Editing David McCullough

{{Short description|American historian and author (1933–2022)}}
{{For-multi|the journalist|David McCullagh|the illustrator and writer on design|David Macaulay}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = David McCullough
| image            = David McCullough 64-CFD-20050630-01-005 (cropped).jpg
| caption          = McCullough in 2005
| birth_name       = David Gaub McCullough
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1933|07|07}}
| birth_place      = [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|2022|08|07|1933|07|07}}
| death_place      = [[Hingham, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| occupation       = {{Hlist|Historian|narrator}}
| period           = 1968–2019
| subject          = American history
| alma_mater       = [[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| spouse           = {{Marriage|Rosalee Barnes|1954|2022|end = died}}
| children         = 5
| awards           = {{Plainlist|
* [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (2006)
* [[Pulitzer Prize]] (1993, 2002)<ref name=pulitzer />
* [[National Book Award]] (1982)
<!-- See talk page before adding -->
}}
}}

'''David Gaub McCullough''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|k|ʌ|l|ə}}; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American [[popular historian]]. He was a two-time winner of both the [[Pulitzer Prize]] and the [[National Book Award]]. In 2006, he was given the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the United States' highest civilian award.<ref name="SSbio">{{cite web |url=http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883&agid=13 |title=Biography at Simon & Schuster |access-date=April 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606224818/http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883&agid=13 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = June 6, 2008}}</ref><ref name="PresBio">{{cite news |first=Jerome L. |last=Sherman |title=Presidential biographer gets presidential medal |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06350/746640-44.stm |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=December 16, 2006 |access-date=December 18, 2006 |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118034506/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06350/746640-44.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Grdn2022">{{cite news |last1=Carlson |first1=Michael |title=Obituary David McCullough |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/18/david-mccullough-obituary |access-date=1 October 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=18 August 2022}}</ref>

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, McCullough earned a degree in [[English literature]] from [[Yale University]]. His first book was ''[[The Johnstown Flood (book)|The Johnstown Flood]]'' (1968), and he wrote nine more on such topics as [[Harry S. Truman]], [[John Adams]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], the [[Brooklyn Bridge]], the [[Panama Canal]], and the [[Wright brothers]]. McCullough also narrated numerous documentaries, such as ''[[The Civil War (miniseries)|The Civil War]]'' by [[Ken Burns]], as well as the 2003 film ''[[Seabiscuit (film)|Seabiscuit]]'', and he hosted the [[PBS]] television documentary series ''[[American Experience]]'' for twelve years.<ref name="Grdn2022"/> McCullough's two Pulitzer Prize–winning books—''[[Truman (book)|Truman]]'' and ''[[John Adams (book)|John Adams.]]''—were adapted by [[HBO]] into [[Truman (1995 film)|a TV film]] and [[John Adams (miniseries)|a miniseries]], respectively.<ref name="Grdn2022"/>

==Early life and education==
McCullough was born in the [[Point Breeze, Pittsburgh|Point Breeze]] neighborhood of [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania,<ref name="AoAbio" /> to Ruth (née Rankin; 1899–1985) and Christian Hax McCullough (1899–1989).<ref name="NatBook95">{{cite web |url= http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_dmccullough.html |title= David McCullough |access-date= April 24, 2008 |work= National Book Awards Acceptance Speeches |publisher= National Book Foundation |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080415045419/http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_dmccullough.html |archive-date= April 15, 2008 |url-status= dead }}</ref> He was of [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]], German, and English descent.<ref name="CRose" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Nexus: The Bimonthly Newsletter of the New England Historic Genealogical Society|date=August 9, 1994|publisher=The Society}}</ref> He was educated at Linden Avenue Grade School and [[Shady Side Academy]],<ref name="Grdn2022"/> in his hometown of Pittsburgh.<ref name="PresBio" />

One of four sons, McCullough had a "marvelous" childhood with a wide range of interests, including sports and drawing cartoons.<ref name="AoApro">{{cite web|title=David McCullough Biography and Interview|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/#interview|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=September 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235405/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/#interview|url-status=live}}</ref> McCullough's parents and his grandmother, who read to him often, introduced him to books at an early age.<ref name="CRose" /> His parents often talked about history, a topic he said should be discussed more often.<ref name="CRose" /> McCullough "loved school, every day";<ref name="AoApro" /> he contemplated many career choices, ranging from architect, actor, painter, writer, to lawyer, and considered attending medical school for a time.<ref name="AoApro" />

In 1951, McCullough began attending [[Yale University]].<ref name="Pitt son">{{cite news |first=Bob |last=Hoover |title=David McCullough: America's historian, Pittsburgh son |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/books/20011230mccullough1230fnp2.asp |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=December 30, 2001 |access-date=April 21, 2008 |archive-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203151155/http://www.post-gazette.com/books/20011230mccullough1230fnp2.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> He said that it was a "privilege" to study English at Yale because of faculty members such as [[John O'Hara]], [[John Hersey]], [[Robert Penn Warren]], and [[Brendan Gill]].<ref name="NEHint">{{cite web|url= http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/mccullough/interview.html|title= David McCullough Interview|access-date= April 22, 2008|last= Cole|first= Bruce|publisher= [[National Endowment for the Humanities]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080511114908/http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/mccullough/interview.html|archive-date= May 11, 2008|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name="Grdn2022"/> McCullough occasionally ate lunch with the Pulitzer Prize–winning<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.tcnj.edu/~wilder/biography/frame.html|title= Biography|access-date= April 22, 2008|publisher= Thorton Wilder Society|archive-date= June 21, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120621023948/http://www.tcnj.edu/~wilder/biography/frame.html|url-status= live}}</ref> novelist and playwright [[Thornton Wilder]].<ref name="NEHint" /> Wilder, said McCullough, taught him that a competent writer maintains "an air of freedom" in the storyline, so that a reader will not anticipate the outcome, even if the book is non-fiction.<ref name="Wilder">{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304432304576369421525987128?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion |title=Don't Know Much about History |last=Bolduc |first=Brian |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=June 18, 2001 |access-date=June 18, 2011 |archive-date=December 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216043331/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304432304576369421525987128?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Grdn2022"/>

