Stephen Ambrose: One for the Ages

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Stephen Ambrose: One for the Ages
by Robert Yoho, Columnist and Senior Editor

October 18, 2002

"Eye on Conservatism"

Columnist Robert Yoho I was saddened to learn of the death this past weekend of historian Stephen Ambrose, who was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year.

As someone who has also tried to chronicle the events of history in a published work, I know the difficulty of making history come alive. Author Stephen Ambrose truly made it look easy to create a scholarly yet readable work. Ambrose did it not once, but numerous times.

Despite the recent accusations of plagiarism and the fact that he signed a document opposing the impeachment proceedings of Bill Clinton, I still have nothing but the highest respect for the man and his work. His leftist leanings did nothing to detract from his writing.

Even during periods of great civil unrest here at home, Ambrose clung to his principles. It was clear that Ambrose had only the highest respect for those who put everything on the line to preserve our nation’s freedom. When the military was routinely reviled; he praised them.

Ambrose did what any great author should. He made his subjects live! His passion for his work was contagious. He transferred that love and respect for his subjects to the reader. Ambrose made history interesting; he made it memorable; he brought it to life.

His straightforward style of writing placed history on the bottom shelf, where it was available to everyone, the scholarly and the unlearned. His books were not merely collections of dry, accumulated facts; they read like a novel. To those who despised history or were ignorant of it, Ambrose gave them the desire to learn more.

His published works were not just textbooks of past events; they were a chance for Americans to vicariously relive those events in the words and recollections of those who lived them the first time.

Despite great wealth and fame, it appeared that Ambrose sought only accolades for those whose lives he trumpeted. He often wrote of the rich, the powerful, and the famous. However, he also gave voice to the lowly foot soldiers, the airmen, and the explorers. He praised the men whose discoveries expanded our continent from sea-to-sea and those who joined it from end-to-end with great iron rails.

His personal appearances were events to be remembered. Ambrose spoke in the same way he wrote. His gruff, gravelly voice possessed the same strength and down-to-earth quality of the characters in his books.

He did not lecture the crowd. Ambrose was everybody’s favorite uncle, sharing his stories with wide-eyed children around a campfire. And he always left them hungering for more!

Much of what America knows of D-Day, they learned as a result of Stephen Ambrose’s writings. The first 25 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" — for which Ambrose was a consultant — contain numerous pictorial accounts of many of the scenes described in his book.

The D-Day Museum in New Orleans is the culmination of Ambrose’s dream to preserve the memories, sacrifices, and honor of those who struck the final deathblow to Hitler’s so–called invincible Atlantic Wall. He not only conceived the idea for a museum; Ambrose financed much of it, personally donating $2.5 million from his book royalties.

After the attacks of September 11th, America finally rediscovered its brave and noble past. A nation recognized the courage and sacrifice of brave men and women. Fortunately, men like Stephen Ambrose had already given us their stories. This best-selling historian celebrated heroes before it became fashionable. He told us the tales of ordinary men who made extraordinary contributions to the founding and preservation of our republic. Ambrose concluded they were heroes; he made us believe it too.

In his brief 66 years upon this earth, Stephen Ambrose compiled an impressive body of work and contributed much to a great nation’s memory of its past. Like those he chronicled, the man who kept us turning the pages is gone but not forgotten. Ambrose not only wrote history; but now he has been ushered into its esteemed fraternity. ***

Photo of Robert Yoho courtesy of staff files