David Pietrusza

Praised as "a national treasure" and one "of the best historians in the United States," "one of the great political historians of all time," and "the undisputed champion of chronicling American Presidential campaigns." David Pietrusza has produced a number of critically-acclaimed works concerning 20th century American history. Critics have compared his work to that of David McCullough, Eric Larson, H. L. Mencken, Theodore H. White, Edmund Morris, H. R. Brands, and Doris Kearns Goodwin. Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis has praised Pietrusza as "one of the best historians and authors in America [and one] of the most talented (and funniest) people I know." His "ROOSEVELT SWEEPS NATION: FDR's 1936 LANDSLIDE AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE LIBERAL IDEAL" won the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal for US History, received a Kirkus starred review, and was nominated for the 2022 Kirkus Prize and the 2022 New Deal Book Award. Amazon rated his "TR's LAST WAR: THEODORE ROOSEVELT, THE GREAT WAR, AND A JOURNEY OF TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY" as the "#1 New Release" in World War 1 Biographies. It also captured the Independent Publisher Book Awards Silver Medal for US History and achieved Finalist status for the Theodore Roosevelt Book Prize. His "1932: THE RISE OF HITLER AND FDR: TWO TALES OF POLITICS, BETRAYAL, AND UNLIKELY DESTINY" (starred review-Kirkus) won the Independent Publisher Book Awards Silver Medal for World History and was nominated for the American Library Association (ALA)'s Notable Books Council's 2015 Notable Books List. His "1948: HARRY TRUMAN'S IMPROBABLE VICTORY AND THE YEAR THAT TRANSFORMED AMERICA," a study of the dramatic 1948 presidential campaign, is a selection of the History Book Club, the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the Literary Guild. The Wall Street Journal praised "1948" as among the "Five Best" books on "Campaigns and Candidates." ForeWord Magazine designated his book "1960: LBJ vs JFK vs NIXON: THE EPIC CAMPAIGN THAT FORGED THREE PRESIDENCIES" as among the best political biographies. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Caro has termed "1960" "terrific." Pietrusza's "1920: THE YEAR OF THE SIX PRESIDENTS" received a Kirkus starred review, was honored as a Kirkus "Best Books of 2007" title, and was named an alternate selection of the History Book Club. Historian Richard Norton Smith has listed "1920: The Year of the Six Presidents" as being among the best studies of presidential campaigns. The Wall Street Journal rated "1920" as among the Five Best Books on Political Campaigns ("broad, fluid brush strokes . . . a brisk narrative") Pietrusza's biography of Arnold Rothstein entitled "ROTHSTEIN: THE LIFE, TIMES & MURDER OF THE CRIMINAL GENIUS WHO FIXED THE 1919 WORLD SERIES" was a finalist for the 2003 Edgar Award. Rothstein's audio version won an AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. His "GANGSTERLAND: A TOUR THROUGH THE DARK HEART OF JAZZ-AGE NEW YORK CITY" has been honored by the Independent Press Award as its Distinguished Favorite in the True Crime Category. (2024). Pietrusza has edited three volumes on the career and works of Calvin Coolidge: "SILENT CAL's ALMANACK: THE HOMESPUN WIT & WISDOM OF VERMONT'S CALVIN COOLIDGE," "CALVIN COOLIDGE: A DOCUMENTARY BIOGRAPHY," and "COOLIDGE ON THE FOUNDERS: CALVIN COOLIDGE ON THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION & THE FOUNDING FATHERS." Says Amity Shlaes: "an authority on the 1920s and [Calvin] Coolidge . . . David Pietrusza has brought Coolidge back to life with his volumes about the president . . ." Pietrusza's "JUDGE AND JURY: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE KENESAW MOUNTAIN LANDIS," his biography of baseball's first commissioner, received the 1998 CASEY Award, was a Finalist for the 1998 Seymour Medal, and a nominee for the NASSH Book Award. Pietrusza collaborated with baseball legend Ted Williams on an autobiography called "TED WILLIAMS: MY LIFE IN PICTURES." In 1993 he served as a research assistant for Mickey Mantle's memoir "ALL MY OCTOBERS: MY MEMORIES OF TWELVE WORLD SERIES WHEN THE YANKEES RULED BASEBALL." Pietrusza holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University at Albany. He has assisted in teaching seminars at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics (David Axelrod, director) and at the William F. Buckley, Jr. Program at Yale and has served as a guest lecturer at Fordham University, The King's College (New York City), and Southeast Missouri State University. He has spoken at the John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, and Franklin D. Roosevelt presidential libraries and museums, as well as at various universities, libraries, festivals, and museums (including the Chicago History Museum, the Sixth Floor Museum, the Flagler Museum, and the National Automobile Museum). He has keynoted the annual birthday ceremonies at the graves of presidents Calvin Coolidge and Chester Alan Arthur and spoken at Wilton, New York's Grant Cottage, scene of the death of President Ulysses S. Grant. His books have been utilized as texts by such colleges as George Washington University, the City University of New York, the University at Buffalo, Baylor University, Bellevue College, the University of Illinois, the University of San Francisco, and Portland State College. "1920" has been part of the syllabus for the course "Congress, The Presidency & 21st Century Media" offered by C-SPAN, The Cable Center, and the University of Denver. His talk on "Silent Cal's Almanack" is included in the curriculum for the C-SPAN Classroom initiative. Pietrusza served as president (1993-97) of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), and as editor-in-chief of the publishing company Total Sports. He has been interviewed on NPR, MSNBC, C-SPAN (including "The Contenders" and "First Ladies: Influence & Image"), C-SPAN Book TV (including "In Depth"), C-SPAN American History TV, ESPN, the Fox News Channel, the History Channel ("The Ultimate Guide to the Presidents"), the American Heroes Channel ("Mafia's Greatest Hits"), the John Batchelor Show, the Hugh Hewitt Show, EBRU-TV, GBTV, the Voice of America, Newsmax TV, "Secrets of New York," the Fox Sports Channel ("Baseball's Golden Age"), and Compound Media. He has produced and wrote the PBS-affiliate documentary, "Local Heroes." He has served as a regular panelist for an online version of Fox News (FoxNews Live). Pietrusza has appeared on numerous podcasts, including the "Matt Lewis Show Podcast," the United States World War I Centennial Commission weekly podcast, "The History Author Show," "Coffee & Markets," Jonah Goldberg's "The Remnant" podcast; Roifield Brown's London-based "10 American Presidents" (the Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt episodes), "10 American Elections" (the 1964 and 1948 episodes), and "Friday 15" series; Salena Zito's presidential series discussing Calvin Coolidge, Harry S Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson; Bill Scher's "New Books in Politics" podcast for the New Books Network; the Derek Hunter Podcast, the Halli Casser-Jayne Show, the Gotham Variety Podcast, and Max Sklar's "The Local Maximum," as well as discussing Arnold Rothstein on Erik Rivenes' "More Notorious: A True Crime History Podcast," Noah Brace's "Mobcast," and Harry Sultan's "The Wheels Keep Spinning." An internationally recognized expert on American presidential elections, he has been interviewed by Le Figaro, Le Monde, Radio-France, Radio-France International, Agence France Presse, Germany's Die Zeit, Greece's To Vima, and Denmark's Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten. Pietrusza holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University at Albany and has served on the City Council in Amsterdam, New York. He has also served as public information officer for both the NYS Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform and the NYS Office of the Medicaid Inspector General. Pietrusza is the Recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Arts & Letters Award of the Alumni Association of the University at Albany and a member of the initial induction class of the Greater Amsterdam (NY) School District Hall of Fame.