Jon Buchleiter

Jon Buchleiter is a doctoral student in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin where he earned his M.A. in 2021. Jon received a B.A. with the highest distinction and highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2016. Before graduate school, Jon taught high school social studies in Charlotte, NC.

Jon researches 20th-century US foreign policy with a particular interest in early nuclear arms control and disarmament efforts. His current research explores the institutionalization of arms control efforts in the United States through the creation of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Finding a home for arms control that combined technical expertise and political influence proved challenging for several successive presidential administrations. Institutionalizing advocacy of arms control served as a valuable counterweight to the growing defense establishment that largely supported expanding development of nuclear weapons in the name of deterrence. Understanding the political and interagency dynamics at play in these early efforts holds important lessons for future arms control initiatives.