Jefferson LECTURE SERIES

An Invitation to Struggle: The Constitution, The Military, and Political Accountability

David M. Kennedy, Professor of History, Stanford University

February 03, 2009
UC Berkeley Campus

Pulitzer Prize-winning Stanford historian David Kennedy sees America's all-volunteer military as lean, lethal, and far too easy to send into battle. He argues that we have an army whose character tempts the political leadership to treat it as if it were a mercenary force. He sees a "lack of accountability" by elected leaders, which is an outgrowth of the lack of participation by the public in the decision to go to war, and the absence of any need for real sacrifice on the part of the populace once war has begun.

About David M. Kennedy

As a historian with an academic background in American Studies, David Kennedy is known for sharp analysis of American history through the multiple lenses of culture, economics, and politics. In his 20th century United States history course, Kennedy explore the many aspects of American political and social thought, American foreign policy, American literature, and the comparative development of democracy in Europe and America. Recently, his research interests have touched on the relevant issue of the power dynamics among the nation's governing ranches and the social and political consequences therein.

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