Professor Keith W. Olson

Department of History
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

501 Wake Robin Drive
Shelburne, VT 05482-7579

802-985-0710
802-985-8452 fax
kwolson@umd.edu

Education

PhD University of Wisonsin
M.A. State University of New York, Albany
B.A. State University of New York, Albany

Books

Watergate: The Presidential Scandal That Shook America (Lawrence: The University Press of Kansas, 2003)

"Watergate remains the most dramatic, senstional, and significant political scandal in American history. Keith Olson's tightly woven narrative recounts that infamous story with verve and a sharp eye for telling detail. His book should appeal to a wide readership."
Stanley Kutler, author of Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon

"Up-to-date, fair, and intelligent....An impressive work."
Melvin Small, auther of The Presidency of Richard Nixon

"succinct and lively... Olson's concluding chapter is his best, for it explains, in a most thoughtful way, why Watergate happened. The author places the scandal in the context of the Cold War..."
Dean J. Kotlowski, author of Nixon's Civil Rights: Politics, Principle, and Policy

 

Biography of a Progressive: Franklin K. Lane, 1864-1921 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1979)

"a useful study of a significant but largely forgotten progressive... notable strengths, especially in terms of research, organization, and a straight-forward writing style." American Historical Review

"Carefully researched and well written... a good book that adds to our knowledge of Franklin Lane and hist times. It should be widely read." Pacific Northwest Quarterly

The G.I.Bill, The Veterans, and the Colleges (Lexington: The University of Kentucky Press of Kentucky, 1974)

Runner-Up Frederick Jackson Turner Prize of the Organization of American Historians.

Included in 100 Classic Books About Higher Education (2001)

Selected Honors

Honorary PhD 2000, University of Tampere, for scholarship and contribution to American Studies in Finland
Honorary member of Finnish Historical Society
Fulbrights: 1986-1987, 1993-1994, 2004

Most recent article:

      "FDR: The President and the High School," PROLOGUE (Winter 2008)

Most recent paper:

      "John F. Kennedy and Vietnam: The Preponderance of Evidence," at the British Association for America Studies Conference,
      University of Edinburgh (May 2008)

Most recent essay:

      "1972 Watergate Break-in Woke a Nation of Watchdogs," Posted June 18, 2009.
      http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2009/06/18/1972-watergate-break-in-woke-a-nation-of-watchdogs.html

Most recent review:

      The G.I. Bill: a New Deal for Veterans (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) EH:NET Posted October 13, 2009

Primary Teaching Interest

20th Century United States Presidential History

Current Research

"Eisenhower, Democrats, and Civil Rights"