Author Event: Mark Perry
Partners in Command:
George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace
November 6, 2007
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Author Mark Perry
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On November 6, 2007, The Eisenhower Institute, together with the George C. Marshall Foundation welcomed Mark Perry, author of the recently-released
Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace. The event was hosted by Eisenhower Institute board member, retired Major General William M. Matz, Jr. Special guests included General Edward Rowny, who served with the Operations Division of the War Department General Staff in Washington, D.C., where he worked on strategic plans for the completion of the war against Japan as well as plans for the design of the post-war Army; and Bobby Muller, the book's dedicatee and peace advocate
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(l to r) Brain Shaw of the Marshall Foundation, Perry and retired Major Gen. William M. Matz, Jr.
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Partners in Command looks at one of military history's most fateful partnerships. Perry follows Marshall and Eisenhower's collaboration from the major battles in North Africa and Italy to the planning and execution of the D-Day invasion, the crisis of the Battle of the Bulge, and the postwar implementation of the Marshall Plan, and the establishment of Eisenhower's leadership of NATO. The book is unique in its depth about the human side of the two men and the relationship between them.
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Matz welcomes
Perry
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Fox Conner, one of America's greatest military thinkers was influential in shaping Marshall's and Eisenhower's approach to warfare. One of his axioms was "never fight unless you have to, never fight alone, and never fight for long." They remained convinced that democracies would win only short wars, not protracted conflicts.
"Their ideas live on after them," Perry said of Marshall and Eisenhower. "The America they dreamed of is the America we should have." On what made Marshall and Eisenhower's relationship unique, Perry said, "They trained very well and they did what they did very well. They studied it twenty-four hours a day ... they studied how to make war."
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Bobby Muller with Perry's son, Cal
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Mark Perry a military, intelligence and foreign affairs analyst and writer. He is co-director of
Conflicts Forum, an international organization working for peace in the Middle East.
Partners is his seventh book; his articles have appeared in publications such as
The Nation,
The Washington Post and Newsday. Perry has served as editor for a number of publications including Washington D.C.'s
City Paper and
The Veteran, the largest circulation newspaper for veterans in the nation. He helped research and write the BBC's 1991 award-winning production of "The Intelligence War Against Iraq" and has appeared in many media and national forums such as CNN's "Special Assignment" and "The International Hour."
The book discussion was followed by a question-and-answer session and book signing.
