Responsible to insist upon the great invasion of france june 1944. As churning to personal tragedy and how in the months left wet yalta and quebec to prepare the United Nations for the american backed world war. Now we know fdr was the great visionary. Douglas brinkley says masterful reevaluation of dday and helped on hitlers demise. And coauthor of prometheus with the stunning achievement hamilton commands a meticulous historian and a seasoned biographer the result of the most consequential president. Nigel hamilton is the bestselling and awardwinning biographer of jfk montgomery and president bill clinton. And the previous book in the series from the National Book award senior fellow at the mccormick splits his time between boston massachusetts thank you for joining us please welcome nigel. [applause] eyes split my time between the two. [laughter] and the command was actually the first the second was called commander in chief this what im borrowing from a very distinguished writer many years ago called war and peace. Welcomed this evening i am delighted to be giving a talk in the bookstore because before i started my literary career as a a bookseller i had a book shop in london greenwich bookshop and so many people asked for a history and a guide to the area where Queen Elizabeth is being born so many people asked for a book about it therere wasnt one so i started my writing career with my mother and the book was a best seller. That is where it all began in that book was published 50 years ago. So today and yesterday we are celebrating a number of things. But in a much bigger way the anniversary of dday. The invasion of normandy. Seventyfive years ago yesterday my father landed at dday. Seventyfive years ago today on those british beaches with a tremendous battle began on normandy. Between those casualties of june 7th it is a pretty extraordinary moment 75 years later i was pleased to see the president actually went to france and britain to commemorate the invasion to pay tribute to somebody else. [laughter] because that is the culmination of the ten years of my life. And then the commanderinchief and world war ii with a historian or biographer had actually written a serious study for the president of the United States in his role asteta commanderinchief his constitutional role. In the most violent war in human history. So having become an american and that was a much longer journey than i expected. And then send it off to my editor to say i loved the manuscript 1942. That is the sign it would take more than one volume. [laughter] and one of the books became longergy and every biographer undergoes a learning experience. And he said everything you wouldnt be much of a biographer. You come across as a know it all. I think one of the charms of a good biography is the reader and you are going on a journey. At that stage i knew very little about what fdr his president ial yacht of what seem to be a fishing expedition. In reaching the Cape Cod Canal transferred to american battleship and went off to meet Winston Churchill for w the first time. And then to sign the Atlantic Charter because fdr in the summer of 1941 because fdr wanted to set down the moral basis with the Atlantic Charter. So in the course of the book he i had overruled and just the biography is fdr in commanderinchief. And then to overrule the chief of staff. To have a dday invasion in 1842. Months after pearl harbor when a single soldier had fired a single shot at a german. So the president fortunately he was a politician and that for another time in the future. And must rule the military staff. F and the invasion of north africa and algeria and morocco. And for the first time in American History and airplane flies to casablanca to sit down once again with Winston Churchill of how the war should be continued and the chief of staff to say we will stay in the mediterranean for ane moment and with morocco and algeria and now in the mediterranean and then how to defeat in open battle. Not to become master of europe for no reason. And to ensure that nobody would be any doubt what was required of American Armed forces. To insist on a policy of Unconditional Surrender there would be no negotiation. Of Unconditional Surrender and a few months later with general eisenhower in may 1943 and leading the way under general eisenhower. And then to establish themselves at that italian airfields from southern germany. So this final volume picks up the story there and once again for me this was a learning experience just before dday to be under the impression that the strategy for the military conduct of world war ii by the allies in europe was very much the strategy of Winston Spencer churchill. And in volume two i had found out that churchill all through 1943 had oppose the notion of the dday for cross channel landing and for understandable reasons. Nobody had actually launched and invasion across the English Channel since 1066 almost 1000 years before. [laughter] even hitler didnt do it in the summer of 1940 and the evacuation at dunkirk. So twice that year Winston Churchill had come on the queen mary two north america and not to lunch on launch dday. That it would be running but the president had insisted that dday must be launched in the spring of 1944. With the traditional difficult waters for the large invasion force. To take place on the first of may 194475 years ago was because just getting onto the beaches of normandy are not enough. And with those troops there would have to be a campaigning summer when the tanks could be landed on the shores of normandy of two were 3 million men. It was vital to launch dday in may 1944. But sadly as the president sets off on the uss iowa to meet churchill november 1943 and told by his staff that churchill wont do it. For the turner time and for the third time churchill simultaneously setting off by his battleship. And then to fly with the third party marshall sterling and before they ever got to tehran to argue withot the president