While at Yale, he became a member of [[Skull and Bones]].<ref>{{cite book|title= Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power|last= Robbins|first= Alexandra|author-link= Alexandra Robbins|year= 2002|publisher= [[Little, Brown and Company]]|location= Boston|isbn= 0-316-72091-7|page= [https://archive.org/details/secretsoftombsku00robb/page/127 127]|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/secretsoftombsku00robb/page/127}}</ref> He served [[Apprenticeship#United States|apprenticeships]] at ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', the [[United States Information Agency]], and ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]'',<ref name="NEHint" /> where he enjoyed research. He said: "Once I discovered the endless fascination of doing the research and of doing the writing, I knew I had found what I wanted to do in my life."<ref name="NEHint" /> While attending Yale, McCullough studied Arts and earned his bachelor's degree in English, with the intention of becoming a fiction writer or playwright.<ref name="CRose" /> He graduated with honors in [[English literature]] in 1955.<ref name="YalePR">{{cite press release|title= Orthodox Church Patriarch and Entertainer Lena Horne Among Honorary Degree Recipients at Yale University|publisher= [[Yale University]]|date= May 25, 1998|url= http://news.yale.edu/1998/05/25/orthodox-church-patriarch-and-entertainer-lena-horne-among-honorary-degree-recipients-yal|access-date= April 21, 2008|quote= David McCullough graduated from Yale in 1955 with honors in English literature and began his career as writer and editor for Time Inc. in New York City.|archive-date= July 1, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150701143148/http://news.yale.edu/1998/05/25/orthodox-church-patriarch-and-entertainer-lena-horne-among-honorary-degree-recipients-yal|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="PBS">{{cite web|url= https://www.pbs.org/newshour/character/bios/mccullough.html|title= David McCullough|access-date= April 21, 2008|publisher= PBS|archive-date= January 3, 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080103073540/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/character/bios/mccullough.html|url-status= live}}</ref>

==Writing career==
=== Early career ===
After graduation, McCullough moved to New York City, where ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' hired him as a trainee in 1956.<ref name="AoApro" /> He later worked as an editor and writer for the [[United States Information Agency]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="AoAbio">{{cite web|title=David McCullough Biography and Interview|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/#biography|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=September 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235405/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/#biography|url-status=live}}</ref> After working for twelve years in editing and writing, including a position at ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]'', McCullough "felt that [he] had reached the point where [he] could attempt something on [his] own."<ref name="AoApro" /><ref name="Grdn2022"/>

McCullough "had no anticipation that [he] was going to write history, but [he] stumbled upon a story that [he] thought was powerful, exciting, and very worth telling."<ref name="AoApro" /> While working at ''American Heritage'', McCullough wrote in his spare time for three years.<ref name="AoApro" /><ref name="NEHbio">{{cite web |url= http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/mccullough/biography.html |title= David McCullough biography: The Citizen Chronicler |access-date= April 12, 2008 |publisher= [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080416051956/http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/mccullough/biography.html |archive-date= April 16, 2008 |url-status= dead }}</ref> ''[[The Johnstown Flood (book)|The Johnstown Flood]]'', a chronicle of one of the [[Johnstown Flood|worst flood disasters]] in United States history, was published in 1968<ref name="AoApro" /> to high praise by critics.<ref name="FloodRev">{{cite web|url= http://www.electriceggplant.com/davidmccullough/flood_reviews.htm|title= Johnstown Flood: Reviews and Praise|access-date= April 23, 2008|publisher= ElectricEggplant|archive-date= August 14, 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070814214206/http://www.electriceggplant.com/davidmccullough/flood_reviews.htm|url-status= live}}. The bestselling author [[Erik Larson (author)|Erik Larson]] has written that ''The Johnstown Flood'' was a book that changed his life. He found it full of "suspense, drama, class conflict, dire goings-on."  Larson decided to write in the same genre, what he calls "narrative nonfiction," and thought McCullough's book "a [[Baedeker]] for how to go about it. I analyzed his source notes and outlined the story chapter by chapter, to try to divine just how he did it. And suddenly I had my compass. The result was ''[[Isaac's Storm]]''." ''AARP Magazine'', April/May 2015,10.</ref> [[John Leonard (American critic)|John Leonard]], of ''[[The New York Times]]'', said of McCullough, "We have no better social historian."<ref name="FloodRev" /> Despite rough financial times,<ref name="Pitt son" /> he decided to become a full-time writer, encouraged by his wife Rosalee.<ref name="AoApro" />

{{quote box
| width = 30em
| bgcolor = #c6dbf7
| People often ask me if I'm working on a book. That's not how I feel. I feel like I work in a book. It's like putting myself under a spell. And this spell, if you will, is so real to me that if I have to leave my work for a few days, I have to work myself back into the spell when I come back. It's almost like hypnosis.<ref name='1992 Times article'>{{cite news | first=Esther | last=Fein | title=Talking History With: David McCullough; Immersed in Facts, The Better to Imagine Harry Truman's Life | date=1992-08-12 | work=[[The New York Times]] | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/12/garden/talking-history-with-david-mccullough-immersed-facts-better-imagine-harry-truman.html?pagewanted=all | access-date=April 20, 2010 | archive-date=November 25, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125183452/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/12/garden/talking-history-with-david-mccullough-immersed-facts-better-imagine-harry-truman.html?pagewanted=all | url-status=live }}</ref>}}

[[File:McCullough interviews Reagan.jpg|thumb|right|McCullough interviews President [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1981]]

=== Gaining recognition ===
After the success of ''The Johnstown Flood'', two new publishers offered him contracts, one to write about the [[1871 Great Chicago Fire|Great Chicago Fire]] and another about the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|San Francisco earthquake]].<ref name="BridgeInt">{{cite web|url= http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/2003annual/confevents/mccullough.cfm|title= A Painter of Words About the Past|access-date=April 23, 2008 |first=Leslie |last=Shaver |date=April 2003 |publisher= Special Libraries Association |url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20021029020036/http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/2003annual/confevents/mccullough.cfm|archive-date= October 29, 2002|df= mdy-all}}</ref> [[Simon & Schuster]], publisher of his first book, also offered McCullough a contract to write a second book.<ref name="Pitt son" /> Trying not to become "Bad News McCullough",<ref name="BridgeInt" /> he decided to write about a subject showing "people were not always foolish and inept or irresponsible."<ref name="BridgeInt" /> He remembered the words of his Yale teacher: "[Thornton] Wilder said he got the idea for a book or a play when he wanted to learn about something. Then, he'd check to see if anybody had already done it, and if they hadn't, he'd do it."<ref name="Pitt son" /> McCullough decided to write a history of the [[Brooklyn Bridge]], which he had walked across many times.<ref name="Pitt son" /> It was published in 1972.<ref name="Grdn2022"/>

