Acton Lecture Series

This episode takes us back in time to September 2018 for a talk from our Acton Lecture Series. Students of 20th century American history know of the importance of the Marshall Plan to the effort to rebuild Europe after World War II, as well as the leading role taken by the United States in building international institutions and alliances that would be central to maintaining peace and checking the expansionist desires of the communist world. What you may not know is that a central figure in the creation of those institutions was a United States Senator from Michigan who, prior to the war, had been a leader of the isolationist faction in Congress. The story of how Arthur Vandenberg came to be one of the founders of modern American foreign policy is recounted in the book Arthur Vandenberg: The Man in the Middle of the American Century, from Hank Meijer. Hank Meijer is co-chairman and CEO of Meijer, Inc. in Grand Rapids and vice-chairman of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation. He serves on the executive c