geeky
potus_geeks that month was Summer Reading for Potus Geeks. Our series began on July 1, 2016 with the following post about David McCullough.It's summer, time for summer vacation, the beach, and perhaps a little more time for summer reading. This month, we'll try and point you in the direction of some of that great summer reading. Let's begin this series with someone who is considered by many to be the Dean of presidential historians, a man so respected as a historian that he is often seen as an authority commenting in many documentaries (when he's not narrating them) and so entertaining as an author that two of his presidential biographies have been turned into HBO series.
David McCullough was born on July 7, 1933 in Pittsburgh and is a graduate of Yale. His first literary success was probably his 1968 work The Johnstown Flood, which tells the story of one of the worst flood disasters in United States history, when, on May 31, 1889, a poorly made dam (built to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort for wealthy tycoons such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon) burst, sending a wall of water that smashed through Johnstown, and killed more than 2,000 people. The book was a huge success, both critically and in sales, and it led to McCullough's decision to become a full time writer.
potus_geeks will know McCulloch best as an author for his biographies of three presidents. His 1981 book Mornings on Horseback tells the story of how a young Theodore Roosevelt transformed himself from a sickly child into the vigorous and energetic adult who would become a war hero and ultimately president of the United States. He had developed an interest in Roosevelt when working on an earlier book, his 1977 work about the construction of the Panama Canal, entitled The Path Between the Seas. He had won four prominent awards in 1978 for that book: The National Book Award, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award and the Cornelius Ryan Award. For Morning on Horseback, he won the National Book Award in 1982.
In 1992, McCullough's book about President Harry Truman was released, simply called Truman. The book provides the reader with a well-written biography of its subject from Truman's birth to his election to U.S. senator, vice-president, president, post-presidency up to his death. It explores many of the major decisions Truman made as president, including his decision to drop the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, his meetings and confrontation with Joseph Stalin during the end of World War II, his creation of the Marshall Plan, his decision to send troops to the Korean War, his recognition of the state of Israel, and his decision to desegregate the United States armed forces. McCullough won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, the Colonial Dames of America Annual Book Award and his second Francis Parkman Prize for this book. It was also made into an HBO movie, also called Truman, which starred Gary Sinise in the title role.
Nine years later, in 2001, McCullough followed up with another biography of a President, with his book entitled John Adams. The book was originally intended to be a dual biography of Adams and Thomas Jefferson, but McCullough said that as he worked on the book, he was increasingly drawn to Adams and away from Jefferson. The book won at least 19 major awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 2002. Like his previous work, HBO made this book into a mini-series also called John Adams, which starred Paul Giamatti in the title role.
In 2005, McCullough's next book entitled 1776 was published. It tells the story of the events surrounding the start of the American Revolution. Although he is not the central figure in the book, much of the book discusses the leadership of George Washington, but it also discusses King George III, Generals William Howe and Henry Knox, and patriot Nathanael Greene.
McCullough is often called on as a narrator because of his soothing and trustworthy voice. He has narrated many television shows and documentaries as well was the 2003 film Seabiscuit. McCullough hosted PBS's American Experience from 1988 to 1999. He has also narrated numerous documentaries directed by Ken Burns, including Emmy Award winning The Civil War, Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge, Baseball, The Statue of Liberty, and The Congress.
If you're looking for some enjoyable summer reading that will quench your history craving, David McCullough is a terrific author to begin with.
Note: Since this article was first posted, McCullough wrote two more excellent books on American History: The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For, published in 2017, and The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West, published in 2019.