Mark Updegrove (left) with Barack and Michelle Obama and John Lewis at the 2014 Civil Rights Summit, hosted by the LBJ Presidential Library. Credit: Doug Mills, The New York Times.

About The Director

Mark K. Updegrove became director of the LBJ Presidential Library October 2009. He is an author, publisher, lecturer, presidential historian, and journalist who has served as U.S. publisher of Newsweek, president of Time Canada, and manager of Time Los Angeles. In addition to his responsibilities at the LBJ Presidential Library, Updegrove is an analyst for ABC News and a contributing editor for PARADE Magazine.

Updegrove has authored three books relating to the American presidency: Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency (2012), Baptism By Fire: Eight Presidents Who Took Office in Times of Crisis (2009), and Second Acts: Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House (2006). He has written for American Heritage, The Nation, National Geographic, Parade, Texas Monthly, Politico, The Daily Beast, and TIME and has conducted exclusive interviews with five U.S. presidents.

Read a profile of Updegrove in The New York Times.