Harry Truman once said, "I tried never to forget who I was, where I came from and where I would go back to."
Today, the man who brought Truman's story to millions may offer graduating seniors similar advice on life after Dartmouth.
David McCullough, critically acclaimed as America's foremost narrative historian, will give the Commencement address at the College's 233rd graduation ceremony Sunday.
McCullough, who has previously taught at Dartmouth as a Montgomery fellow, has earned a myriad of literary honors, including two Pulitzer Prizes. However, he said he first discovered his passion for history during his college years at Yale University.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, the author described his time as an undergraduate as exciting and formative. McCullough noted that it took him a few years to derive full benefit from his time in college.
"I really didn't catch hold until my junior year, when suddenly I was taking courses I found exciting," McCullough said.
Specifically, the author recalled "a wonderful course on the twentieth-century novel" that induced one of his earliest bouts of serious historical research.
"I did a very nerd-like thing -- I stayed at Yale over spring vacation and spent the whole time at the library," McCullough said. "I found that even while the whole campus was empty ... I still loved every day I was there. I'd be at those big tables with all the books around me taking notes, and I began to think, 'Wouldn't it be great to make this kind of thing your work!'"
McCullough also noted that he visited Dartmouth twice as an undergraduate, both times during Winter Carnival.
"I had a lot of fun," McCullough said.
After graduating from Yale, McCullough became a journalist because, in his own words, "I needed a job." His interest in writing history did not fully blossom until, while working in Washington, D.C., years later, he came across a number of primary sources on the Johnstown Flood of 1889 in the Library of Congress.
The Johnstown disaster was the worst inland flood in American history. Thousands of people died when a hastily constructed dam broke, swamping the flourishing Pennsylvania town.
McCullough said the primary sources he found piqued his interest, and he tried to further investigate the flood.
"I took a book out from the library, but it wasn't very good. It didn't even have the geography right," McCullough said. "So I decided to try to write the book about the Johnstown flood that I'd like to read."
"The Johnstown Flood" took McCullough three years to produce and, to his surprise, became a best-seller in 1968, shortly after publication. Heartened by his initial success, McCullough quit his day job at a publishing house and began his career as a full-time historian.
McCullough has subsequently penned six works, all of which have been generally well-received. His most recent book, "John Adams," won McCulough his second Pulitzer Prize and shed new light on the life on one of America's most misunderstood founders. McCullogh said he has been thrilled with his life as an author.
"The best thing is to choose work that you love," McCullough said. "The fact that I can make a living doing what I most want to do is the greatest of blessings."