He also proposed, from a suggestion by his editor<!-- Peter Schuade (spelling needs confirmed) -->,<ref name="CRose" /> a work about the [[Panama Canal]]; both were accepted by the publisher.<ref name="Pitt son" /> Five years later, ''[[The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914]]'' was released, gaining McCullough widespread recognition.<ref name="Pitt son" /> The book won the [[National Book Award]] [[List of winners of the National Book Award#History|in History]],<ref name=nba1978>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1978 |title=National Book Awards – 1978 |access-date=April 24, 2008 |publisher=National Book Foundation |archive-date=April 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411052543/https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1978/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the Samuel Eliot Morison Award,<ref name="Sam78">{{cite web|url= http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1978/6/1978_6_107.shtml|title= Samuel Eliot Morison Award 1978 |access-date=April 24, 2008 |publisher= AmericanHeritage.com |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122513/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1978/6/1978_6_107.shtml |archive-date= September 29, 2007 |df= mdy-all}}</ref> the [[Francis Parkman Prize]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lovethebook.com/Awards.aspx?wid=283&pg=4&bn=9&pbn=1000 |title=Francis Parkman Prize |access-date=April 24, 2008 |work=Book Awards |publisher=LoveTheBook.com |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116023805/http://www.lovethebook.com/Awards.aspx?wid=283&pg=4&bn=9&pbn=1000 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Cornelius Ryan Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opcofamerica.org/opc_awards/archive/byaward/award_ryan.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070311003944/http://www.opcofamerica.org/opc_awards/archive/byaward/award_ryan.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 11, 2007 |title=Cornelius Ryan Award |access-date=April 24, 2008 |publisher=Overseas Press Club of America }}</ref> Later in 1977, McCullough travelled to the [[White House]] to advise [[Jimmy Carter]] and the [[United States Senate]] on the [[Torrijos-Carter Treaties]], which would give [[Panama]] control of the Canal.<ref name="Sam78" /> Carter later said that the treaties, which were negotiated to transfer ownership of the Canal to Panama, would not have passed had it not been for the book.<ref name="Sam78" /><ref name="Grdn2022"/>

=== "The story of people" ===
McCullough's fourth work was his first biography, reinforcing his belief that "history is the story of people".<ref name="CapeArts" /> Released in 1981, ''[[Mornings on Horseback]]'' tells the story of seventeen years in the life of [[Theodore Roosevelt]], the 26th President of the United States.<ref name="MornEgg">{{cite web |url=http://www.electriceggplant.com/davidmccullough/mornings.htm |title=Mornings on Horseback |access-date=April 24, 2008 |publisher=ElectricEggplant |archive-date=April 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421101938/http://www.electriceggplant.com/davidmccullough/mornings.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The work ranged from Roosevelt's childhood to 1886, and tells of a "life intensely lived."<ref name="MornEgg" /> The book won McCullough's second National Book Award<ref name=nba1982>{{cite web|url= https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1982|title= National Book Awards – 1982|access-date= April 24, 2008|publisher= National Book Foundation|archive-date= January 31, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190131145618/https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1982/|url-status= live}}</ref><ref group=lower-alpha name=paperback>''Mornings on Horseback'' won the 1982 [[List of winners of the National Book Award#Biography|award for hardcover "Autobiography/Biography"]]. <br />From 1980 to 1983 in [[National Book Award#History|National Book Award history]] there were dual hardcover and paperback awards in most categories, and [[National Book Award for Nonfiction#nonfiction categories|several nonfiction subcategories]] including General Nonfiction. Most of the paperback award-winners were reprints, including the 1982 Autobiography/Biography.</ref> and his first ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' Prize for Biography and [[New York Public Library]] Literary Lion Award.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?sid=814&pid=414119 |title= Mornings on Horseback |access-date= April 24, 2008 |publisher= SimonSays.com |archive-date= August 9, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220809191835/https://vimeo.com/simonandschuster/vod_pages |url-status= live }}</ref> Next, he published ''[[Brave Companions]]'', a collection of essays that "unfold seamlessly".<ref>{{cite news |first= Lynn |last= Andriani|title= McCullough and S&S: 40 Years|url= http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20080317/3434-mccullough-and-s-amp-s-40-years-.html|work=Publishers Weekly |date=March 17, 2008 |access-date=April 25, 2008}}</ref> Written over twenty years, the book<ref name="BravePW">{{ASIN|0131401041|title=Brave Companions: Portraits in History}}</ref> includes essays about [[Louis Agassiz]], [[Alexander von Humboldt]], [[John A. Roebling|John]] and [[Washington Roebling]], [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]], [[Conrad Richter]], and [[Frederic Remington]].<ref name="BravePW" />

With his next book, McCullough published his second biography, ''[[Truman (book)|Truman]]'' (1992) about [[Harry S. Truman|the 33rd president]]. The book won McCullough his first [[Pulitzer Prize]], in the category of "Best Biography or Autobiography",<ref name=pulitzer>{{cite web |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/222 |title=Biography or Autobiography: Past winners and finalists by category |work=The Pulitzer Prizes |access-date=March 17, 2012 |archive-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628212619/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/222 |url-status=live }}</ref> and his second Francis Parkman Prize. Two years later, the book was [[film adaptation|adapted]] as ''[[Truman (1995 film)|Truman]]'' (1995), a television film by [[HBO]], starring [[Gary Sinise]] as Truman.<ref name="Pitt son" /><ref name="Grdn2022"/>

<blockquote class="toccolours" style="text-align:left; width:30%; float:right; margin:0px 20px 10px 0px; display:table;">I think it's important to remember that these men are not perfect. If they were marble gods, what they did wouldn't be so admirable. The more we see the founders as humans the more we can understand them.<p style="text-align: right;"> – David McCullough<ref name="CNNja" /></p></blockquote>

