Dr. John T. Kuehn is Professor of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC). He retired from the U.S. Navy in 2004 at the rank of commander after 23 years, serving as a naval flight officer (NFO) flying land and carrier-based aircraft. He has taught a variety of subjects, including military history, at CGSC since 2000. He authored Agents of Innovation (2008), A Military History of Japan: From the Age of the Samurai to the 21st Century (2014), Napoleonic Warfare: The Operational Art of the Great Campaigns (2015), and co-authored Eyewitness Pacific Theater (2008) with D.M. Giangreco, as well as numerous articles and editorials and was awarded a Moncado Prize from the Society for Military History in 2011. His latest book from Naval Institute Press is America's First General Staff: A Short History of the Rise and Fall of the General Board of the Navy, 1900-1950 (Fall 2017).

Dr. Kuenn will discuss Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Gustavus Fox, and their role in the U.S. Naval Blockade. Two books that cover these men in detail are: Lincoln and His Admirals by Craig Symonds (2008) and Gustavus Vasa Fox of the Union Navy: A Biography by Ari Hoogenboom (2009)