Lee Lecture Series
The Lee Lecture Series features renowned historians, authors, and public officials on World War II and its aftermath.
On September 15, 2026, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation and GAGE presented the 2nd Annual Lee Lecture Series featuring Eliot A. Cohen, professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.
Cohen examined Churchill’s legacy, asking whether history should remember him as one of the great architects of modern statecraft or as a leader whose record has been overstated.
Meet Eliot A. Cohen
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2025 Lee Lecture featuring Andrew Preston
On October 29, 2025, the Foundation presented the inaugural Lee Lecture Series featuring esteemed historian Andrew Preston, the W.L. Lyons Brown Jr. Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professor in Diplomacy and Statecraft in the University of Virginia’s Corcoran Department of History. Preston traced the surprising origins of “national security” to the 1930s, when Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisors redefined self-defense amid the rise of fascism. What had once meant guarding borders came to encompass distant threats and ideological rivals, making national security—like social security—a New Deal promise. This reframing transformed American political life, expanding federal authority and placing the nation on a permanent war footing. Preston’s analysis presents national security not as timeless, but as a contingent innovation that continues to shape U.S. policy and identity.
