People Like Us

David Brooks is an American political pundit and writer. He is a regular writer for The New York Times and has contributed to other major publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Newsweek, and The Weekly Standard. Brooks is also a political and cultural commentator on the Public Broadcasting Systems (PBS) NewsHour and National Public Radio (NPR). He has written several books on various cultural topics, including The Road to Character and The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life.

Brooks was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1961 and grew up primarily in New York City. Interested in writing from an early age, he attended the University of Chicago, where he studied history and regularly contributed to numerous campus publications. Although he was well regarded among fellow students as a writer (especially of satire), one piece was a key factor in jump-starting his journalistic career. During Brooks’s senior year, conservative publishing icon William F. Buckley was scheduled to give a speech on the University of Chicago campus. This speech was highly controversial among the college crowd, and Brooks published a scathing satirical article about Buckley’s pretentious lifestyle. At the end of the article, Brooks half-jokingly stated that he wrote the article as a way of asking Buckley for a job, closing with the line, “So how about it, Billy? Can you spare a dime?” (Beam, Christopher. “A Reasonable Man.” New York Magazine, 1 July 2010. Accessed 4 May 2022). Rather than taking offense, Buckley took him at his word. During his speech, he asked if Brooks was present and offered him a job at one of his publications. Brooks did not immediately accept the offer; after college he worked as a local crime reporter in the Chicago area. Brooks would later report that working on the police circuit changed his view of the world, making him more conservative. Eventually he reached out to Buckley and took a job at National Review, a conservative magazine owned by the magnate. This job gave Brooks access to many well-connected sources, and he quickly gained prominence as a journalist.

Although labeled a conservative, Brooks is known for his moderate politics and wide-reaching analysis of politics and society. He defines himself as a classical conservative, and his writing typically judges politicians by merit rather than political affiliation. He praises politicians like John McCain and Barack Obama, whom he sees as upholding the original values of the American founders. Meanwhile, he harshly criticizes figures like Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, who he suggests are not real conservatives and will be the ultimate downfall of the Republican party.