Larry Schweikart, a native Arizonian, graduated from Arizona State University with a BA in Political Science, then went on the road with several different rock bands, opening for such ’60s/’70s acts as Steppenwolf. He abruptly switched gears in 1976, receiving an MA from ASU in history, then a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 1985 to 2016 he taught at the University of Dayton. In his career he taught every grade from 7th through college.
He is the co-author, with Michael Allen, of the New York Times #1 bestseller A Patriot’s History of the United States, now in its 31st printing, fourth edition, with a half-million copies in print. A Patriot’s History remains the bestselling homeschool history textbook in America, and is featured in numerous college courses as an antidote to Howard Zinn’s People’s History. Schweikart’s other bestselling books include Seven Events that Made America America, How Trump Won with Joel Pollak (completed before the 2016 election), and with David Dougherty, A Patriot’s History of the Modern World in two volumes. Reagan: The American President appeared in 2018.
He has been on almost all media, from Al-Jazeera to Glenn Beck, from Tavis Smiley to Rush Limbaugh. Since 2009, he has been a film producer. His documentary, Rockin’ the Wall, appeared on PBS along with the sequel Other Walls 2 Fall. In 2019, he founded the Wild World of History curriculum website is now available as a full curriculum for US and World history for grades 8–12, providing full lessons with video instruction.
