Politicians frequently claimed to have read his books, especially his biographies of Truman and Adams. He addressed a joint session of Congress in 1989 and, in 2006, received a Presidential Medal of Freedom. McCullough also was a favorite in Washington, D.C. Upon his 80th birthday, his native Pittsburgh renamed the 16th Street Bridge the “David McCullough Bridge.” 48 on the Modern Library’s list of the best 100 nonfiction works of the 20th century and is still widely regarded as the definitive text of the great 19th century project. “The Great Bridge,” a lengthy exploration of the Brooklyn Bridge’s construction, was ranked No.

McCullough received the National Book Award for “The Path Between the Seas,” about the building of the Panama Canal and for “Mornings on Horseback,” a biography of Theodore Roosevelt and Pulitzers for “Truman,” in 1992, and for “John Adams” in 2002.

The world has lost a great man of letters.” “Often, as I wrote on an old typewriter in the small shed in which I work, I would think of David, writing on an old typewriter in a small shed very like mine, and feel a sense of comradeship,” Robert Caro wrote in an email statement to The Associated Press. He helped raise the reputations of Truman and Adams, and he started a wave of best-sellers about the American Revolution, including McCullough’s own “1776.” Well into his 80s, his books remained popular and seemed to inspire renewed interest in the subject. In his 70s and 80s, he indulged his affection for Paris with the 2011 release “The Greater Journey” and for aviation with a best-seller on the Wright Brothers that came out in 2015. His fascination with architecture and construction inspired his early works on the Panama Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge, while his admiration for leaders whom he believed were good men drew him to Adams and Truman. He saw himself as an everyman blessed with lifelong curiosity and the chance to take on the subjects he cared most about. And the other is to the reader who would like to be transported, both intellectually and viscerally.”Ī joyous and tireless student of the past, McCullough dedicated himself to sharing his own passion for history with the general public. “One is to the historical record and to the analysis. “I think because of David a lot of us feel a twin obligation,” fellow historian Jon Meacham said Monday. He had been in failing health and died less than two months after his beloved wife, Rosalee. McCullough died Sunday in Hingham, Massachusetts, according to his publisher, Simon & Schuster. David McCullough, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose lovingly crafted narratives on subjects ranging from the Brooklyn Bridge to Presidents John Adams and Harry Truman made him among the most popular and influential historians of his time, has died.

The pioneers by david mccullough