Working for the next seven years,<ref name="SFGate">{{cite news|first= Edward|last= Guthmann|title= Best-selling author David McCullough writes his stories from the inside out|url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2005%2F06%2F27%2FDDG7TDEBOF1.DTL|newspaper= San Francisco Chronicle|date= June 27, 2005|access-date= May 2, 2008|archive-date= December 6, 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091206004340/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2005%2F06%2F27%2FDDG7TDEBOF1.DTL|url-status= live}}</ref> McCullough published ''[[John Adams (book)|John Adams]]'' (2001), his third biography about a United States president. One of the fastest-selling non-fiction books in history,<ref name="Pitt son" /> the book won McCullough's second Pulitzer Prize for "Best Biography or Autobiography" in 2002.<ref name=pulitzer /> He started it as a book about the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|founding fathers]] and back-to-back presidents [[John Adams]] and [[Thomas Jefferson]]; but dropped Jefferson to focus on Adams.<ref name="CNNja">{{cite news |first=Todd |last=Leopold |title=David McCullough brings 'John Adams' to life |url=http://edition1.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/books/06/07/david.mccullough/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=June 7, 2005 |access-date=May 2, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003071019/http://edition1.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/books/06/07/david.mccullough/index.html |archive-date=October 3, 2011 }}</ref> HBO adapted ''John Adams'' as a [[John Adams (miniseries)|seven-part miniseries]] by the same name.<ref name="JAmini" /> Premiering in 2008, it starred [[Paul Giamatti]] in the title role.<ref name="JAmini">{{cite news |title=David McCullough's biography 'John Adams' becomes HBO miniseries |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-johnadams_0315gl.ART0.State.Edition1.464fbd1.html |newspaper=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |date=March 8, 2008 |access-date=May 3, 2008 |archive-date=March 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319000923/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-johnadams_0315gl.ART0.State.Edition1.464fbd1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The DVD version of the miniseries includes the biographical documentary, ''David McCullough: Painting with Words''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210345/ ''David McCullough: Painting with Words''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115220753/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210345/ |date=January 15, 2020 }} on [[IMDb]].</ref>

McCullough's ''[[1776 (book)|1776]]'' tells the story of the founding year of the United States, focusing on [[George Washington]], the amateur [[Continental Army]], and other struggles for independence.<ref name="SFGate" /> Because of McCullough's popularity, its initial printing was 1.25&nbsp;million copies, many more than the average history book.<ref name="PresBio" /> Upon its release, the book was a number one best-seller in the United States.<ref name="SFGate" /> A miniseries adaptation of ''1776'' was rumored.<ref name="HR Block">{{cite news |last1=Block |first1=Alex Ben |title=Icons: Tom Hanks |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/icons-tom-hanks-82983/ |access-date=August 8, 2022 |work=Hollywood Reporter |date=April 27, 2009 |archive-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808225817/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/icons-tom-hanks-82983/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

McCullough considered writing a sequel to ''1776''.<ref name="SFGate" /> However, he signed a contract with Simon & Schuster to do a work about Americans in Paris between 1830 and 1900, ''[[The Greater Journey (book)|The Greater Journey]]'', which was published in 2011.<ref name="SSTheGreaterJourney">{{cite book |url=http://books.simonandschuster.com/Greater-Journey/David-McCullough/9781416571766 |title=The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris |year=2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=9781416571773 |access-date=December 16, 2010 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629070309/http://books.simonandschuster.com/Greater-Journey/David-McCullough/9781416571766 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{ASIN|1416571760|title=The Greater Journey}}</ref> The book covers 19th-century Americans, including [[Mark Twain]] and [[Samuel Morse]], who migrated to Paris and went on to achieve importance in culture or innovation. Other subjects include [[Benjamin Silliman]], who had been Morse's science teacher at Yale, [[Elihu Washburne]], the [[U.S. Ambassador to France]] during the [[Franco-Prussian War]], and [[Elizabeth Blackwell]], the first female doctor in the United States.<ref name="The Parisian Experience of American Pioneers">{{cite news
| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/books/the-greater-journey-david-mcculloughs-latest-review.html
| title=The Parisian Experience of American Pioneers
| access-date=June 8, 2011
| work=The New York Times
| first=Janet
| last=Maslin
| date=May 22, 2011
| archive-date=May 28, 2011
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528012253/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/books/the-greater-journey-david-mcculloughs-latest-review.html
| url-status=live
}}</ref>

McCullough's ''[[The Wright Brothers (book)|The Wright Brothers]]'' was published in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/books/review-the-wright-brothers-by-david-mccullough.html |title='The Wright Brothers' by David McCullough |first=Janet |last=Maslin |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 3, 2015 |access-date=May 20, 2021 |archive-date=July 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711053015/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/books/review-the-wright-brothers-by-david-mccullough.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Pioneers'' followed in 2019, the story of the first European American settlers of the [[Northwest Territory]], a vast American wilderness to which the [[Ohio River]] was the gateway.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://about.simonandschuster.biz/news/dm-pioneers/|title=New Book by Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author David McCullough About American Pioneers to be Published by Simon & Schuster|date=October 6, 2016|newspaper=News and Corporate Information about Simon & Schuster, Inc.|language=en-US|access-date=October 6, 2016|archive-date=October 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009140509/http://about.simonandschuster.biz/news/dm-pioneers/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:McCullough speaking 2008.jpg|right|thumb|200px|McCullough speaking at [[Vassar College]] in 2008]]
In 1954, McCullough married Rosalee Barnes; the couple had first met as teenagers, and they remained together until her death on June 9, 2022.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mvtimes.com/2022/06/21/rosalee-barnes-mccullough/ | title=Rosalee Barnes McCullough | newspaper=Martha's Vineyard Times | date=June 21, 2022 | access-date=July 18, 2022 | archive-date=July 18, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718030135/https://www.mvtimes.com/2022/06/21/rosalee-barnes-mccullough/ | url-status=live }}</ref> They had five children, nineteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/about/staff.cfm?key=12&staffkey=1172&type=board|title= David McCullough|access-date=January 3, 2009 |publisher= [[Smithsonian Institution]]|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090418182707/http://americanhistory.si.edu/about/staff.cfm?key=12&staffkey=1172&type=board|archive-date= April 18, 2009|df= mdy-all}}</ref> In 2016, the couple moved from the Back Bay of Boston to [[Hingham, Massachusetts]]; three of his five children also lived there {{as of|2017|lc=yes}}.<ref name=Lambert2017>{{cite news |url=http://www.patriotledger.com/news/20170606/at-home-in-hingham-mccullough-writes-his-next-book |title=At home in Hingham, McCullough writes his next book |last=Lambert |first=Lane |date=June 6, 2017 |newspaper=The Patriot Ledger |access-date=June 24, 2019 |archive-date=June 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625022013/https://www.patriotledger.com/news/20170606/at-home-in-hingham-mccullough-writes-his-next-book |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Stackpole2019>{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2019/04/30/david-mccullough/ |title=The Interview: Historian David McCullough |magazine=Boston |date=April 30, 2019 |last=Stackpole |first=Thomas |access-date=June 24, 2019 |archive-date=May 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507115800/https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2019/04/30/david-mccullough/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He had a summer home in [[Camden, Maine]].<ref name=Routhier2015>{{cite news |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2015/07/26/writer-takes-flight-with-the-wrights/ |title=David McCullough's latest book takes flight with the Wrights |date=July 26, 2015 |access-date=June 24, 2019 |newspaper=Portland Press Herald |last=Routhier |first=Ray |archive-date=June 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625031654/https://www.pressherald.com/2015/07/26/writer-takes-flight-with-the-wrights/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Aldrich2012>{{cite news |url=https://newengland.com/yankee-magazine/living/profiles/future-history/ |title=The Big Question: What's the Future of History? |date=October 9, 2012 |last=Aldrich |first=Ian |magazine=Yankee |access-date=June 24, 2019 |archive-date=June 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625031656/https://newengland.com/yankee-magazine/living/profiles/future-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> McCullough's interests included sports, history, and visual art, including watercolor and portrait painting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/davidmccullough/synopsis.html|title=David McCullough: Painting With Words|access-date=January 3, 2009|publisher=[[HBO]]|year=2009|archive-date=December 19, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219222206/http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/davidmccullough/synopsis.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

