John Lewis Gaddis, who has been deemed the “dean of Cold War historians” by The New York Times, will hold a conversation with Bart Gellman ‘82, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author in residence and visiting lecturer in public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School, on Gaddis’ new biographical book, “George F. Kennan: An American Life.”  A book sale and signing will take place immediately after the discussion, although books may be purchased prior to the lecture.

George F. Kennan ‘25 has been noted as the one of the key architects of the “Marshall Plan,” which was designed to rebuild Europe following World War II, as well as the author of the policy of “containment” espoused by U.S. Presidents from Harry S. Truman to Ronald Reagan. He is regarded as one of the United States’ most influential diplomats.  Kennan was a faculty member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, from 1956 until his death at age 101 in March 2005.  In writing the biographical account of Kennan, Gaddis had unprecedented access to George Kennan’s diaries and personal papers.
 
Over the years Gaddis has taught at Indiana Southeast University, Ohio University – where he founded and directed the Contemporary History Institute, the Naval War College, and Oxford University.  He has also held visiting professorship positions at the Naval War College, the University of Helsinki, and Princeton University.  In 1997 he moved to Yale University where he holds his current position of the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History.  In 2005, he was presented with the National Humanities Medal by President George W. Bush.

The talk is co-sponsored by the Wilson School and the Center for International Security Studies.

The event will be archived online for later viewing on the Woodrow Wilson School’s Webmedia site http://wws.princeton.edu/webmedia.

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