David McCullough and the Study of History

One of the greatest weeks of my life was the week David McCullough came to teach a one-credit course at Hillsdale College in 2006. McCullough, the great writer and teacher of history, held forth on the craft of writing, led us in a discussion of a primary source reading from the pen of John Adams, and held office hours with the largest gathering of students I ever saw in the faculty office building. I realized then that some people make more of a difference in a week’s time in the lives of people around them than many others make over the course of years. David McCullough made a profound difference that week and over his 89 years.