His son, David Jr., an English teacher at [[Wellesley High School]] in the Boston suburbs, achieved sudden fame in 2012, when he gave a commencement speech in which he repeatedly told graduating students that they were "not special"; his speech went [[viral video|viral]] on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://theswellesleyreport.com/2012/06/wellesley-high-grads-told-youre-not-special/ |title=Wellesley High grads told: "You're not special" |date=June 5, 2012 |last=Brown |first=B |work=The Swellesley Report |access-date=June 24, 2019 |archive-date=July 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709211436/https://theswellesleyreport.com/2012/06/wellesley-high-grads-told-youre-not-special/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teacher-defends-youre-not-special-speech/ |title=Teacher defends "You're not special" speech |work=[[CBS News]] |date=June 11, 2012 |access-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-date=June 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618121924/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57450176/teacher-defends-youre-not-special-speech/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Another son, Bill, is married to the daughter of former Florida governor [[Bob Graham]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,49456,00.html|title=Take Note of Bob Graham|last=Blackman|first=Ann|date=July 9, 2000|magazine=Time|access-date=August 22, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X|archive-date=June 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613120457/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,49456,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A registered [[independent voter|independent]], McCullough typically avoided publicly commenting on contemporary political issues. When asked to do so, he would repeatedly say, "My specialty is dead politicians." During the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]] season, he broke with his custom to criticize [[Donald Trump]], whom he called "a monstrous clown with a monstrous ego."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/nyregion/donald-trump-david-mccullough-ken-burns.html |title=Scholars Steeped in Dead Politicians Take On a Live One: Donald Trump |last=Dwyer |first=Jim |date=July 12, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=July 23, 2017 |archive-date=November 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119203643/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/nyregion/donald-trump-david-mccullough-ken-burns.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Grdn2022"/>

McCullough taught a writing course at [[Wesleyan University]] and was a visiting scholar at [[Cornell University]] and [[Dartmouth College]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://harborlight.hinghamschools.com/7355/arts-entertainment/history-is-human-an-interview-with-writer-and-historian-david-mccullough/|title=History is Human: An Interview with writer and historian David McCullough|last=Taylor|first=Claire|website=The Harborlight|access-date=January 14, 2019|archive-date=January 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114210217/http://harborlight.hinghamschools.com/7355/arts-entertainment/history-is-human-an-interview-with-writer-and-historian-david-mccullough/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:20190831SM1242 (48684513293).jpg|thumb|right|McCullough speaking with [[Marie Arana]] on the National Book Festival Main Stage in 2019]]

After a period of failing health, McCullough died at his home in Hingham on August 7, 2022, just two months after his wife's death, at age 89.<ref name = Italie>{{cite news|url = https://apnews.com/article/david-mccullough-historian-dies-7abe5997da74f30b1eab11e36b308fe3|title = David McCullough, Pulitzer-winning historian, dies at 89|last = Italie|first = Hillel|date = August 8, 2022|access-date = August 8, 2022|work = [[Associated Press]]|archive-date = August 8, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220808170218/https://apnews.com/article/david-mccullough-historian-dies-7abe5997da74f30b1eab11e36b308fe3|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Awards and accolades==
[[File:President George W. Bush presents David McCullough with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.jpg|thumb|right|McCullough is presented the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by President [[George W. Bush]] in 2006]]

McCullough received numerous awards, including the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in December 2006, the highest civilian award that a United States citizen can receive.<ref name="PresBio" /> In 1995, the [[National Book Foundation]] conferred its lifetime [[National Book Award#Medal for Distinguished Contribution (lifetime)|Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters]].<ref name=medal>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalbook.org/amerletters.html |title=Distinguished Contribution to American Letters |work=National Book Foundation |access-date=March 12, 2012 |quote=With acceptance speech by McCullough and ex-post introduction by one of his publishers. |archive-date=March 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310053959/http://www.nationalbook.org/amerletters.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

McCullough was awarded more than 40 honorary degrees, including one from the [[Eastern Nazarene College]] in [[John Adams]]' hometown of [[Quincy, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite news| last= Tziperman Lotan| first= Gal| title= McCullough tells Eastern Nazarene graduates their education is just beginning| work= [[The Patriot Ledger]]| date= May 17, 2009| url= http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2003/03/21/news/export30841.txt| access-date=May 20, 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090808052524/http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2003/03/21/news/export30841.txt |archive-date= August 8, 2009 |df= mdy-all}}</ref>

