David Michael Kennedy

Professor David M. Kennedy is the Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History Emeritus at Stanford University and the former Director at the Bill Lane Center for the American West. His research focuses on the history of the United States, primarily in the twentieth century. Much of his work is informed by a comparative perspective on the question of American exceptionalism -- on the social, institutional, ideological, and attitudinal factors that define the uniqueness of the American historical experience. He has written about politics, diplomacy, literature, immigration, women's history, economic history, and military history. Current work concerns the impact of the Great Depression, and late twentieth-century immigration. His book, "Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945", won prestigious awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, Francis Parkman Prize, Ambassador's Prize, and California Gold Medal for Literature.