How did the US Army emerge as one of the most powerful political organisations in the United States following World War II?

In this book talk, Dr Grant H. Golub asserts that this remarkable shift was the result of the Army’s political masters consciously transforming the organisation into an active political player throughout the war.

Led by Henry Stimson, the Secretary of War and one of the most experienced American statesmen of the era, the Army energetically worked to shape the contours of American power throughout the war, influencing the scope and direction of US foreign policy as the Allies fought the Axis powers.

The result saw the Army, and the military more broadly, gain unprecedented levels of influence over US foreign relations. As World War II gave way to the Cold War, the military helped set the direction of policy toward the Soviet Union and aided the decades of confrontation between the two superpowers.