Doug Wead

Doug Wead is the author of "The Raising of a President: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders", released by Simon & Schuster's Atria Books on January 4, 2005.  This important and much anticipated work is the first book written on the subject and represents the second volume in Wead's massive ongoing trilogy on the first families.  This project, now seventeen years in the making, includes books on the children, parents and siblings of the Americn presidents.

"All the Presidents' Children", the first book in the series was an account of the triumph and tragedy in the lives of the first families. It was an instant  New York Times bestseller.  Released by Simon & Schuster's Atria Books in February, 2003, it went through three printings in its first month and reached number one at Amazon.com.

An author, humanitarian and philanthropist, Mr. Wead has written 27 books that have sold 5 million copies in 30 languages. As a corporate speaker he has spoken to audiences in coliseums and soccer stadiums on four continents.

In conjunction with the release of All the President's Children , Mr. Wead was interviewed by Matt Lauer on The Today Show , Bill O'Reilly of The O'Reilly Factor , Connie Chung on CNN , Debra Norville on MSNBC.  He was intervied by Dan Rather on the first night of the Gulf War. 

National Charity Awards

In 1979, Wead, Dan O'Neill and Pat Boone organized the first Washington Charity Awards.  First Lady Rosalynn Carter hosted the guests in an East Room reception.  The following year Mercy Corps was organized. Five First Ladies from Lady Bird Johnson to Nancy Reagan to Laura Bush have served as honorary chairpersons for the event. Mercy Corps has distributed more than $500 million in food and medicine around the world.

During the early 1988 George Bush presidential campaign, Wead reported to son, George W. Bush and served as a liaison to constituent groups.  He was Deputy Director of voter coalitions and later served as Special Assistant to the President in the Bush Senior, White House.  Time magazine referred to him as "the man who coined the phrase the compassionate conservative in 1982."

Doug Weads Books

The First Families Trilogy:

Since 1988 Doug Wead has been a student of America's first families. He has interviewed ten first ladies and presidents from six different presidential families and nineteen of the presidential children . His massive ongoing trilogy, already twenty years in the making, plans to cover the children, parents and siblings of the American presidents, all three groundbreaking works. The first two volumes, All the Presidents Children , recording the lives of presidents offspring and The Raising of a President , recounting the lives of presidential parents, were both critically acclaimed bestsellers. He is currently teamed up with fellow historian, Mary Achor, in researching and writing the last volume.

In the 1970's and 80's Doug Wead wrote a number of instant books, some for political campaigns.

George Bush: Man of Integrity , an oral biography, was co-authored with the 41st president and written in three months. Reagan in Pursuit of the Presidency , written in thirty days, sold 800,000 copies and was the campaign biography of 1980. It was on bestseller lists in ten countries. The Iran Crisis was the bestselling book on the subject of American embassy personnel taken hostage in 1979. It was one of the first so called instant books a genre that Wead now disavows.

Religious and History Books:
Doug Wead began his writing career as a Protestant apologist for the Catholic Charismatic Movement and its beginnings on the Notre Dame campus in 1969. He began writing Father McCarthy at age twenty two. It was later republished as Catholic Charismatics . A subsequent book about the Charismatic Movement unfolding in war torn Northern Ireland, Tonight They'll Kill a Catholic , crossed over from a religious book to a mainstream bestseller, with Wead's account of running with the IRA one week and the UDA or the British army the next. People's Temple, People's Tomb was the story of Jonestown and the bestselling book on the subject. One of Wead's most popular books was The Compassionate Touch , a story of beggars, lepers and prostitutes on the streets of Calcutta, India. It has sold close to a million copies and is translated into twelve languages. It introduced Mark Buntain to the world.

Business and Networking Books:
Beginning in 1974, Doug Wead wrote numerous motivational and networking books that sold millions of copies in thirty languages. The Out of Town Expert With a Briefcase became a classic on the principle of third party promotion. It is still used throughout the world as a training tool by Jim Dornan's Network 21 and other corporations. Wead wrote most of Dexter Yager's books, including the multimillion sellers, Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Dream and Millionaire Mentality as well as books for Hal Gooch, Bo Short, Jody Victor, Sammy Hall, the Goads and others.

Presidential Historian

"Doug Wead is one of the most inspiring speakers, teachers, thinkers and writers of all time! I grow every time I hear him."

Mark Victor Hansen - Author, Chicken Soup for the Soul

 

In the Media

Read Doug Wead in USA Today

Read about Doug Wead in Time Magazine

Read the Today Show Transcript