Michael Beschloss

Mark Anderson

Michael Beschloss has written nine books on American presidents, including the New York Times bestsellers Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989 and The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945, the latter of which was Amazon.com’s bestselling history book in 2002. The New York Times Book Review has called Beschloss “clearly the most widely recognized Presidential historian in the nation,” and Newsweek named him “the nation's leading Presidential historian.”  Previous books include two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s secret tapes and The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960-1963.  Beschloss serves as NBC News Presidential Historian and is a commentator on PBS’s The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.  He has also written a regular column for Newsweek called “Traveling through History with Michael Beschloss.” In 2005, he won an Emmy for his role in creating the Discovery Channel's Decisions That Shook the World, which he also hosted. He is a trustee of the White House Historical Association and the National Archives Foundation and a former trustee of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Monticello).

Event
Lincoln Scholars, Part II: Michael Beschloss, Joshua Wolf Shenk and James L. Swanson
When: Tue, Sep 23, 1:30pm – 3:30pm
Where: Dewberry Hall South, Johnson Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (map)
Description: Three members of the advisory committee for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission headline the afternoon session of this day-long series of events: Michael Beschloss, author of nine books on American presidents including Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989; Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness; and James L. Swanson, author of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer. Moderated by presidential historian Richard Norton Smith. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, the Finley Lecture of the Department of History and Art History, and Mason’s Office of University Life.