I am the author of two books and nearly a dozen other publications.  My most recent publication is a book project that tells the story of a Chicago woman's one-year employment in France during World War One as a Y.M.C.A. welfare worker for American servicemen. Serving the Doughboy (McFarland) was published in early 2024. In 2021, the academic journal Democracy and Security published my article “Leading by Example, Lighting the World: Open Government, Transparency, and Soft Power in Obama’s National Security Policy." The article investigates President Obama's call for greater openness and transparency in American government and international relations. Based on this article, my current research investigates how the United States has sought to affect global politics by undertaking domestic reforms it believes will co-opt other countries and encourage them to follow America's lead in international relations.  I am researching two case studies from the 1940s: the decision of the Justice Department, during the Roosevelt administration, to prosecute peonage in the American South mostly; and President Truman's executive order banning segregation in the U.S. military. I am testing the hypothesis that the U.S. undertook these steps in an effort to improve its global standing as a defender of freedom and democracy and thereby sought to lead the world against totalitarianism by the power of its example. I live in Highland Park, Illinois.