Douglas Brinkley and David Brinkley were separated by more than forty years, but were they related in any way?
Douglas Brinkley and David Brinkley are totally unrelated. The former was born in 1960, while the latter was born in 1920, setting them forty years apart. The only thing they share is the same surname.
Read on to learn more about these two similarly-named individuals.
On The Brinkley
David Brinkley was born in 1920 in Houston, Texas. By the time of his death in 2003, he’d accumulated a career in news and television spanning more than fifty years.
This is where the prime similarities occur between him and Douglas Brinkley.
Douglas Brinkley, born 1960 in Atlanta, Georgia, also took roles on television. He took up the mantle of history commentator for CNN, specializing in presidential history.
Douglas Brinkley was primarily a prominent and critically acclaimed writer, something that was also replicated by David Brinkley.
You can see a video on YouTube of Douglas Brinkley giving an interview and discussing one of his books.
Both men wrote a slew of books, with Douglas Brinkley taking the top spot on the podium. His work was largely political, writing about events such as the Vietnam War, Hurricane Katrina, and The Cold War.
In a similar tact, David Brinkley wrote on topics like World War II, and how it impacted Washington as the US capital.
While Douglas Brinkley is well-known in his own right, the bulk of his career was getting off the ground while David Brinkley’s was just finishing. Douglas has been in the public eye since around 1993, by which point David Brinkley could boast a fifty-year career.
Douglas Brinkley isn’t too well-known in the overall public spotlight, especially considering his Twitter has been silent for seven years.
In terms of acclaim and reception, David Brinkley takes the post. Throughout his entire career, David received an incredible amount of awards, including ten Emmy’s and even a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Other recipients of this medal have been Mother Teresa, the crew of Apollo 13, and Margaret Thatcher.
Although, Douglas Brinkley isn’t without award. He received recognition for his works from as early as 1995. He’s likely on the path to further success however, as he has been referred to as “the best of the new generation of American historians.”
Real Relations
When probing deeper, it becomes clear that there are more strange similarities between the two Brinkley men. Both were or are married to an Anne, and both had three biological children.
David Brinkley adopted a daughter with his second wife, however. Coincidentally, both David and Douglas had a son named John.
When David Brinkley died in 2003, he was in Houston, Texas. He’d been born in Wilmington, North Carolina, before moving to Washington DC after turning twenty-three.
Douglas Brinkley, on the other hand, was born in Atlanta, Georgia – a near neighbor state to North Carolina, and moved to Austin, Texas later in life.
Furthering the similarity, both men opted to pursue a career focused heavily in, around and regarding Washington DC. Also, one of Douglas Brinkley’s most well-received books was titled Cronkite. This was a biography for the late Walter Cronkite, a very famous television and radio broadcaster.
It seems ironic that, while making comparisons between the two Brinkleys, Douglas found a lot of fame writing about a man who mirrored David in so many ways.
It’s unequivocal that there are many similarities running deep between these two men. However, it’s a certain fact that they weren’t or aren’t related in any way whatsoever.