Douglas Brinkley (born December 14, 1960) is an American author, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities,[1] 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.[2] He is a public spokesperson on conservation issues. He joined the faculty of Rice University as a professor of history in 2007.[3]Brinkley joined the board of directors for the National Archives Foundation in 2023.[4]
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.
He received an honorary doctorate for his contributions to American letters from
Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.[6]
Life and career
During his time in Georgetown, Brinkley worked as the night manager at Second Story Books in DC.[7]
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.[8] 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."[9]
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.[10] Brinkley also wrote the Atlantic Monthly cover story of December 2003 on Kerry.[11]
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.[17]
Brinkley continued to argue with Young throughout the hearing until the committee chairman threatened to have Brinkley removed.[18][19]
Critical reception
Stephen Ambrose called Brinkley "the best of the new generation of American historians."[20] Brinkley and Ambrose had co-authored three books.[21] Patrick Reardon of the Chicago Tribune called Brinkley America's "new past master."[22] 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."[23] 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."[24] 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".[25]
In 2021, the Garden Club of America awarded Brinkley the Frances K. Hutchison Medal for his distinguished service to conservation efforts.[31]
In 2020, Brinkley won an
Audie Award for his book American Moonshot, in the History/Biography category. [32]
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).[33]
in 2018 Brinkley was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from St Edwards University.[34]
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.[35]
In 2016 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded him their Heritage Award.[37]
In 2015 he was awarded the Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks by the National Parks Conservation Association.[38]
Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (2009) received the National Outdoor Book Award in the History/Biography category 2009.[40]
Driven Patriot (1992), a biography of
James Forrestal, received the Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Naval History Prize.[citation needed]
Brinkley received an honorary doctorate from Hofstra University at commencement in May 2012.[41]
In 2004, Brinkley was given the Humanist of the Year award by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.[42]
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).[43]
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
^Bryson, Bill (8 October 2015). The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island (First ed.). London: Doubleday. pp. 170–171.
ISBN9780857522344.