# Douglas Brinkley

Douglas Brinkley (born December 14, 1960) is an American author, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities, and professor of history at Rice University. Brinkley is a history commentator for CNN, Presidential Historian for the New York Historical Society, and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair. He is a public spokesperson on conservation issues. He joined the faculty of Rice University as a professor of history in 2007. Brinkley joined the board of directors for the National Archives Foundation in 2023.

## Early life

Brinkley was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1960, but after his father was transferred to the Toledo, Ohio headquarters of Owens-Illinois in 1969, did his remaining elementary and secondary schooling in Perrysburg, Ohio. His mother was a high school English teacher. In fourth grade Doug memorized the Presidents, their vice presidents, as well as the opposing presidential and vice presidential candidates.

## Education

Brinkley was educated at Perrysburg High School, followed by Ohio State University, from which he earned a B.A. (1982), and Georgetown University, earning an M.A. (1983) and Ph.D. (1989) in U.S. diplomatic history. He has been on the faculty of Hofstra University, the University of New Orleans, Tulane University, and Rice University.
He received an honorary doctorate for his contributions to American letters from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

## Life and career

During his time in Georgetown, Brinkley worked as the night manager at Second Story Books in DC. During the early 1990s, Brinkley taught American Arts and Politics for Hofstra aboard the Majic Bus, a roving transcontinental classroom, from which emerged the book The Majic Bus: An American Odyssey (1993). In 1993, he left Hofstra to teach at the University of New Orleans, where he taught the class again using two natural-gas fueled buses. According to the Associated Press, "...if you can't tour the United States yourself, the next best thing is to go along with Douglas Brinkley aboard The Majic Bus."
Brinkley worked closely with his mentor, historian Stephen E. Ambrose, then director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans. Ambrose chose Brinkley to become director of the Eisenhower Center, a post he held for five years before moving to Tulane University.
Brinkley's first book was Jean Monnet: The Path to European Unity (1992). His second was Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years (1992). He then co-edited a monograph series with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and William vanden Heuvel in the 1990s. Brinkley also edited a volume on Dean Acheson and the Making of US Foreign Policy with Paul H. Nitze (1993). In 1999, he published The Unfinished Presidency about Jimmy Carter's active and influential post-presidency.
Brinkley is the literary executor for his late friend, the journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson. He is also the editor of a three-volume collection of Thompson's letters. Brinkley is also the authorized biographer for Beat generation author Jack Kerouac, having edited Kerouac's diaries as Windblown World (2004).
In 2004, Brinkley released Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War, about U.S. Senator John Kerry's prior military service and anti-war activism during the Vietnam War. The 2004 documentary movie Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry is loosely based on Brinkley's book. Brinkley also wrote the Atlantic Monthly cover story of December 2003 on Kerry.
Brinkley's book The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast is a record of the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. The book won the 2007 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. He also served as the primary historian for Spike Lee's documentary about Hurricane Katrina, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Critic Nancy Franklin in The New Yorker noted that Brinkley made up a "large part" of the film's "conscience."
Brinkley's biography of Walter Cronkite, Cronkite was published in 2012. It was also selected as a Washington Post Book of the Year.
Brinkley and Johnny Depp were nominated for a Grammy for their co-authoring of the liner notes to the documentary: Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. He also co-edited with Johnny Depp the long lost novel of Woody Guthrie titled House of Earth.
In January 2022, Brinkley compared the 2021 United States Capitol attack to the Holocaust, the September 11 attacks, and the Attack on Pearl Harbor. "I think it is like December 7th Pearl Harbor it is like the 9/11 tragedy", said Brinkley.

### Congressional hearing

On November 18, 2011, during his testimony before a Congressional hearing on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Brinkley had a heated exchange with Rep. Don Young. Young, who had not been present during Brinkley's testimony, nonetheless characterized it as "garbage" and addressed Brinkley as "Dr. Rice." In response, Brinkley stated, "It's Dr. Brinkley. Rice is a university. I know you went to Yuba College and couldn't graduate." Brinkley also noted that Young's comments were made even though Young had not been present during his testimony. Brinkley continued to push back against Young throughout the hearing until the committee chairman threatened to have Brinkley removed.

## Critical reception

Stephen Ambrose called Brinkley "the best of the new generation of American historians." Brinkley and Ambrose had co-authored three books. Patrick Reardon of the Chicago Tribune called Brinkley America's "new past master." In addition, during the 2013 inauguration coverage, CNN referred to him as "a man who knows more about the presidency than just about any human being alive." In contrast, in 2006, historian Wilfred McClay in the New York Sun appraised Brinkley's scholarship as one that has failed to "put forward a single memorable idea, a single original analysis, or a single lapidary phrase." Similarly, author Bill Bryson characterized Brinkley as "a minor American academic and sometime critic whose powers of observation and generosity of spirit would fit comfortably into a proton and still leave room for an echo".
Garrett Graff wrote that Brinkley's books on the Second World War, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc; Voices of Valor and The World War Two Memorial, "changed forever how history will view the sacrifices of both the living and dead of World War Two.”

