provide a break down of insurgent groups, including Al-Qaeda, and how recent developments in both countries will affect current and future military operations in both theaters. From "Hearts and Minds" to "Shock and Awe:" What are the Lessons of the Vietnam War for the 21st Century
Jeremi Suri, Professor of History, University of Wisconsin - Madison
April 30, 2009
7:00 PM - 9:30 PM, Wisconsin Veterans Museum
During the Vietnam War, winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people was a key part of American military and pacification efforts. Ultimately, this strategy failed, but what lessons did American military and civilian leaders learn from this experience? How have these lessons been applied to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to what effect? Join Dr. Suri as he answers these questions and looks to the future and addresses how, moving forward, American leaders can improve upon past experiences. Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam Gordon Goldstein, Author
April 14, 2009
7:00 PM - 9:30 PM, Wisconsin Veterans Museum  As national security adviser for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, McGeorge Bundy was one of the principal architects of the Vietnam War, pushing for escalation while others called for restraint. Several decades later, Bundy began to reexamine his decisions, collaborating with Gordon Goldstein on a book shelved following Bundy's death in 1996. Now, over a decade later, Goldstein has revisited the enduring historical debate over Vietnam, using Bundy's own insights to analyze America's entanglement in the war and how events might have transpired differently.
Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned Rufus Phillips, Author
April 7, 2009, Wisconsin Veterans Museum
 First serving in Vietnam as a member of the CIA in 1954, Rufus Phillips is one of the few remaining advisors who watched the Vietnam War grow from its infant stages to a full-scale conflict. From working with the legendary Edward Lansdale in the 1950s to overseeing USAID's Strategic Hamlet program, Mr. Phillips will share his own experiences, discuss our many false assumptions about Vietnam, and how lessons learned in SE Asia can assist in our approach to events in Iraq and Afghanistan.
April 3, 2009
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Wisconsin Veterans Museum
For Lyndon Johnson, fighting communism in Vietnam was part and parcel of his vision for global reform through modernization. He believed that modernization would shore up the shaky government in Saigon and help consolidate its power, ultimately allowing the government to assume responsibility for the public welfare. Join Dr. Brigham as he recounts Johnson's intended modernization projects in South Vietnam and their projected impact on a populace whose admiration he desperately sought.
October 18, 2008
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Wisconsin Veteran's Museum  For thirteen tension-filled days in October 1962, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. Yet, as once-classified CIA and Russian documents and photographs become available, scholars have begun to uncover the real story behind the Cuban Missile Crisis and the standoff between the US, USSR, and Cuba. Author Michael Dobbs dispels many of the myths surrounding this event, uncovering new information about the Russian arsenal on Cuba, the “eyeball-to-eyeball” confrontation on the high seas, and a blundering U-2 pilot that flew into Russian airspace at the height of the crisis. This thrilling narrative will bring chills to those who lived through the Crisis and open the eyes of those who know it solely through the history books. The Perils of Intimacy: Harry Hopkins as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s National Security AdviserFrank Costigliola, Professor of History, University of Connecticut
September 25, 2008
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM, Wisconsin Veteran's Museum
On 10 May 1940 -- the day that Nazi Germany invaded France and Winston S. Churchill took the helm in imperiled Britain -- Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Harry L. Hopkins to move into the White House as his round-the-clock advisor, trouble shooter, and companion. Though he often was too weak to get out of bed, the man dubbed the "Assistant President" operated as Roosevelt's crucial go-between with generals, admirals, and bureaucrats -- as well as with Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Roosevelt and Hopkins were alike in their heroic surmounting of a physical "disability." They also shared a fascination with attractive women. Some aspects of the Roosevelt-Hopkins collaboration are relatively well known. Professor Frank Costigliola will also explore, however, how the very intimacy between the two men generated tensions that ultimately disrupted the White House, drove Hopkins to imperil his life, and destroyed their partnership at the time when Roosevelt needed him most. General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse
Joseph T. Glatthaar, Stephenson Distinguished Professor of History, Univers ity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
April 29, 2008 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum Despite nearly 150 years of scholarship about the Army of Northern Virginia, Joseph Glatthaar, using an impressive range of primary sources and statistical databases, has rewritten and reconsidered the story of the Civil War's most important army. From Manassas to Appomattox, Glatthaar examines how Lee's army almost led the South to victory, and, conversely, why it lost. A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to FreedomDavid W. Blight, Class of 1954 Professor of American History, Yale  University
April 25, 2008 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum Using two recently uncovered slave narratives, Frederick Douglass Prize winner David Blight has reconstructed the lives of two escaped slaves, Wallace Turnage and John Washington. Using genealogical information, Blight addresses their childhoods, their escape, their service as cooks and camp hands for Union troops, and their post-war rise to middle class status in the North. Powerful and poignant, A Slave No More uncovers the story of two ordinary men whose stories represent the rise of over four million from slavery to freedom. Dean Acheson and the Building of an American-Led World OrderRobert McMahon, Mershon Distinguished Professor of History, The Ohio State University
February 27, 2008 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum As Secretary of State for President Truman, Dean Acheson played a key role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War. During his time in office, Acheson helped create important institutions such as NATO and the Marshall Plan, among others, and was a driving force behind America’s intervention in the Korean Conflict. Robert McMahon’s latest book will concentrate on Acheson’s diplomatic career; his influence on the development and implementation of American foreign policy during World War II and the cold war; and the personal, political, social and cultural forces that shaped his world view. The Tet Offensive on Television: War, TV News, the President, and Politics in 1968
