Richard Brookhiser

After writing about living politicians for National Review for almost 20 years, historian and author Richard Brookhiser began focusing on great politicians of America’s past. He wrote the biographies Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington (1996) and Alexander Hamilton, American (1999). His recent book The First Dynasty: The Adamses 1735-1918 (2002) examines the first and greatest American political family, which produced two presidents, a congressman/diplomat and a great writer, over four generations. Mr. Brookhiser is senior editor of National Review and a columnist for The New York Observer. He also often writes for American Heritage and The New York Times Book Review. He received a bachelor’s degree from Yale in 1977. Born in Rochester, N.Y., he lives in New York City.