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Richard W. Leopold Prize facts for kids

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The Richard W. Leopold Prize is a special award given every two years by the Organization of American Historians (OAH). It honors the best history books about the United States government.

What is the Richard W. Leopold Prize?

The Richard W. Leopold Prize is named after Professor Richard W. Leopold (1912–2006). He was a respected historian and even served as the President of the OAH from 1976 to 1977.

How Winners Are Chosen

A special committee picks the winners. This committee has three members. The President of the OAH chooses these members. They look for the best history book on certain topics.

What Kinds of Books Win?

The books that win this prize are about the U.S. federal government. This includes books about government groups or how the U.S. deals with other countries. Books about the U.S. military can also win. Biographies, which are life stories of government officials, are also considered.

Who Can Win the Prize?

Only historians who do not work at universities can win this award. The prize often goes to historians who work for U.S. government agencies. The winning author receives $1,500. Sometimes, two books have won in the same year. This happened in 1990 and 2002. If two books win, the authors share the prize money. If a book has two authors, they also split the money.

Past Winners of the Leopold Prize

Below is a list of the talented historians who have won the Richard W. Leopold Prize. The list shows the year they won and the title of their award-winning book. It also shows where they worked when they received the prize.

Year Winner Affiliation Title
1984 J. Merton England A Patron for Pure Science, The National Science Foundation's Formative Years, 1945-1957
1986 Steven L. Rearden History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense: The Formative Years, 1947-1950
1988 James Edward Miller The United States and Italy 1940-1950: The Politics and Diplomacy of Stabilization
1990 Richard G. Hewlett co-author U.S. Department of Energy Atoms for Peace and War 1953-1961: Eisenhower and the Atomic Energy Commission
1990 Jack M. Holl co-author U.S. Department of Energy Atoms for Peace and War 1953-1961: Eisenhower and the Atomic Energy Commission
1992 Donald A. Ritchie U.S. Senate Press Gallery: Congress and the Washington Correspondents
1994 Donald R. Baucom Air Power Research Institute at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama The Origins of SDI, 1944-1983
1996 Barton C. Hacker U.S. Department of Energy Elements of Controversy: The Atomic Energy Commission and Radiation Safety in Nuclear Weapons Testing, 1947-1974
1998 Andrew J. Butrica Independent scholar To See the Unseen: A History of Planetary Radar Astronomy
2000 William M. Hammond U.S. Army Center of Military History Reporting Vietnam: Media and Military at War
2002co-winner Dale Andradé co-author U.S. Army Center of Military History Indonesia, Spies and Commandos: How America Lost the Secret War in North Vietnam
2002co-winner Kenneth Conboy, co-author Control Risks Group Indonesia, Spies and Commandos: How America Lost the Secret War in North Vietnam
2002co-winner Gary E. Weir U.S. Naval Historical Center An Ocean in Common: American Naval Officers, Scientists, and the Ocean
2004 Peter S. Kindsvatter U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools, Aberdeen Proving Grounds American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam
2006 Robert J. Schneller Jr. U.S. Naval Historical Center Breaking the Color Barrier: The U.S. Naval Academy's First Black Midshipmen and the Struggle for Racial Equality
2008 Michael J. Neufeld National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War
2010 J. Samuel Walker U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission The Road to Yucca Mountain: The Development of Radioactive Waste Policy in the United States
2012 William A. Dobak The United States Army Center of Military History (retired) Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867
2014 S.C.M. Paine US Naval War College The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949
2016 Jacqueline E. Whitt Air War College Bringing God to Men: American Military Chaplains and the Vietnam War
2018 Richard S. Faulkner U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Pershing’s Crusaders: The American Soldier in World War I
2020 Anand Toprani U.S. Naval War College Oil and the Great Powers: Britain and Germany, 1914–1945
2022 Christian Friedrich Ostermann Woodrow Wilson Center Between Containment and Rollback: The United States and the Cold War in Germany
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