They led in different eras, but the parallels between Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight Eisenhower are striking—both successful army commanders and then president, with deep convictions about racial equity and determination to avoid war despite their military backgrounds. Ike greatly admired Grant, studying everything from his leadership style to his personality traits and scouring his memoirs for lessons to apply to the battlefield.

John McManus, a Curators’ Distinguished Professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and one of the nation’s top military historians, examines those close connections, delving in particular into Eisenhower’s World War II military campaigns.

The presentation, in partnership with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home, continues a series coinciding with the exhibit Eisenhower’s Middle Road at the Central Library.

For presentation slides, click here.