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Douglas Brinkley?s
History Tour
Text by David Koger
he first time I saw Douglas Brinkley, he was in my living room. I was watching Hardball with Chris Matthews, a news-talk show on the CNBC cable network, which is popular among political junkies. Brinkley was coming to me ?live? from a television studio in New Orleans and, as I recall, commenting on the institution of the U.S. presidency at some pivotal moment in the whole Clinton impeachment drama. Underneath his picture were the words ?University of New Orleans Professor.? I perked up a bit and thought, ?UNO? I wonder who this is ...? He looked awfully young and a bit disquieted, in contrast to the other commentators, who had a sort of rabid, Republican look common among inside-the-beltway political skirmishers. This boyish figure with the calm voice just fell outside the norm of the usual Clinton-bashers and administration shills who were frequenting Matthews? show at the time. As his commentary progressed, Brinkley impressed me as someone above the fray. I remember that he modestly, but deftly, put the evening?s argument into concise historical context.
Historical context is Doug Brinkley?s stock-in-trade. The 38-year-old?s specialty is revealing complex American history in a manner not only under-
standable, but also engaging for those who attend his classes and read his many books. The Bay St. Louis resident is currently the director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies in New Orleans?the hand-picked successor to popular historical author and founder of the center, Stephen Ambrose?and a distinguished professor of history at UNO. Brinkley has written several widely acclaimed works of nonfiction, such as The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter?s Journey Beyond the White House. His American Heritage History of the United States is considered remarkable in its clarity and scholarship. Reportedly, newly appointed ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrook was boning up by reading Brinkley?s FDR and the Creation of the U.N. Other scholarly work includes Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938, which he cowrote with Ambrose, and Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal, which he also coauthored. This string of conspicuous literary accomplishments began with the publishing of his Georgetown University doctoral dissertation, Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years, 1953-1971, which earned Brinkley Notable Book of the Year honors from the New York Times in 1993, as did his book on Carter in 1998.
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