## Awards and honors

* In the spring of 2024, Brinkley was a fellow at the University of Southern California Center for the Political Future.
* In 2023, Brinkley won a Grammy Award for “Fandango At The Wall In New York” by Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, featuring the Congra Patria Son Jarocho Collective (Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album).
* In 2022, Brinkley was nominated for two Grammy Award categories; for co-producing two projects: “Black Men Are Precious” by Ethelbert Miller (Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album), and “Fandango At The Wall In New York” by Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, featuring the Congra Patria Son Jarocho Collective (Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album).
* On April 25, 2022, Brinkley received the Frank and Bethine Church Award for Public Service from the Frank Church Institute of Boise State University.
* In the summer of 2021 Brinkley was named the inaugural historian in residence at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
* In 2021, the Garden Club of America awarded Brinkley the Frances K. Hutchinson Medal for his distinguished service to conservation efforts.
* In 2020, Brinkley won an Audie Award for his book American Moonshot, in the History/Biography category.
* In 2020, Brinkley's book American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race was given the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction (Longlist).
* in 2018 Brinkley was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from St Edwards University.
* In 2017, Brinkley was named Presidential Historian for New York Historical Society, helping to advance and articulate the mission, goals, and activities of the Historical Society's Presidency Project.
* In 2017, Brinkley won a Grammy Award Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for co-producing Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom by the Ted Nash Big Band.
* In 2016 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded him their Heritage Award.
* In 2015 he was awarded the Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks by the National Parks Conservation Association.
* Cronkite (2012), a biography of Walter Cronkite, received the Ann M. Sperber Prize for 2013.
* In 2009, Brinkley wrote the official inaugural book Barack Obama; The Official Inaugural Book with Tom Brokaw and U.S. Representative John Lewis and is an advisory board member for the Obama Presidency Oral History Project at Columbia University.
* Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (2009) received the National Outdoor Book Award in the History/Biography category 2009.
* Driven Patriot (1992), a biography of James Forrestal, received the Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Naval History Prize.
* Brinkley received an honorary doctorate from Hofstra University at commencement in May 2012.
* In 2004, Brinkley was given the Humanist of the Year award by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
* In 1995 he was awarded the Stuart L. Bernath Lecture Prize from the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations (Ceremony: Chicago, Illinois, April 1996).

## Personal life

Brinkley lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Anne and three children, Johnny, Benton, and Cassady. He is a member of the Century Association, the Council on Foreign Relations and Society of American Historians.

