Today’s topic is about George C. Marshall, one our most famous Americans. Our guest is Mr. Nicolaus Mills, Professor of American Studies at Sarah Lawrence College, in Bronxville, New York, will talk about Marshall and his new book on the impact of the Marshall Plan. Professor Mills has been a member of the Sarah Lawrence literature faculty since 1972.

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George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) was appointed a General of the Army with a Five-Star designation of December 16, 1944. He was the first Army general to achieve that rank along with Admiral William D. Leahy of the Navy. Marshall served as America’s longest serving Chief of Staff of the Army, from September 1939 until the end of the Second World War in 1945. He served as President Truman’s special emissary to China in 1945 was later appointed as the 50th United States Secretary of State in January 1947 and served until January 1949.  He later served as the 3rd United States Defense Secretary from September 1950 to September 1951. Marshall was recognized as Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in both 1944, and 1948, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. He introduced what was later to be known as the Marshall Plan at a speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947. 

Professor Mills is the author of the newly released book, Winning the Peace, The Marshall Plan & America’s Coming of Age as a Superpower. He serves on the editorial board of Dissent, and is a contributor to the American Prospect, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of numerous books, which include: Arguing Immigration, The New Killing Fields, The Lost Battle, the Fight for a National WWII Memorial, Like a Holy Crusade; Mississippi, 1964, 50 Years of Dissent, The Triumph of Meanness, Culture in an Age of Money, Debating Affirmative Action, and The Great School Bus Controversy.