McCullough received two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, two Francis Parkman Prizes, the [[Los Angeles Times Book Prize|''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize]], [[New York Public Library]]'s Literary Lion Award, and the [[St. Louis Literary Award]] from the [[Saint Louis University]] Library Associates,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slu.edu/libraries/associates/award.html|title=Saint Louis Literary Award – Saint Louis University|access-date=July 25, 2016|archive-date=August 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823003924/http://www.slu.edu/libraries/associates/award.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lib.slu.edu/about/associates/literary-award |title=Recipients of the St. Louis Literary Award |author=Saint Louis University Library Associates |access-date=July 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731082313/http://lib.slu.edu/about/associates/literary-award |archive-date=July 31, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> among others.<ref name="NEHbio" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Simon & Schuster:David McCullough |url=http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883&feature_id=3375 |access-date=October 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224101737/http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883&feature_id=3375 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = December 24, 2007}}</ref> McCullough was chosen to deliver the first annual [[John Hersey]] Lecture at Yale University on March 22, 1993.<ref>[http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/93_10/hersey.html "A Life in Writing John Hersey, 1914–1993"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018201917/http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/93_10/hersey.html |date=October 18, 2008 }}. ''Yale Alumni Magazine''. October 1993.</ref> He was a member of the [[John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship]]<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.gf.org/mfellow.html|title= Fellows whose last names begin with M|access-date=May 17, 2008 |author=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080408040108/http://www.gf.org/mfellow.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date =April 8, 2008}}</ref> and the [[Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://www.achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=December 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212193048/http://www.achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2003, the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] selected McCullough for the [[Jefferson Lecture]], the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the [[humanities]].<ref name="jefflect">[http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/jefflect.html Jefferson Lecturers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020121101/http://www.neh.gov///whoweare/jefflect.html |date=October 20, 2011 }} at NEH Website (retrieved January 22, 2009).</ref> McCullough's lecture was titled "The Course of Human Events".<ref>David McCullough, [http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/mccullough/lecture.html "The Course of Human Events] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303223157/http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/mccullough/lecture.html |date=March 3, 2009 }}, text of Jefferson Lecture at NEH website.</ref>

In 1995, McCullough received the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. The [[Helmerich Award]] is presented annually by the [[Tulsa City-County Library|Tulsa Library Trust]].<ref name="Tulsa Helmerich">{{cite web |title=Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award |url=https://www.tulsalibrary.org/programs-and-services/peggy-v-helmerich-distinguished-author-award |publisher=Tulsa City-County Library |access-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808224855/https://www.tulsalibrary.org/programs-and-services/peggy-v-helmerich-distinguished-author-award |url-status=live }}</ref>

McCullough was referred to as a "master of the art of narrative history."<ref name="Eggplant">{{cite web|url=http://www.electriceggplant.com/davidmccullough/|title=Biography at ElectricEggplant|access-date=April 21, 2008|archive-date=March 16, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316085754/http://www.electriceggplant.com/davidmccullough/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' [[Literary criticism|critic]] [[John Leonard (American critic)|John Leonard]] wrote that McCullough was "incapable of writing a page of bad prose."<ref name="CapeArts">{{cite web|url= http://www.giambarba.com/mccullough/mccullough.html|title= History is the Story of People. Not Events |access-date=April 24, 2008 |first=Paul |last=Giambarba |publisher= CapeArts2 |url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080518073537/http://www.giambarba.com/mccullough/mccullough.html |archive-date=May 18, 2008|df= mdy-all}}</ref> His works have been published in ten languages, over nine million copies have been printed,<ref name="CRose">{{cite episode|title= David McCullough|url= http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/03/21/1/a-conversation-with-author-david-mccullough|series= The Charlie Rose Show|series-link= Charlie Rose (talk show)|network= PBS|airdate=March 21, 2008 |minutes= 60|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080430105624/http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/03/21/1/a-conversation-with-author-david-mccullough|archive-date= April 30, 2008|df= mdy-all}}</ref> and all of his books are still in print.<ref name="SSbio" />

In December 2012, [[Allegheny County]], Pennsylvania announced that it would rename the [[David McCullough Bridge|16th Street Bridge]] in Pittsburgh in honor of McCullough.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2012/12/06/Historian-McCullough-humbled-by-Pittsburgh-bridge-honor/stories/201212060432 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |first=Len |last=Barcousky |title=Historian McCullough 'humbled' by Pittsburgh bridge honor |date=December 6, 2012 |access-date=June 24, 2019 |archive-date=June 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625031657/https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2012/12/06/Historian-McCullough-humbled-by-Pittsburgh-bridge-honor/stories/201212060432 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a ceremony at [[Maxwell Air Force Base]], [[Alabama]], on November 16, 2015, the [[Air University (United States Air Force)|Air University]] of the [[United States Air Force]] awarded McCullough an honorary [[Doctorate of Humane Letters]] degree.<ref>{{cite web |author=Phil Berube |title=Air University grants David McCullough honorary degree |date=September 8, 2015 |publisher=[[Maxwell Air Force Base]] |url=https://www.maxwell.af.mil/News/story/id/123457812/ |access-date=November 30, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208215800/http://www.maxwell.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123457812 |archive-date=December 8, 2015 }}</ref>  He was also made an honorary member of [[Phi Beta Kappa]] at [[Yale University]] in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.yale.edu/2015/12/08/phi-beta-kappa-inducts-alumnus-david-mccullough-inaugural-joseph-w-gordon-award|title=Phi Beta Kappa inducts alumnus David McCullough with inaugural Joseph W. Gordon Award|date=December 8, 2015|access-date=July 13, 2016|archive-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017163037/http://news.yale.edu/2015/12/08/phi-beta-kappa-inducts-alumnus-david-mccullough-inaugural-joseph-w-gordon-award|url-status=live}}</ref>

On May 11, 2016, McCullough received the [[United States Capitol Historical Society]]'s Freedom Award. It was presented in the [[National Statuary Hall]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=U.S. Capitol Historical Society|title=David McCullough to Receive 2016 Freedom Award|url=http://uschs.org/news-releases/david-mccullough-2016-uschs-freedom-award/|website=USCHS 2016 Freedom Award: David McCullough|date=December 11, 2015|publisher=U.S. Capitol Historical Society|access-date=May 31, 2016|archive-date=August 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807211446/http://uschs.org/news-releases/david-mccullough-2016-uschs-freedom-award/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2016, McCullough received the [[Gerry Lenfest]] Spirit of the American Revolution Award from the [[Museum of the American Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/20160921_David_McCullough_receives_inaugral_Lenfest_award.html|title=David McCullough receives inaugural Lenfest award|first=Aubrey|last=Whelan|newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|date=September 21, 2016|accessdate=August 8, 2022|archive-date=August 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808212305/https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/20160921_David_McCullough_receives_inaugral_Lenfest_award.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, McCullough was inducted into the DC Chapter of the [[Sons of the American Revolution]] (SAR) and received the National Society SAR Good Citizenship Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dcssar.org/DCSSAR-Awards |publisher=DC Society, Sons of the American Revolution (DCSSAR) |title=DCSSAR Awards |accessdate=March 12, 2023}}</ref>

