Douglas Brinkley

Douglas Brinkley, is bestselling author and professor of history at Rice University, a Grammy-award winning producer and presidential historian for CNN. Eight of his books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and each of his most-recent publications have been New York Times bestsellers. The recipient of numerous literary awards, Mr. Brinkley is the author of award-winning biographies Rosa Parks: A Life, Cronkite and Wheels of the World: Henry Ford, his Country, and a Century of Progress. Published in 2016, Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America is the third volume of Mr. Brinkley’s bestselling U.S. environmental history series. His most recent book, JFK: A Vison for America – which he edited together with the president’s nephew, Stephen Kennedy Smith – is the basis for the New York Historical Society’s exhibition (June 23, 2017 – Janaury 8, 2018) honoring the 100th anniversary of President Kennedy’s birth: American Visionary: John F. Kennedy’s Life and Time. Mr. Brinkley is the authorized biographer for Jack Kerouac’s diaries. He serves as contributing editor for Vanity Fair, Audubon, and American Heritage and is a frequently contributor to the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly. Stephan Ambrose, Mr. Brinkley’s mentor, called him “the best of the new generation of American historians.”