## Works

| Title | Year | ISBN | Publisher | Subject matter | Interviews, presentations, and reviews | Comments |
| Original works |||||||
| Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal | 1992 | ISBN 9780394577616 | Alfred A. Knopf | James Forrestal | | Written with Townsend Hoopes |
| Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years, 1953–71 | 1992 | ISBN 9780300047738 | Yale University Press | Dean Acheson | New York Times Book Review by Evan Thomas, November 8, 1992 | |
| The Majic Bus: An American Odyssey | 1993 | ISBN 9780151556946 | Harcourt | Describes Brinkley's experiences taking groups of college students on tours of historic sites around the U.S., and at least partly inspired the C-SPAN Bus program | Booknotes interview with Brinkley on The Majic Bus, April 18, 1993, C-SPAN | |
| Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy since 1938 | 1997 | ISBN 9780140268317 | Penguin Books | Foreign policy of the United States | | Written with Stephen Ambrose |
| FDR and the Creation of the U.N. | 1997 | ISBN 9780300069303 | Yale University Press | Franklin D. Roosevelt, History of the United Nations, Declaration by United Nations | Presentation by Hoopes and Brinkley on FDR and the Creation of the U.N., April 29, 1997, C-SPAN | Written with Townsend Hoopes |
| American Heritage History of the United States | 1998 | ISBN 9780670869664 | Viking Press | History of the United States | | |
| The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House | 1999 | ISBN 9780670880065 | Viking Press | Post-presidency of Jimmy Carter | | |
| Witness to America: An Illustrated Documentary History of the United States from the Revolution to Today, Volume 1 | 1999 | ISBN 9780062716118 | HarperCollins | History of the United States | Presentation by Ambrose and Brinkley on Witness to America, October 30, 1999, C-SPAN | Written with Stephen Ambrose |
| Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: The Life of Rosa Parks | 2000 | ISBN 9780297607083 | Weidenfeld & Nicolson | Rosa Parks | Presentation by Brinkley on Rosa Parks, June 7, 2000, C-SPAN | |
| The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation: From the Louisiana Purchase to Today | 2002 | ISBN 9780792269137 | National Geographic Society | The Mississippi River | Presentation by Brinkley on The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation, October 30, 2002, C-SPAN | Written with Stephen Ambrose |
| Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, 1903–2003 | 2003 | ISBN 9781422354568 | Viking Penguin | Henry Ford, The Ford Motor Company | Presentation by Brinkley on Wheels for the World, May 2, 2003, C-SPAN | |
| Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War | 2004 | ISBN 9780060565237 | William Morrow and Company | Military career of John Kerry | Presentation by Brinkley on Tour of Duty, February 28, 2004, C-SPAN, Interview with Brinkley on Tour of Duty, October 11, 2004, C-SPAN | |
| Voices of Valor: D-Day, June 6, 1944 | 2004 | ISBN 9780821228890 | Bulfinch Press | D-Day | | Written with Ronald J. Drez |
| The World War II Memorial: A Grateful Nation Remembers | 2004 | ISBN 9781588342102 | Smithsonian Books | National World War II Memorial | | |
| The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion | 2005 | ISBN 9780060565275 | William Morrow and Company | D-Day, 2nd Ranger Battalion (United States), Ronald Reagan | Interview with Brinkley on The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, June 2, 2005, C-SPAN | |
| Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism | 2006 | ISBN 9780060776848 | William Morrow and Company | Michael J. McGivney | Presentation by Brinkley on Parish Priest, January 19, 2006, C-SPAN | Written with Julie M. Fenster |
| The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast | 2006 | ISBN 9780061124235 | HarperCollins | Hurricane Katrina | Washington Journal interview with Brinkley on The Great Deluge, May 26, 2006, C-SPAN, New York Times Book Review by Michiko Kakutani, May 16, 2006 Presentation by Brinkley on The Great Deluge, June 7, 2006, C-SPAN, Presentation by Brinkley on The Great Deluge, September 30, 2006, C-SPAN | |
| Gerald R. Ford | 2007 | ISBN 9780805069099 | Times Books | Gerald R. Ford | | |
| The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America | 2009 | ISBN 9780060565282 | HarperCollins | Environmental movement in the United States, Theodore Roosevelt | Part One of Q&A interview with Brinkley on The Wilderness Warrior, June 21, 2009, C-SPAN; Part Two of Q&A interview New York Times Book Review by Jonathan Rosen, August 6, 2009 | |
| The Quiet World: Saving Alaska's Wilderness Kingdom, 1879–1960 | 2011 | ISBN 9780062005960 | HarperCollins | | Interview with Brinkley on The Quiet World, October 23, 2011 | |
| Cronkite | 2012 | ISBN 9780061374265 | HarperCollins | Walter Cronkite | Q&A interview with Brinkley on Cronkite, June 3, 2012, C-SPAN, Interview with Brinkley on Cronkite, September 22, 2012, C-SPAN, Presentation by Brinkley on Cronkite, October 27, 2012, C-SPAN | |
| Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America | 2016 | ISBN 9780062089236 | HarperCollins | Environmental movement in the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Civilian Conservation Corps | Presentation by Brinkley on Rightful Heritage, March 12, 2016, C-SPAN, Presentation by Brinkley on Rightful Heritage, September 24, 2016, C-SPAN | |
| American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race | 2019 | ISBN 9780062655066 | HarperCollins | Space Race, Apollo program | Washington Post Book Review by Thomas Oliphant, April 4, 2019 Q&A interview with Brinkley on American Moonshot, April 7, 2019 | |
| Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening | 2022 | ISBN 9780063212916 | HarperCollins | Environmental movement in the United States, Rachel Carson, Silent Spring | Q&A interview with Brinkley on Silent Spring Revolution, November 20, 2022 Washington Post Book Review by Matthew Dallek, November 22, 2022 | |
| As editor |||||||
| The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955–1967 | 1997 | ISBN 9780679406952 | Villard | Hunter S. Thompson | | ed. with Hunter S. Thompson |
| Fear and Loathing in America: the Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist, 1968–1976 | 2000 | ISBN 9780684873152 | Simon & Schuster | Hunter S. Thompson | | ed. with Hunter S. Thompson |
| Windblown World: The Journals of Jack Kerouac, 1947–1954 | 2004 | ISBN 9780670033416 | Viking Press | Jack Kerouac | | |
| The Reagan Diaries | 2007 | ISBN 9781616795580 | HarperCollins | Ronald Reagan | Interview with Brinkley on The Reagan Diaries, April 27, 2007, C-SPAN, Interview with Brinkley on The Reagan Diaries, June 9, 2007, C-SPAN | |
| Jack Kerouac Road Novels 1957–1960 | 2007 | ISBN 9781598530124 | Library of America | Jack Kerouac, On the Road, The Dharma Bums, The Subterraneans, Tristessa, Lonesome Traveler | | |
| The Notes: Ronald Reagan's Private Collection of Stories and Wisdom | 2011 | ISBN 9780062065131 | HarperCollins | Ronald Reagan | | |
| The Nixon Tapes: 1971–1972 | 2014 | ISBN 9780544274150 | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Nixon White House tapes | Gaddis, John Lewis. "Book Review: 'The Nixon Tapes' by Douglas Brinkley and Luke A. Nichter." The Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2014. | ed. with Luke A. Nichter |
| The Nixon Tapes: 1973 | 2015 | ISBN 9780544610538 | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Nixon White House tapes | Frankel, Max. "‘The Nixon Tapes: 1973,’ Edited by Douglas Brinkley and Luke A. Nichter." The New York Times, Sunday Book Review, Oct. 19, 2015. | ed. with Luke A. Nichter |