A Sense of History
Remembering the past prepares us for the future says historian and Pulitzer-Prize winning author, David McCullough
AMERICAN HISTORY AND ITS RELEVANCE for today were the themes of historian and author David
McCullough’s presentation at the 10th annual Seattle Pacific
University Downtown Business Breakfast on April 25, 2006.
Introducing McCullough at the event — which drew nearly
1,200 business and community leaders to Seattle’s Westin Hotel
— was Chi-Dooh “Skip” Li ’66, partner at the law firm Ellis, Li
& McKinstry. “When was the last time you saw a history book
No. 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list?” Li asked the
audience. In fact, two books have held that distinction, and
McCullough wrote both of them: 1776 topped the list in 2005,
John Adams in 2001.
  David McCullough’s
April 25, 2006, visit to
Seattle Pacific included
a keynote address at
the University’s annual
Downtown Business
Breakfast (right)
and an afternoon
12 response lecture on campus.
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Li asked a second question: “How many historical biographies
go through 38 printings in four years?” Answer: so far just
one, McCullough’s John Adams.
Here’s another question Li could have asked: What writer of
history is the recipient of nearly 70 coveted literary awards? The
answer, of course, is McCullough.
Topping the list are two National
Book Awards, one in 1978 for The
Path Between the Seas and one in 1982
for Mornings on Horseback, and two
Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1993 for Truman and one in 2002 for John Adams.
Why so many honors?
McCullough is an eloquent writer
and a meticulous researcher — his
bibliography for 1776, which tells
the story of one momentous year in
our nation’s history, runs 23 pages.
But there is another reason
McCullough’s writings “dominate
American history,” as historian and
author William M. Fowler Jr. writes
in The Christian Science Monitor:
“What is truly remarkable about
David McCullough is his eagerness
as an author to allow the actors in
the drama of history to speak for
themselves. … But to let documents
speak, the historian must step back.
This requires an act of modesty and humility often lacking.”
McCullough’s humility sometimes prompts him to resist even
being called a historian. He is, he says, an “amateur historian,”
a “writer who loves history.” He writes what he wants to read.
“I have always chosen the subjects that interest me,” he told
faculty, staff, students, and visitors on April 25 at an afternoon
lecture on campus. And, using as his only tool of the trade a
1940s typewriter, he has been writing narrative history prolifically
for 40 years.
During that time, McCullough says he has witnessed a sharp
decline in the historical literacy of his fellow Americans. The
critical importance of what he calls “a sense of history” to America’s
future as a nation was a theme he sounded vigorously at the
Business Breakfast. To make his point, he noted that the founding
fathers were highly educated in classical history and understood
their world through the lens of the past. And he quoted
his late friend and Librarian of Congress Emeritus Daniel
Boorstin: “Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the
past is like trying to plant cut flowers.”
“We are raising generations of cut flowers, and trying to
plant them,” McCullough argued. “We are doing an absolutely
dreadful job of teaching history to our children. It’s apparent in
studies that have been done, and it’s certainly apparent to somebody
who lectures at universities and colleges as I do.”
The result, McCullough contends, is that Americans no
longer know the story of their own country. “I’m dismayed so
often by people who profess to love their country, and yet have
no interest in the country’s history, or know almost nothing
about it,” he said. “It would be as if you were in love with a
woman or man and you had no interest about where he came
from, or who her parents were,
or where he was educated, or
her interests. Politicians do it all
the time.”
One of the few private citizens
to have addressed a joint session of
Congress, McCullough has championed
historical literacy in venues
across the nation — including the
White House — and abroad. An
essayist, teacher, and member of
the National Council for
History Education, he has appeared
on television as host of Smithsonian
World and The American Experience,
and narrator of numerous documentaries,
including The Civil Warand Napoleon.
“I have wanted to bring David
McCullough to our Business Breakfast
and campus for a number of
years,” says SPU President Philip
Eaton, who hosted the downtown
event. “We need our storytellers —
as a culture, as organizations, as a nation. David is one of the
great storytellers of our time.”
The benefits of knowing our country’s history are many,
McCullough told his audience at the Westin:“Will it make you
a better citizen? Of course it will. Will it make you more appreciative
of all the blessings that we have in this country? Of course
it will. Will it remind you that there is no such thing as a selfmade
man or a self-made woman, because we’re all the beneficiaries
of those who’ve encouraged us, or guided us, or inspired us,
or who have written the laws, created the freedoms, said the
great remarks, composed the great symphonies, painted the
pictures, written the poetry, who lived long before we do? Will
it show us that?
“Absolutely.”
— By Kathy Henning
— Photos by Mike Siegel
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