that dday must be delayed or canceled and onboard the battleship in that indictment of stupidity. By cross the English Channel cracks line out with the colonial empire cracks why not let somebody else win the war s against hitler but thats what it boils down to. And there is only one man in this universe i would argue who has that kind of authority and respect to compel Winston Churchill who was commander in chief of all the British Empire including canadian and south african and australian and new zealand only one man could persuade Winston Churchill to back off to get with the program that he agreed to formally a couple months before that dday should take place on the first of may 1944 come hell or high water and then it surprised me as much a as anything to be whitewashed out of history im sure somewhere they felt there is a biography that only came out a few months ago 1100 pages claiming churchill never had wanted to delay let alone abandon dday. Give me the money i will send them all three volumes. [laughter] and bring him up to date. Because that is scandalous in this country we fail to recognize how fdr persuaded churchill that the most critical moment i could argue as a historian in the history of world war ii to back down and get with the program and provide 50 percent of the forces that are necessary on dday itself because it couldnt be mounted without the british betet launched from england. What could they do if churchill was threatening his own cabinet to resign if americans went ahead with roosevelts plan cracks he would resign as Prime Minister of britain if he didnt like it he could switch the forces to the pacific. And the knowledge certainly in my lifetime it is so uncharted those outside the store they have no idea the great landings they have no idea who saved this plan. For seeing churchill to back down. From cairo and set them down with marshall starling and to launch simultaneous one simultaneous offensive with 1 million r and Russian Troops and from the Eastern Front and the western front and then to persuade surrender unconditionally and then those troops to help defeat japan. Germany first and then with the strategy just before pearl harbor. And the strategy and world war ii. And then i could show you photographs i have of the president returning from tehran. And with this great moment of success. And the president surprises everybody by not appointing with the man everybody would assume command the dda invasion george marshall. But appoints young general dwight eisenhower. And in retrospect what a point that was. Because other president s we could name believed in coalition. Them believed you couldnt just when a modern war on your own. And that not only he saved the day but appoints the man who commanded and then and cairo and then to be nicknamed the sacred cow. [laughter] and then to see eisenhower in person and why he has chosen him. And then to face not only across the germans and those who is one of the great debaters i know. Of all time so the president spend several days with eisenhower on board the sacred cow and flight to malta and then the distinguished general clerk for his bravery and then asks general George Patton who was in disgrace for slapping to soldiers bases who were suffering from shellshocked. He thought that was the end of his military career than the president summoned him and says george you will command an army in a great attack. And then returns to the iowa and then is greeted december 19435 months before the invasion is due to take place greeted as the conquering hero to decide christmas 1943 going up to hyde park to celebrate christmas there and makes this forecast of the nation into the world to say the Supreme Commander would be general eisenhower. And then a few days later and then to give the annual address to congress in person ts being fought. Unfortunately, he never got better. And therefore, although the first half of the book is the story of a triumph that we should all know about and recognize and give credit to the president for, the second half of the book tells a sadder sto story, the story of how the president s medical team under his white house doctor who was a naval officer basically kept the public from knowing the truth about the president s condition, not just kept it from the public but kept it even from other medical authorities and so it was only months later in late march of 1944 just weeks before the dday invasion roosevelts daughter that had been out on the west coast came back to washington and saw how ill her father was and could hardly breathe and said to the admiral gets a consultant in straight away, which finally the admiral did. And a young cardiologist is brought in from the naval the nl hospital in bethesda who diagnosed a fatal hear the fatat disease and basically said the president had days to live. Again, it is an extraordinary story. Some of us have a notion of how ill the president was not how ill. Basically only able to work perhaps one or two hours a day to have all his meals in the white house usually in his bedroom unable to see visitors, and its at that point he just has enough strength he goes to South Carolina to try to recuperate but doesnt get any better, people think he is dying on his feet, not that he could stand of course, but she comes back to washington and writes the weekend before dday that wonderful prayer which i quote in the book the most beautiful, not an address, but a prayer i noticed when i was looking at the propaganda minister it amused me to read that he was incensed by the idea that this american president would invoke god in a prayer against this wonderful third reich. As we know, they were right to be concerned about the casualties that could ensue, but the casualties turned out to be relatively modest invisibility and things were not only a historic success, but where the two would hitler have always feared. Hitler had said to his generals months before dday this will be the deciding battle