William Edward Leuchtenburg (born September 28, 1922) is an American historian. He is the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of History at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

, and a leading scholar of the life and career of

Franklin Delano 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 ...

Career

Leuchtenburg was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on September 28, 1922. On Ken Burns' documentary series ''

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

'', he described, when he was a child, how his father was reported for operating an illegal

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the hea ...

during the

Prohibition Era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic be ...

. He received his BA degree in 1943 from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, where he was inducted into the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

Society. He later received his PhD from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1951. He won the 2007 North Carolina Award for Literature. He served as a program consultant for Ken Burns' documentary series ''

'', which premiered on PBS in October, 2011. He is a past president of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

, the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

, and the

Society of American Historians The Society of American Historians, founded in 1939, encourages and honors literary distinction in the writing of history and biography about American topics. The approximately 300 members include professional historians, independent scholars, jou ...

Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African-American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstruc ...

is the only other historian to claim that distinction. Leuchtenburg turned 100 on September 28, 2022.

Bibliography

Leuchtenburg is the author of more than a dozen books on 20th-century history, including the

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...

–winning ''Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932–1940'' (1963), a volume in the '' New American Nation'' series co-edited by his mentor Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. His works include: * "Progressivism and Imperialism: The Progressive Movement and American Foreign Policy, 1898-1916." ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'' 39.3 (1952): 483-504
online
* "Roosevelt, Norris and the" Seven Little TVAs"." ''Journal of Politics'' 14.3 (1952): 418-441. *''Flood Control Politics: The Connecticut River Valley Problem, 1927–1950'' (1953) *''The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–32'' (1958)
online
*''The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People (Introduction)'' (1961) *''The LIFE History of the United States, Volume 11: 1933–1945 – New Deal and Global War'' (1963) *''The LIFE History of the United States, Volume 12: From 1945 – The Great Age of Change'' (1963) *''Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932–1940'' (1963
online
* "The Origins of Franklin D. Roosevelt's" Court-Packing" Plan." ''The Supreme Court Review 1966'' (1966): 347-400. *''The New Deal: A Documentary History'' (1968) *''Growth of the American Republic'' (2 vols.) with

Samuel Eliot Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and tau ...

and Henry Steele Commager (1969) *''A Troubled Feast: American Society Since 1945'' (1973) * "A Klansman Joins the Court: The Appointment of Hugo L. Black." ''The University of Chicago Law Review'' 41 (1973): 1+. *''New Deal and Global War'' (1974) *''The Growth of the American Republic'' (Volume I) with

and Henry Steele Commager (1980) *''A Concise History of the American Republic'' (Single Volume) with Samuel Eliot Morison and Henry Steele Commager (1983) *''In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan'' (1989; fourth edition, subtitled ''From Harry Truman to Barack Obama,'' 2009
online
*''The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–1932'' (The Chicago History of American Civilization) (1993) *''The Supreme Court Reborn: The Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt'' (1996) *''The FDR Years: On Roosevelt and His Legacy'' (1997) *''American Places: Encounters with History'' (editor) (2000) *''That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt'' with

Robert H. Jackson Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954. He had previously served as Unit ...

et al. (2004) *''The White House Looks South: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson'' (2005) *''The Executive Branch'' (2006) *''Herbert Hoover (The American Presidents Series)'' (2006) *''The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton'' (2015)

References

External links

*
Interview
in

Smithsonian magazine ''Smithsonian'' is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970. History The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' mag ...

Interviewed on Humankind public radio showTestified to Senate Committee Judiciary against the Bork nomination, 23 September 1987
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leuchtenburg, William 1922 births Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American centenarians Men centenarians American political scientists American political writers American male non-fiction writers Columbia University alumni Cornell University alumni Presidents of the American Historical Association University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professors of American History Bancroft Prize winners