Updegrove is a presidential historian and the award-winning author of four books on the presidency. A recent book, The Last Republicans: Inside the Extraordinary Relationship Between George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, drew on exclusive access and interviews with both Bush presidents. His latest book, Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency, was published in 2022.
As the presidential historian for ABC News, Updegrove is a regular contributor to Good Morning America and ABC News. He also appears regularly on CNN and MSNBC, and has written for The New York Times, Time, Politico, Parade, National Geographic, Texas Monthly, USA Today, and The Daily Beast.
Updegrove currently serves as the President and CEO of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation. From 2009 to 2017, he was the director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, where, in 2014, he hosted the Civil Rights Summit, which included Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter, and prompted a The New York Times profile of Updegrove titled, “Chronicler of Presidents is Bringing Four Together.” Earlier in his career, he served as U.S. publisher of Newsweek and President of Time magazine’s Canadian edition.
In addition to speaking, Updegrove is well-known for moderating public events, having conducted interviews with seven U.S. presidents and first ladies as well as a wide range of luminaries including Mikhail Gorbachev, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O’Connor, Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice, James Baker, Hank Aaron, John Lewis, Bryan Cranston, and Hank Aaron.