between world war ii. He didnt say this will be the deciding how this campaign. He said the deciding battle of world war ii and it was. And my father lost so many men in normandy, his battalion within days he was already moving into belgium and holland and by december of 1944, he was on the border of germany for which he won the distinguished Service Order at age 25. What i was doing at age 25 i have every bit of admiration for those people who risk and especially those who lost their lives in the mighty endeavor as fdr called it. But i think it also, speaking now as a biographer who has spent so many years writing these long the doors will have to close. They cant be kept open. My motivation for spending pay much a lifetime writing these biographies, my montgomery biography with three volumes and took ten years. My motivation has always been the curiosity. I want to know the real story behind the myth, but also in my case i grew up admiring not only my father, but other people that i came to interview in my various books for their leadership qualities. I think leadership is not a particularly popular word in the 1600 pennsylvania avenue, but we need leadership not only in this country, but our hopefully not former allies. Leadership. It doesnt grow on trees. Its a human characteristic. And for a biographer to be able to trace the genesis and be able to follow the story of a great leader and the greatest of all american leaders of the 20th century and i would argue probably the greatest american strategist in American History on a global scale. I am honored and proud to complete my big biography with this book. Thank you very much. [applause] we have time for some questions. There will be a microphone. My dad had the commander on the ship and then i talked to him for the first time 50 years later, all he said about it, all we can think is get off the beach. There is a standard narrative i think you have to eluted to which is fundamental and has to do with the request that the allies open a second front. You talk about roosevelt arguing with churchill but further as early as 42 and also i happened to run across the conference where ala alan brooks supposedly talks about stalin as this amazing military strategist who almost never got anything wrong politically. Of course he got walked on, but can you talk about how stalin compares as a military strategist and the importance of his leadership during the Second World War . I certainly dont want to come across as an admirer. [laughter] but the fact is he performed very badly asked the beginning of the german invasion in the summer of 1941 the invasion of the soviet union and some people feel that he had a nervous breakdown and was incapable of getting any orders. But he gradually pulled himself together and i think general alan you mentioned was Winston Churchills chief of the army staff in britain and many others came to admire the clarity of the decisionmaking mind and i dont think theres any doubt about that, but as the war went on, he did battle in a number of cases. But basically he stayed in moscow. I think there is only one record at a time when he ever goes anywhere near the front. He was desperately frightened of flying and when he needs churchill and president of tehran that is the first time hes ever been in a place and apparently shes hanging on. This further reminded me of something Ronald Reagan once said when they said how did you survive but he was afraid of flying. I was trying to hold the plane together. So stalin shows his concept of the best way to defeat nazi germany and tehran but it isnt a global strategy. Lets not forget the soviet union was natural in terms of japan until the surrender of germany. So the president of the United States is actually running a global strategy, he global war and i think people dont understand the huge responsibility this man took as well as trying to run the country in terms of the domestic policy of the rail strikes and logistics production, mass production and the atom bomb. Im sure there are many people who feel we wish we hadnt gone down the avenue of the atom bo bomb. But there was great concern that they were exploring the development of the atomic bomb and if they hadnt put all their eggs into other baskets, they definitely would have carried out the research and developme development. After all they produced the first jet fighter plane so my feeling is that although general brooks was right to wake up and realize what a strategist the russian dictator was, that wasnt me cam the greatest strategist of world war ii. Coming back to your first point about the dday invasion just before pearl harbor, the president asked his military advisers to draw up a military strategy if america were attacked and drawn into the floor and it was called the victory plan. It may amuse us in this age of leaps whether its hillarys emails or more important stuff. But that victory plan was leaked by the chicago newspaper publisher before pearl harbor and the plan basically default onto a strategy of germany first, dennis japan entered the war japan could be dealt with afterwards where the reversal wasnt true. You could defeat japan and they would still be in command of the whole of europe. Well, as i have explained in the subsequent months and several years, the soviets were pretty much facing two thirds of the mark at the time and almost all the casualties. Stalin is understandably furio furious. Marshall is all for it. He thinks we could get a hold in normandy and expand. The artillery weapons, the greatness of Franklin Roosevelt as he understood and that person had to be motivated and persuaded to overcome the natural tendency towards isolation which was coming back recently and to understand that americas destiny would be in a larger world as a global power and so the reason i would argue that its the greatest is because of the pathway after the total defeat of pearl harbor he pulls himself together and the people around him, organizes this