==Works==
===Books===
{| class="wikitable" 
|-
!Title!!Year!!Subject matter!!Awards<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883&feature_id=3375|title= Awards |access-date=April 24, 2008 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080403020648/http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883&feature_id=3375 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date =April 3, 2008}}</ref>!!Interviews and presentations
|-
|''[[The Johnstown Flood (book)|The Johnstown Flood: The Incredible Story Behind One of the Most Devastating Disasters America Has Ever Known]]''||1968||[[Johnstown Flood]]|| ||
|-
|''[[The Great Bridge (book)|The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge]]''||1972||[[Brooklyn Bridge]]|| ||[https://www.c-span.org/video/?172691-1/great-bridge Presentation by McCullough on ''The Great Bridge'', September 17, 2002], [[C-SPAN]]
|-
|''[[The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914]]''||1977||[[Panama Canal]], [[History of the Panama Canal]]||[[National Book Award]] – 1978<ref name=nba1978 /><br />[[Francis Parkman Prize]] – 1978<br />[[USS Constitution Museum#The Samuel Eliot Morison Award|Samuel Eliot Morison Award]] – 1978<br />[[Cornelius Ryan Award]] – 1978||
|-
|''[[Mornings on Horseback]]''||1981||[[Theodore Roosevelt]]|| National Book Award – 1982<ref name=nba1982 /><ref group=lower-alpha name=paperback />||
|-
|''[[Brave Companions: Portraits in History]]''||1991||Previously published biographical essays || ||
|-
|''[[Truman (book)|Truman]]''||1992||[[Harry S. Truman]]|| [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography]] – 1993<ref name=pulitzer /> <br />[[The Colonial Dames of America]] Annual Book Award – 1993<br />Francis Parkman Prize||[https://www.c-span.org/video/?27217-1/truman ''Booknotes'' interview with McCullough on ''Truman'', July 19, 1992], [[C-SPAN]]<br />[https://www.c-span.org/video/?26921-1/truman-presidency Presentation by McCullough on ''Truman'' at the National Press Club, July 7, 1992], [[C-SPAN]]
|-
|''[[John Adams (book)|John Adams.]]''||2001||[[John Adams]]|| [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography]] – 2002<ref name=pulitzer />||[https://www.c-span.org/video/?159783-1/john-adams Presentation by McCullough on ''John Adams'' at the Library of Congress, April 24, 2001], [[C-SPAN]]<br />[https://www.c-span.org/video/?166023-10/john-adams Presentation by McCullough on ''John Adams'' at the National Book Festival, September 8, 2001], [[C-SPAN]]
|-
|''[[1776 (book)|1776]]''||2005||[[American Revolution]], [[American Revolutionary War]]|| American Compass Best Book – 2005||[https://www.c-span.org/video/?187160-1/1776 Presentation by McCullough on ''1776'' to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, June 9, 2005], [[C-SPAN]]<br />[https://www.c-span.org/video/?188297-1/david-mccullough-1776 ''Q&A'' interview with McCullough on ''1776'', August 7, 2005], [[C-SPAN]]<br />[https://www.c-span.org/video/?189007-14/1776 Presentation by McCullough on ''1776'' at the National Book Festival, September 24, 2005], [[C-SPAN]]<br />[https://www.c-span.org/video/?189619-4/1776 Presentation by McCullough on ''1776'' at the Texas State Capital, October 29, 2005]
|- 
|''In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story''||2010||[[Winston Churchill]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Arcadia Conference]]|| ||
|-
|''[[The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris]]''||2011||Americans in Paris during the 19th century, including [[James Fenimore Cooper]] and [[Samuel Morse]]|| ||[https://www.c-span.org/video/?299417-1/qa-david-mccullough-part-one Part one] and [https://www.c-span.org/video/?299417-2/qa-david-mccullough-part-two Part two of ''Q&A'' interview with McCullough on ''The Greater Journey''], May 22 & 29, 2011, [[C-SPAN]]<br />[https://www.c-span.org/video/?301663-8/greater-journey Presentation by McCullough on ''The Greater Journey'' at the National Book Festival, September 25, 2011], [[C-SPAN]]<br />[https://www.c-span.org/video/?301663-9/greater-journey Interview with McCullough on ''The Greater Journey'' at the National Book Festival, September 25, 2011], [[C-SPAN]]
|- 
|''[[The Wright Brothers (book)|The Wright Brothers]]''||2015||[[The Wright Brothers]]||[[National Aviation Hall of Fame]] Combs Gates Award – 2016||[https://www.c-span.org/video/?325996-1/qa-david-mccullough ''Q&A'' interview with McCullough on ''The Wright Brothers'', May 31, 2015], [[C-SPAN]]
|-
|''The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For''||2017|| || ||[https://www.c-span.org/video/?426887-1/qa-david-mccullough ''Q&A'' interview with McCullough on ''The American Spirit'', April 23, 2017], [[C-SPAN]]
|-
|''The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pitz |first1=Marylynne |title=Pittsburgh native David McCullough's next book will focus on generations of Northwest pioneers |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2016/10/06/Pittsburgh-native-David-McCullough-s-next-book-will-focus-on-generations-of-Northwest-pioneers/stories/201610060175 |access-date=June 10, 2017 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=October 6, 2016 |archive-date=June 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603121510/http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2016/10/06/Pittsburgh-native-David-McCullough-s-next-book-will-focus-on-generations-of-Northwest-pioneers/stories/201610060175 |url-status=live }}</ref>||2019||[[American pioneers to the Northwest Territory]]|| ||[https://www.c-span.org/video/?460554-1/qa-david-mccullough ''Q&A'' interview with McCullough on ''The Pioneers'', May 19, 2019], [[C-SPAN]]
|}

