Henry William Brands Jr. (born August 7, 1953) is an American
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
, where he earned his PhD in history in 1985. He has authored 30 books on
U.S. history. His works have twice been selected as finalists for the
Pulitzer Prize.
Early life and education
Born in 1953, Brands grew up in
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
in the
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, ...
. He attended
Jesuit High School, where he was a three-sport athlete and
National Merit Scholar
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...
. Brands enrolled at
Stanford University, where he studied mathematics and history. After receiving his undergraduate degree in history in 1975, he worked for a year doing sales in his family's
cutlery business before returning to Jesuit High School to teach mathematics. He taught at the high school for the next five years. While doing so he earned an MA in liberal studies from
Reed College
Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...
in 1978, followed by an MS in mathematics from
Portland State
Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...
in 1981. During this period he came to realize that he wanted to write for a living, and determined his love of history might provide an avenue for him to do so.
[C-Span ''In Depth'' interview](_blank)
3 July 2005 He enrolled at the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
to study under historian Robert A. Divine. He wrote his dissertation on the
Eisenhower administration
Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following a landslide victory ...
and its
foreign policy during the
Cold War, earning his PhD in history in 1985.
Academic career
While working on his doctorate, Brands taught social studies and math—courses including world history, American history, algebra and calculus—at Kirby Hall School and
Austin Community College District. His preferred method of transit was his bicycle as he commuted between classes at the University of Texas and his teaching responsibilities at the college preparatory school on the fringe of the UT campus and ACC's Rio Grande site in Central Austin. In his first year after completing his doctorate, Brands worked as an
oral historian
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
at the
University of Texas School of Law
The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...
. The year following he taught at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
. In 1987 he took a position at
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
, where he remained for the next seventeen years. He made the daily commute from his home in Austin to teach in College Station. In 2005, he joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was formerly the Dickson Allen Anderson Centennial Professor of History and Professor of Government and now holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History.
Writings
Examples of Brands' biographical histories include his biographies on
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, covering the
colonial period and the
Revolutionary War;
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, covering the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
,
western expansion and the
conflict over the National Bank;
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
, covering the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
;
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, covering the
Industrial Era
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
and the
Progressive Movement
Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techn ...
; and
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, covering the
Great Depression, the
New Deal, the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, and the ascension of the U.S. as an international power.
He takes a progressive view on the nation's founders and the
United States Constitution, arguing that the founders were at heart radicals who were willing to challenge the status quo in search of a better future. That being so, he believes that Americans today should not be constrained by the views of self-government held by the founders. "In revering the founders we undervalue ourselves and sabotage our own efforts to make necessary improvements in the republican experiment they began. Our love of the founders leads us to abandon and even betray the principles they fought for." He believes the framers would not want the Constitution to be interpreted by the idea of
original intent
Original intent is a theory in law concerning constitutional and statutory interpretation. It is frequently used as a synonym for originalism; while original intent is indeed one theory in the originalist family, it has some salient differenc ...
, and believes that we are in error when we view the founders in a "deified" way.
"The one thing that
he Foundersdid have was an audacity to challenge conventional wisdom."
Brands believes that Americans place too much importance on the individual in the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. "We have this very interesting relationship with the presidents where the president is supposed to be one of us, but on the other hand he represents everybody so he is sort of above all of us. We make too much of presidents, but we can hardly help ourselves." Though noting the power of the office of the President has increased greatly since the opening of the twentieth century, when the United States emerged as a significant world power and U.S. foreign policy became far more important, Brands believes that popular focus on the president is excessive. "We have a cult of the president, where we make too big a deal of the president."
In addition to his works on U.S. history, Brands has works on the economic development of the United States and biographies of key leaders in corporate America. His books are known for their readability and narrative thrust.
He has authored twenty-four books, co-authored three others with
T. H. Breen
Timothy H. Breen (born September 5, 1942 in Ohio) is currently the William Smith Mason Professor of American History Emeritus at Northwestern University and a James Marsh Professor at Large at the University of Vermont. He is the founding direc ...
, and produced numerous articles that have been featured in newspapers and magazines. His writings have received critical and popular acclaim. ''The First American'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the ''Los Angeles Times'' Prize, as well as a ''New York Times'' bestseller. ''The Age of Gold'' was a ''Washington Post'' Best Book of 2002 and a ''San Francisco Chronicle'' bestseller. ''Andrew Jackson'' was a ''Chicago Tribune'' Best Book of 2005 and a ''Washington Post'' bestseller. ''What America Owes the World'' was a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize in international affairs. ''The Wages of Globalism'' was a Choice Outstanding Academic Book winner. ''Lone Star Nation'' won the Deolece Parmelee Award. ''Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt'' was his second finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has appeared in the documentaries ''
The Presidents'' (2005), ''
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America'' (2006), ''
America: The Story of Us'' (2010), ''
The Men Who Built America
''The Men Who Built America'' (also known as ''The Innovators: The Men Who Built America'' in some international markets) is an eight-hour, four-part miniseries docudrama which was originally broadcast on the History Channel in autumn 2012, and o ...
