Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 21 hours ago
Speaker: Kori Schake
Please note: There are a few brief audio drops in this recording. We hope you enjoy this informative talk!
About the event: America’s Founding Fathers feared that a standing army would be a permanent political danger, yet the US military has in the 250 years since become a bulwark of democracy. Kori Schake explains why in this compelling history of civil-military relations from independence to the challenges of the present.
The book begins with General George Washington’s vital foundational example of subordination to elected leaders during the Revolutionary War. Schake recounts numerous instances in the following century when charismatic military leaders tried to challenge political leaders and explains the emergence of restrictions on uses of the military for domestic law enforcement. She explores the crucial struggle between President Andrew Johnson and Congress after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, when Ulysses Grant had to choose whether to obey the commander in chief or the law—and chose to obey the law. And she shows how the professionalization of the military in the 20th century inculcated norms of civilian control.
The US military is historically anomalous for maintaining its strength and popularity while never becoming a threat to democracy. Schake concludes by asking if its admirable record can be sustained when the public is pulling the military into the political divisions of our time.
Speaker: Kori Schake
Please note: There are a few brief audio drops in this recording. We hope you enjoy this informative talk!
About the event: America’s Founding Fathers feared that a standing army would be a permanent political danger, yet the US military has in the 250 years since become a bulwark of democracy. Kori Schake explains why in this compelling history of civil-military relations from independence to the challenges of the present.
The book begins with General George Washington’s vital foundational example of subordination to elected leaders during the Revolutionary War. Schake recounts numerous instances in the following century when charismatic military leaders tried to challenge political leaders and explains the emergence of restrictions on uses of the military for domestic law enforcement. She explores the crucial struggle between President Andrew Johnson and Congress after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, when Ulysses Grant had to choose whether to obey the commander in chief or the law—and chose to obey the law. And she shows how the professionalization of the military in the 20th century inculcated norms of civilian control.
The US military is historically anomalous for maintaining its strength and popularity while never becoming a threat to democracy. Schake concludes by asking if its admirable record can be sustained when the public is pulling the military into the political divisions of our time.
