*Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have changed the "Elusive Victory - Year Three of the Russo-Ukraine War" lecture to "Character and Leadership with Dan Leclerc."

This program is presented in partnership with Lexington Veterans Association.

Dan Leclerc, military historian, will analyze the leadership style of the major military and civilian leaders of the First World War.  These leaders displayed both positive and negative leadership characteristics. Those who possessed positive characteristics succeeded. Dan will analyze the leadership traits of individuals from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and America, and their effectiveness as leaders.

Some highlights are:
- American President Woodrow Wilson, a politically savvy scholar and visionary, morally determined to win his nation’s support to save democracy, but unable to achieve his lifelong vision of the creation of a League of Nations.
- German General Helmuth Von Moltke, an artist and musician whose misfortune was being the son of an idolized German general, put in charge of one of the most important battles of all time, the first Battle of the Marne, was totally overmatched.
- French General Joseph Joffre, cool, courageous, and innovative, hired a Grand Prix driver to bring him back and forth to the front every day during the first Battle of the Marne.
- Russian General Aleksei Brusilov, a man ahead of his time, a brilliant commander and innovative tactician, departed from standard Russian doctrine and encouraged flexible regimental decision making.
- British General Douglas Haig, an aristocrat and hidebound traditionalist who wouldn’t abandon a failed approach but kept on ordering missions that caused thousands of needless deaths.
- French General George Phillipe Petain, who created a railroad system to rotate troops by night, keeping them fresh, and designed a unique artillery firing method to fire hundreds
of rounds per minute, denying the Germans victory at the Battle of Verdun.
- American General Clarence Edwards, a brilliant entrepreneur who found a way to deliver his 26 th Yankee Division first on French soil to train with battle-hardened French soldiers.

Registration is only required to watch via Zoom. In person attendance is on a first come basis.