'' (2012), ''
The World Wars'' (2014), and ''
The Eighties'' (2016). His writings have been published in several countries and translated into German, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Personal life
Brands's son
Hal Brands is a scholar of
U.S. foreign policy
The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...
.
Bibliography
![H W Brands 2022 Texas Book Festival](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/H_W_Brands_2022_Texas_Book_Festival.jpg)
* ''Cold Warriors: Eisenhower's Generation and American Foreign Policy'' (1988),
* ''The Specter of Neutralism: The United States and the Emergence of the Third World, 1947-1960'' (1989),
* ''India and the United States: The Cold Peace'' (1990),
* ''Inside the Cold War: Loy Henderson and the Rise of the American Empire, 1918-1961'' (1991),
* ''Bound to Empire: The United States and the Philippines'' (1992),
* ''The Devil We Knew: Americans and the Cold War'' (1993),
* ''The United States in the World: A History of American Foreign Policy'' (1994),
* ''Into the Labyrinth: The United States and the Middle East, 1945-1993'' (1994),
* ''The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s'' (1995),
* ''Since Vietnam: The United States in World Affairs, 1973-1995'' (1995),
* ''The Wages of Globalism: Lyndon Johnson and the Limits of American Power'' (1995),
* ''TR: The Last Romantic'' (1997),
* ''What America Owes the World: The Struggle for the Soul of Foreign Policy'' (1998),
* ''Masters of Enterprise: Giants of American Business from John Jacob Astor and J. P. Morgan to Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey'' (1999),
*
The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin' (2000),
* ''The Strange Death of American Liberalism'' (2001),
* ''The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream'' (2002),
* ''Woodrow Wilson'' (2003),
* ''Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence'' (2004),
* ''Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times'' (2005),
* ''The Money Men: Capitalism, Democracy, and the Hundred Years' War Over the American Dollar'' (2006),
*
Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt' (2008),
* ''America Past and Present'' coauthored textbook; (9th Edition, 2010)
* ''American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900'' (2010),
* ''American Dreams: The United States Since 1945'' (2010),
* ''Greenback Planet: How the Dollar Conquered the World and Threatened Civilization as We Know It'' (2011),
* ''American Stories: A History of The United States'', coauthored textbook (2nd ed. 2011)
* ''The Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield''
merican Portraits series(2011),
* ''The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace'' (2012),
* ''The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr''
merican Portraits series(2012),
* ''Reagan: The Life'' (2015),
* ''The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War'' (2016),
* ''Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants'' (2018),
* ''Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West'' (2019),
* ''The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and the Struggle for American Freedom'' (2020),
* ''Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution'' (2021),
* ''The Last Campaign: Sherman, Geronimo and the War for America'' (2022),
Edited books
* ''The Foreign Policies of Lyndon Johnson: Beyond Vietnam'' (1999)
* ''The Use of Force after the Cold War'' (2000)
* ''Critical Reflections on the Cold War: Linking Rhetoric and History'' (2000), with Martin J. Medhurst
* ''The Selected Letters of Theodore Roosevelt'' (2001)
References
External links
Website at The University of Texas at Austin Hauenstein Center Lectures Booknotes interview ''The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s''25 February 1996
*
*
C-SPAN ''In Depth'' interview 3 July 2005
Brands discusses ''Traitor to His Class'' Pritzker Military Museum & Library, 22 January 2009
Brands discusses ''American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism 1865-1900''at the
Pritzker Military Museum & Library on November 4, 2010
Hauenstein lecture on taking the measure of American presidents 7 March 2013
History through HaikuHistory as presented through twitter.
Coast Cutlery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brands, H.W.
American biographers
American male biographers
Living people
Stanford University alumni
University of Texas at Austin faculty
Writers from Portland, Oregon
University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni
Historians of American foreign relations
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
1953 births
Jesuit High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni
Historians of the Texas Revolution
Educators from Oregon
American male non-fiction writers
Reed College alumni
Portland State University alumni
University of Texas School of Law faculty
Vanderbilt University faculty
Texas A&M University faculty
People from Austin, Texas