Chester Pach, Professor of History, Ohio University
February 7. 2008 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum During the Tet Offensive of 1968, viewers saw ferocious street fighting, harrowing images of wounded soldiers, civilians and reporters, and even an execution in the streets of Saigon. Based on extensive research, including interviews with TV reporters who covered Vietnam and officials in the Johnson administration, historian Chester Pach examines the controversy over the TV coverage of Tet–a debate about reporting war in the media age that is remarkably relevant today. A Field Report from Afghanistan: Tracking Al Qaeda and Taliban Suicide Bombers in the 'Forgotten War'Brian Glyn Williams, Professor of History, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
November 30, 2007 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum In the spring of 2007 Professor Brian Glyn Williams, a terrorism expert and advisor for the US military/government, travelled through some of Afghanistan's most dangerous tribal provinces. He timed his visit to coincide with the Taliban's much touted spring offensive. His mission on this, his third field expedition to Afghanistan, was to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the increasingly bloody Afghan conflict. Namely, why have the Taliban insurgents adopted the alien practice of suicide bombing when neither they nor they Afghan mujahideen freedom fighters used it in the past? His findings, which have appeared in Time ("The World's Worst Suicide Bombers?") and many other venues, have re-shaped the way the intelligence community views the 'Other War' in Afghanistan and reveal a frightening trajectory for this war-torn land. Lessons Learned? Reflections on the 9/11 Commission
Warren Bass, The Washington PostNovember 6, 2007 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum How did the Clinton and Bush administrations handle the threat of al-Qaeda before 9/11? Warren Bass, the staffer who handled the National Security Council portfolio for the 9/11 Commission, offers an inside look at the U.S. government's attempts to come to terms with terrorism, at what happens when a scrappy start-up government agency tries to write history, and at whether the United States is as safe six years after the attacks as it could be. Bush and the Generals: What Went Wrong?
Michael Desch, Robert M. Gates Chair in Intelligence and National Security, Texas A&M University
October 25, 2007 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum While the rift between the U.S. military and civilian leaders did not start with the Bush presidence, his administration's handling of the war has made it worse. Professor Michael Desch, the Robert M. Gates Chair in Intelligence and National Security at Texas A&M University, will examine how new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates can restore the military-civil relationship and improve the strategy and tactics for all military operations. Henry Kissinger and the American Century
Jeremi Suri, Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
October 10, 2007 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum
 Drawing on research in more than six countries and extensive interviews with Kissinger and others, Henry Kissinger and the American Century analyzes the sources of Kissingers ideas and power and explains why he pursued the policies he did. His career was a product of the global changes that made the American Century. By treating the former Secretary of State fairly and critically as a historical figure, Suri provides critical context for Kissingers life and career, while illuminating the legacies of his policies for the U.S. in the 21st century.
Narratives of Bombing: Tokyo and Hiroshima, 1945
Andrew Rotter, Professor of History, Colgate University
October 2, 2007 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Join Dr. Rotter, as he compares two well known episodes of the American bombing of Japan during World War II: the firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 9-10, 1945, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6. The events themselves warrant comparison, as do the ways in which we imagine and write about the attacks. The lecture will examine passages concerning these bombings from the speakers forthcoming book about the atomic bomb, and alert listeners to differences and similarities in the ways conventional and nuclear attacks are remembered and judged.
David M. Kennedy, Professor of History, Stanford University
November 15, 2006
7:00 PM Wisconsin Veteran's Museum
Professor Kennedy will lecture on WWII's legacy and discuss his Pulitzer prize winning book, Freedom from Fear: the American People in Depression and War 1929-1945.
October 5, 2006 7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum Campbell Craig, University of Southampton, will discuss the great debate about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and how the emergence of new evidence has changed the approach of a new generation of scholars. Craig will focus on the attitude of President Truman, who up until July 1945 had barely given a thought to bombing Japan with atomic weapons. Yet, during the Potsdam Conference that same month, Truman was overjoyed to receive news of the successful Trinity test of the bomb. But why? The Living Legacy of the Vietnam War
Robert Schulzinger, Director of the International Affairs Program and Professor of HistoryUniversity of Colorado
September 26, 2006
7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum Robert D. Schulzinger, author of the new book, A Time for Peace: The Legacy of the Vietnam War, discussed the memory of the Vietnam War and how it significantly affected American politics, foreign as well as military policy, and culture. Professor Shulzinger also explained how Americans have struggled over the proper lessons to be learned from the Vietnam experience. He illuminated how Americans have seen every divisive foreign policy issue since 1975, including the current war in Iraq, through the prism of Vietnam. The Long War Dead: The Politics and Reality of Casualties in Iraq
Alex Roland, Professor of History, Duke University
April 18, 2006 Click here for more information on this event. Since the Civil War, the military has undergone a series of transformations in response to the intensity of, and number of casualties in, armed conflicts. In the Civil War and World War II, the United States moved from attrition to annihilation. In Vietnam, the United States moved increasingly towards the harnessing of intelligent weapons such as smart bombs. Generating casualties –friendly, enemy, and civilian –loomed large in each transformation. Another transformation may now be under way in Iraq, also driven by casualty considerations. The Iraq experience may provide a window on the future of American military operations.  The Savage Wars for Peace: The Philippine War and War in IraqBrian Linn, Professor of History, Texas A&M University
February 6, 2006
7:00 PM Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Professor Linn discussed his work on the U.S.-Philippine War, The American Way of War and compared the current conflict in Iraq with the Philippine War of 1899-1902.
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