The George C. Marshall Foundation is excited to announce the Spring 2025 lineup of its popular Legacy Lecture series. This fall, we will feature four enlightening lectures from leading historians and subject experts covering leadership, strategy, justice, and cooperation. Lectures can be attended in-person at our building in Lexington, Virginia, or streamed live on our YouTube channel.
General Information
How can I attend?
Seating is limited. To reserve a seat, or for more information about the event, contact [email protected] or call 540.463.7103, ext. 138.
How can I watch from home?
The presentations will also be live streamed on the Marshall Foundation YouTube channel (https://bit.ly/2Or0E8D) simultaneously. Viewers of the stream are encouraged to write questions using the live video chat (to the lower right of the video) or via email at [email protected]. Chat is monitored for abusive comments.
September 11: Leadership Lessons from an Iraq War Veteran
Co-sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1499 and ConnectionsPlus, Col. Roland Tiso will discuss his experiences in the Iraq war as seen through his memoir. The lecture will explore the planning of the war, the multinational participation in the conflict and the importance of American leadership in a multinational environment. A reception and book signing will follow the lecture. A limited number of books will be available for purchase. Interested attendees should consider purchasing a book ahead of the lecture. All proceeds/royalties from Col. Tiso’s book will be donated to veterans causes.
September 25: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Philippines
Jonathan Horn explores the intertwined fates of two American generals in the doomed defense of the Philippines. Douglas MacArthur, ordered to leave his men yet vowing to return, became a global symbol of defiance. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, choosing captivity alongside his starving troops, became the highest‑ranking American prisoner of the Japanese. Both received the Medal of Honor, but on starkly different paths. Drawing on newly uncovered letters and diaries, Horn probes how we define honor and choose our heroes in war.
October 16: After Nuremberg
The Nuremberg trials promised justice for Nazi crimes, yet by 1958 nearly every surviving defendant had been released. "After Nuremberg" traces how American High Commissioner John J. McCloy and his successors built a clemency and parole system that freed ninety‑seven of 142 convicted Nazis—many guilty of enslavement, plunder, and murder. Drawing on newly declassified archives, this talk uncovers how well‑intentioned appeals to fairness and rehabilitation produced a bureaucracy that “rehabilitated” unrepentant perpetrators and reshaped West German politics, leaving troubling lessons about justice, mercy, and historical memory.
A Search for Strategy
The British-American alliance of World War II is remembered as a “special relationship,” but in 1942 it was anything but seamless. In "A Search for Strategy," historian John F. Shortal shows how personal rapport between Churchill and Roosevelt masked deep mistrust among their military advisors. Drawing on international archives, Shortal reveals that clashing priorities and national goals nearly tore the new alliance apart during its first year. This talk examines the fragile beginnings of Anglo-American cooperation and the compromises that made eventual victory possible.
The George C. Marshall Foundation Legacy Series is sponsored by:
Dominion Energy; Raymond James; Edward Jones; CornerStone Bank; the Anne C. Robins and Walter R. Robins, Jr. Foundation; Richard & Caroline T. Gwathmey Memorial Trust; ConnectionsPlus Healthcare + Hospice; Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1499