Join us for a Veterans Breakfast Club livestream conversation with author Edward Aldrich about his compelling dual biography, Partnership: George Marshall, Henry Stimson, and the Extraordinary Collaboration That Won World War II. In this richly researched work, Aldrich brings into sharp focus one of the most consequential collaborations in twentieth-century American history: the wartime partnership between Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson.

While the canon of World War II history is filled with battlefield commanders and frontline exploits, Partnership shifts the lens to the strategic heart of the U.S. war effort in Washington. Marshall and Stimson, working from adjacent offices with the door intentionally left open between them, built and directed the Army’s dramatic expansion, oversaw logistics on a global scale, and helped shape the Allied strategy that would defeat the Axis powers. Their decisions touched virtually every dimension of the war—from training and equipping millions of soldiers, to strategic planning and coordination with Allied leaders like Winston Churchill, to considerations about the postwar world order.

Aldrich’s book is more than a military history: it is a dual biography that traces how two very different men—Marshall, the Army organizer of victory, and Stimson, the seasoned statesman and civilian leader—came together under President Franklin D. Roosevelt to manage the greatest industrial mobilization in U.S. history. It draws on primary sources including Stimson’s wartime diary and Marshall’s papers to illuminate not only their accomplishments but the character, disagreements, and mutual respect that defined their long collaboration.

In our livestream, Aldrich will reflect on what it meant to write this book: the gaps in the historical record he sought to fill, the insights he gained into how civilian and military leadership can function in concert, and how Marshall’s and Stimson’s partnership shaped not just the Allied victory but the postwar international order. We’ll explore why understanding their relationship matters for the broader story of World War II, and why their example resonates with readers interested in leadership, strategy, and the often invisible networks of decision-making that define war and peace.

Whether you’re a lifelong student of the Second World War or are discovering these towering figures for the first time, this conversation will shed light on how two leaders behind the scenes helped win the most vast and complex war in history—and why their extraordinary collaboration still matters today.

We’re grateful to UPMC for Life  for sponsoring this event!