Ferrell, Henry C.

Dr. Henry C. Ferrell Jr has served as the University Historian of East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. He earned his Ph.D at the University of Virginia. Dr. Ferrell has published three books: Claude A. Swanson of Virgina: A Political Biography (University Press of Kentucky, 1985), No Time for Ivy: East Carolina University, 1907-2007 (East Carolina University, 2006), and Promises Kept: East Carolina University, 1980-2007 (East Carolina University, 2006). He has also published numerous articles and book chapters on topics related to American History.

United States Congress and National Defense, 1915-1939

2008 0-7734-5389-X
This study examines the United States’ rise to the status of world power during the first third of the twentieth century. Through necessity to defend against enemies in two world wars, the United States matured into the most powerful political entity of the era. In defining that course, commentators have frequently credited the military and presidents with this successful advance, while rarely mentioning the importance of Congress. It was Congress, however, which functioned as the initiating body for authorizing and appropriating defense legislation. To reveal Congress’s oft-hidden role, this study incorporates sources that have remained previously unexamined. Public and private documents, records of committee hearings, manuscript collections, and laws are analyzed and brought together to present a more complex portrayal of the time period.