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U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (Ret. ) H. R. McMaster, Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, historian, and host of the “Today’s Battlegrounds” podcast, will join the Museum as the distinguished lecturer for the seventh Carl M. Buchholz Memorial Lecture. His lecture will focus on George Washington, his leadership and legacy, and the role of the military in our democracy today. 

The program will be held in the Museum’s Liberty Hall and will be broadcast live via Zoom. Following the lecture, Museum President and CEO Dr. R. Scott Stephenson will moderate an interview conversation with McMaster prior to hosting a Q&A with the onsite and online audiences. All proceeds from the event support the Museum’s educational programs.

The event marks the seventh Carl M. Buchholz Memorial Lecture, a series established by the generosity of the family, friends, and colleagues of the late Carl Buchholz, former vice-chairman of the Museum’s Board of Directors. The series was created to honor his public service and to explore the political thought of the American Revolution and its national relevance today. Those interested in contributing to the endowment for this annual lecture can contact [email protected].

Hr Mcmaster Credit Ray Kachatorian

About H.R. McMaster 

H.R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.  

Upon graduation from the US Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the US Army for thirty-four years. He retired as a lieutenant general in June 2018 after serving as the twenty-fifth Assistant to the US President for National Security Affairs. From 2014 to 2017, McMaster designed the future army as the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center. As commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, he oversaw training, education, and modernization for the Army’s infantry, armor, and cavalry force. He has commanded organizations in wartime including the Combined Joint Inter-Agency Task Force—Shafafiyat in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 2010 to 2012; the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq from 2005 to 2006; and Eagle Troop, Second Armored Cavalry Regiment in Operation Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991. McMaster was a Hoover National Security Affairs Fellow from 2002-2003.  

McMaster holds a PhD in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an assistant professor of history at the US Military Academy. He is author of the bestselling books Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam; Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World; and At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House. His many essays, articles, and book reviews on leadership, history, and the future of warfare have appeared in The AtlanticForeign AffairsForeign PolicyNational Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington PostThe Free Press, the New York Times, and The Economist.  

McMaster is the host of “Today's Battlegrounds” and is a regular on “GoodFellows,” both produced by the Hoover Institution. He is a Distinguished University Fellow at Arizona State University. 

2026 Buchholz Lockup

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Karen Buchholz introduces the 2023 Carl M. Buchholz Memorial Lecture.

The Carl M. Buchholz Memorial Lecture

The Carl M. Buchholz Memorial Lecture has been established through the generosity of the friends, colleagues, and family of the late Carl M. Buchholz.
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A visitor looks at a tableau scene depicting George Washington breaking up a fight among his troops in Harvard Yard.

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How did people become Revolutionaries? Discover how the American colonists – most of them content and even proud British subjects – became Revolutionaries as the roots of rebellion took hold.
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