===Narrations===
McCullough narrated many television shows and documentaries throughout his career.<ref name = Lewis>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/books/david-mccullough-dead.html|title = David McCullough, Best-Selling Explorer of America's Past, Dies at 89|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|last = Lewis|first = Daniel|date = August 8, 2022|access-date = August 8, 2022|url-access = limited|archive-date = August 8, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220808162115/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/books/david-mccullough-dead.html|url-status = live}}</ref> In addition to narrating the 2003 film ''[[Seabiscuit (film)|Seabiscuit]]'', McCullough hosted [[PBS]]'s ''[[American Experience]]'' from 1988 to 1999.<ref name="CNNja" /> McCullough narrated numerous documentaries directed by [[Ken Burns]], including the [[Emmy Award]]–winning ''[[The Civil War (TV series)|The Civil War]]'',<ref name="CNNja" /> the [[Academy Award]]–nominated ''[[Brooklyn Bridge (film)|Brooklyn Bridge]]'',<ref name = Bridge>{{cite web|url= https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/brooklynbridge/about/|title= Brooklyn Bridge: About the Film|access-date= June 19, 2008|publisher= [[PBS]]|archive-date= June 18, 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080618204806/http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/brooklynbridge/about/|url-status= live}}</ref> ''[[The Statue of Liberty (documentary)|The Statue of Liberty]]'',<ref name = Liberty>{{cite web|url= https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/statueofliberty/about/|title= The Statue of Liberty: About the Film|access-date= June 19, 2008|publisher= [[PBS]]|archive-date= June 6, 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080606201855/http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/statueofliberty/about/|url-status= live}}</ref> and ''[[The Congress (1988 film)|The Congress]]''.<ref name = Congress>{{cite web|url= https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/congress/about/|title= The Congress: About the Film|access-date= June 19, 2008|publisher= [[PBS]]|archive-date= June 17, 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080617132007/http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/congress/about/|url-status= live}}</ref>  He served as a guest narrator for [[The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Mormon Tabernacle Choir album)|The Most Wonderful Time of the Year]], a Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert special that aired on PBS in 2010.<ref name = Deseret>{{cite web|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705350772/Natalie-Cole-performs-with-the-Mormon-Tabernacle-Choir|title=Photo: Natalie Cole performs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir|date=December 11, 2009|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200303175325/https://www.deseret.com/2009/12/11/20358038/natalie-cole-performs-with-the-mormon-tabernacle-choir|archive-date = March 3, 2020|url-status = dead}}</ref>

McCullough narrated, in whole or in part, several of his own audiobooks, including ''Truman'', ''1776'', ''The Greater Journey'', and ''The Wright Brothers''.<ref name="AudioFile">{{cite web |title=David McCullough, search by narrator | work=AudioFile Magazine |url=https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/listing/?Narrator=David+McCullough |publisher=AudioFile |access-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-date=May 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517064147/http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/listing/?Narrator=David+McCullough |url-status=live }}</ref>

====List of films presented or narrated====
{{div col|colwidth=20em|small=no}}
* ''[[Brooklyn Bridge (film)|Brooklyn Bridge]]'' (1981)<ref name = Bridge />
* ''[[Smithsonian World]]'' (five episodes, 1984–1988)<ref name = Lewis />
* ''[[The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God]]'' (1985)<ref name = TCM>{{cite web|url = https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/566558%7C0/David-Mccullough#filmography|title = David McCullough|publisher = [[Turner Classic Movies]]|access-date = August 8, 2022|archive-date = August 8, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220808232552/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/566558%7C0/David-Mccullough/#filmography|url-status = live}}</ref>
* ''[[The Statue of Liberty (documentary)|The Statue of Liberty]]'' (1985)<ref name = Liberty />
* ''[[Huey Long (documentary)|Huey Long]]'' (1985)<ref name = RT>{{cite web|url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/david_mccullough|title = David McCullough|website = [[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher = [[Fandango Media]]|accessdate = August 8, 2022|archive-date = November 26, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211126091058/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/david_mccullough|url-status = live}}</ref>
* ''A Man, a Plan, a Canal: Panama'' ([[Nova (American TV program)|NOVA]]) (1987)<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/programs/1415_panama.html|website = [[PBS]]|title = A Man, a Plan, a Canal—Panama|accessdate = August 8, 2022|archive-date = April 23, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210423185831/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/programs/1415_panama.html|url-status = live}}</ref>
* ''[[The Congress (1988 film)|The Congress]]'' (1988)<ref name = Congress />
* ''[[American Experience]]'' (1988–1999)<ref name = Lewis />
* ''[[The Civil War (TV series)|The Civil War]]'' (nine episodes, 1990)<ref name = Lewis />
* ''[[The Donner Party (documentary)|The Donner Party]]'' (1992)<ref name = TCM />
* ''Degenerate Art'' (1993)<ref name = RT />
* ''Napoleon'' (2000)<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/n_about/production/page_4.html|title = Napoleon: About the Production|publisher = [[PBS]]|access-date = August 8, 2022|archive-date = June 17, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210617184320/https://www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/n_about/production/page_4.html|url-status = live}}</ref>
* ''George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire'' (2000)<ref name = TCM />
* ''[[Seabiscuit (film)|Seabiscuit]]'' (2003)<ref name = Lewis />
* ''[[The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Mormon Tabernacle Choir album)|The Most Wonderful Time of the Year]]'' (2010)<ref name = Deseret />
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|David McCullough}}
* [http://authors.simonandschuster.com/David-McCullough/938 David McCullough] at [[Simon & Schuster]]
* {{C-SPAN}}
** [https://www.c-span.org/video/?167542-1/depth-david-mccullough ''In Depth'' interview with McCullough, December 2, 2001]
* {{Charlie Rose guest|2673}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{Discogs artist|David McCullough (2)}}
* {{New York Times topic|new_id=person/david-mccullough}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname= David McCullough}}
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=openmind_ep924|description="The Past as an Act of Faith ... In Print and On The Air (1992)"}}
* {{cite journal| url=http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/894/the-art-of-biography-no-2-david-mccullough| title=David McCullough, The Art of Biography No. 2| author=Elizabeth Gaffney and Benjamin Ryder Howe| date=Fall 1999| journal=The Paris Review | volume=Fall 1999| issue=152}}
* [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-4_18_05_DM.html Speech Transcript: "Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are"] at Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar on the topic, "American History and America's Future."

{{David McCullough}}
{{PulitzerPrize BiographyorAutobiographyAuthors 1976–2000}}
{{PulitzerPrize BiographyorAutobiographyAuthors 2001–2025}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCullough, David Gaub}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American biographers]]
[[Category:20th-century American historians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American biographers]]
[[Category:21st-century American historians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American Experience]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent]]
[[Category:American political writers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Historians of the United States]]
[[Category:Massachusetts independents]]
[[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
[[Category:National Book Award winners]]
[[Category:National Humanities Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners]]
[[Category:Shady Side Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Skull and Bones Society]]
[[Category:Writers from Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Yale College alumni]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Members of Skull and Bones]]