Leuchtenburg, William E. (William Edward), 1922-

Historian, educator.

William Edward Leuchtenburg is a historian whose primary scholarly focus has been the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the continuing influence of Roosevelt's New Deal programs on the United States. Leuchtenburg had long teaching careers at both Columbia University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has held positions in several major historical organizations. Leuchtenburg has written extensively on the American presidency and frequently appears as a political analyst on radio and television and in documentary films.

William E. Leuchtenburg is a politically active historian whose primary scholarly focus has been the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the continuing influence of Roosevelt's New Deal programs on the United States. Born on 28 September 1922 in Ridgewood, N.Y., Leuchtenburg attended Cornell University and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1951. Following short stints teaching history at New York University, Smith College, and Harvard University, Leuchtenburg in 1952 began a long career teaching at Columbia University. Leuchtenburg left Columbia in 1982, spending ten years as the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also held positions as a Guggenheim Fellow and Mellon Senior Fellow, as well as fellowships at the National Humanities Center and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Although he officially retired in 1992, Leuchtenburg remained an active part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill History Department for over ten additional years, occasionally teaching classes. Several of his students, including William Chafe, Robert Dallek, Otis Graham, Alonzo Hamby, Richard Polenberg, Harvard Sitkoff, and Howard Zinn, have gone on to successful careers as historians.

Leuchtenburg has contributed to both the academic and political realms. His notable works include: The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932 (1958); the Bancroft and Parker Prize-winning Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932-1940 (1963); In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to Bill Clinton (1993); The FDR Years: On Roosevelt and His Legacy (1995); and The Supreme Court Reborn: The Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt (1995). Leuchtenburg has also served the field of history as president of the American Historical Association, the Society of American Historians, and the Organization of American Historians. To reach a broader audience, he has written articles for publications such as American Heritage and contributed to Ken Burns's documentaries, The Civil War and Baseball. In his role as political analyst, he has consulted with PBS and CBS on presidential inaugurations and worked with NBC on several national elections. He has written extensively on the American presidency and frequently appears as a political analyst on radio and television and in documentary films.

Leuchtenburg has also been personally involved in politics and government, holding a position with the Americans for Democratic Action, 1948-1949; serving as a delegate to the 1952 Democratic National Convention; marching in Montgomery, Ala., with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; working on the National Study Commission on Records and Documents of Federal Offices, 1975-1977; and holding a consulting role with the Social Security Administration.

Leuchtenburg married for the second time in 1984 and has three children from a previous marriage.