David Kennedy is the Donald J. Mclachlan Professor of History, Emeritus, and founding director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University. He is the author of several books on American history, including Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (1999), which won the Pulitzer Prize and the Francis Parkman Prize. He received the OAH Distinguished Service Award in 2007.
An exploration of some of the implications of the force structure that the United States has had since the transition to the all-volunteer military in 1973. The lecture addresses both issues of social equity as well as the consequences for national security policy.