Richard Brookhiser
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Richard Brookhiser (; born February 23, 1955) is an American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
,
biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...
and
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 stu ...
. He is a senior editor at ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...
''. He is most widely known for a series of biographies of America's
founders Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...
, including
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
,
Gouverneur Morris Gouverneur Morris ( ; January 31, 1752 – November 6, 1816) was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the U ...
, and
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
.


Life and career

Brookhiser was born in
Irondequoit Irondequoit is a town (and census-designated place) in Monroe County, New York, United States. As of 2019, the coterminous town-CDP had a total population of 50,055. Irondequoit is a suburb of the city of Rochester, lying just north and east o ...
, a suburb north of
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC Document Number: H1000111697 His father worked for Eastman Kodak in Rochester and was a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps during
World War II 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 opposin ...
. He has written books that deal either with the nation's founding, or the principles of America's founders, including '' What Would the Founders Do?'', a book describing how the
Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...
would approach topical issues that generate controversy in modern-day America. Brookhiser began writing for ''National Review'' in 1970. "My first article, on antiwar protests in my high school, was a cover story in ''National Review'' in 1970, when I was 15." Biography page of Mr. Brookhiser's website. He earned an
A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree (1977) at
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
, where he was active in the
Yale Political Union The Yale Political Union (YPU) is a debate society at Yale University, founded in 1934 by Alfred Whitney Griswold. It was modeled on the Cambridge Union and Oxford Union and the party system of the defunct Yale Unions of the late nineteenth and ...
as a member and sometime Chairman of the Party of the Right. In his freshman year he took a class on
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
taught by
Garry Wills Garry Wills (born May 22, 1934) is an American author, journalist, political philosopher, and historian, specializing in American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Genera ...
. Although admitted to
Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
, Brookhiser went to work full-time for ''National Review'' in 1977; by the time he was 23, he was a senior editor, the youngest in the magazine's history. He was selected as the successor to the magazine's founder, William F. Buckley, until Buckley ultimately changed his mind. For a short time he wrote speeches for Vice President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
. He has written for a variety of magazines and newspapers. Brookhiser's work has appeared in the "Talk of the Town" section of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' magazine as well as in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...
'', ''
The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', and '' Vanity Fair''. In 1987 he began a column for ''The New York Observer'' which he wrote until 2007. Brookhiser both wrote and hosted the documentary films ''Rediscovering George Washington'', by Michael Pack, broadcast on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
on July 4, 2002, and ''Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton'', also by Pack, broadcast on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
on April 11, 2011. His book ''Alexander Hamilton, American'' led to the "Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America" exhibition at The
New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...
(2004–2005), for which he was the historian curator. He received an honorary doctorate degree in 2005 from
Washington College Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...
. In 2008, President George W. Bush awarded Brookhiser the
National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...
in a White House ceremony.


Cancer and marijuana use

Brookhiser became ill with
testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an u ...
in 1992 and smoked
marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
to alleviate
nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...
from
chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
. (Before that, he had smoked marijuana in college about ten times, he said.) "Because of the marijuana, my last two courses of chemotherapy were almost nausea-free," he said in 1996. "My cancer is gone now, I was lucky." On March 6, 1996, he testified before a congressional committee about using marijuana, urging the committee members to support decriminalization of marijuana for medical purposes. "My support for medical marijuana is not a contradiction of my principles, but an extension of them," Brookhiser told the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime. "I am for law and order. But crime has to be fought intelligently and the law disgraces itself when it harasses the sick. I am for traditional virtues, but if carrying your beliefs to unjust ends is not moral, it is philistine."


Personal life

He lives in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
(East Village) with his wife, Jeanne Safer, a psychotherapist and author, most recently, of ''The Normal One''.An NRO Symposium on Pat Buckley on National Review Online Jeanne Safer, "Symposium: Pat Buckley, R.I.P."
Web page, April 17, 2007 at ''National Review Online'' Web site, accessed April 18, 2007
They also have a home in
Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...
in the
Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...
.


Books

*''Give Me Liberty: A History of America's Exceptional Idea'', 304 pages (Basic Books: 2019) *''John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court'', 324 pages (Basic Books: 2018) *''Founders' Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln'', 376 pages (Basic Books: 2014) *''James Madison'', 304 pages (Basic Books: 2011) *''Right Time, Right Place: Coming of Age with William F. Buckley Jr. and the Conservative Movement'', 272 pages (Basic Books: 2009) *''George Washington on Leadership,'' 269 pages (Basic Books: 2008) *'' What Would the Founders Do?: Our Questions, Their Answers,'' 261 pages (Basic Books: 2006) Content
links.
*''Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution,'' 272 pages (Free Press: 2003) *''Rules of Civility: The 110 Precepts That Guided Our First President in War and Peace,'' 90 pages (University of Virginia Press: 2003) *''America's First Dynasty : The Adamses, 1735–1918,'' 256 pages (Free Press: 2002) *''George Washington: A National Treasure,'' 104 pages (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: 2002) *''Fighting the Good Fight: A History of the New York Conservative Party,'' 434 pages (St. Augustine's Press: 2002) *(Contributor) ''Patriot Sage: George Washington and the American Political Tradition'', editors Gary L. Gregg, Matthew Spalding, William J. Bennett, 355 pages (ISI Books: 1999) *''Alexander Hamilton, American,'' 240 pages (Free Press: 1999) *''Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington,'' 240 pages (Free Press: 1996) *''Way of the Wasp: How It Made America, and How It Can Save It, So to Speak,'' 171 pages (Free Press: 1990) *''The Outside Story'' (Doubleday reissue edition: 1986)


Notes


External links


Personal website


transcript of conversation with David Gergen

by Richard Brookhiser, ''
City Journal ''City Journal'' is a public policy magazine and website, published by the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, that covers a range of topics on urban affairs, such as policing, education, housing, and other issues. The magazine ...
'' quarterly, summer 2004 * *
''Booknotes'' interview with Brookhiser on ''The Way of the WASP'', March 224, 1991.
*
''In Depth'' interview with Brookheiser, October 7, 2001
(Note: This interview was cut short due to the commencement of
Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...
in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.) *
''In Depth'' interview with Brookheiser, April 1, 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brookhiser, Richard 1955 births Living people American political writers American columnists American political commentators American biographers American male biographers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers National Review people The American Spectator people Yale University alumni National Humanities Medal recipients People from Irondequoit, New York Historians from New York (state) People from the East Village, Manhattan American male non-fiction writers