View source for Gil Troy

{{Short description|American historian, author, and scholar}}
'''Gil Troy''' (born 1961) is an American presidential [[historian]] and a popular commentator on politics and other issues. He is a professor of history at [[McGill University]]. Troy is the author of twelve books, and the editor of two. He writes a column for ''[[The Daily Beast]]''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Troy|first1=Gil|title=Gil Troy|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/gil-troy.html|website=DailyBeast.com|accessdate=10 September 2015|archive-date=15 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215150449/http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/gil-troy.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> on forgotten history, putting current events in historical perspective and is a columnist for ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]''.

==Biography==
Troy was born in [[Queens|Queens, New York]]. He is the brother of Dan Troy<ref>{{cite web|last1=Zeveloff|first1=Julie|title=GSK Snags Former FDA General Counsel Dan Troy|url=http://www.law360.com/articles/63453/gsk-snags-former-fda-general-counsel-dan-troy|website=Law360.com|accessdate=9 September 2015}}</ref> and [[Tevi Troy|Tevi David Troy]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Hudson Institute|url=http://www.hudson.org/experts/563-tevi-troy|website=Hudson.org|accessdate=10 September 2015}}</ref> He attended [[Jamaica High School (New York City)|Jamaica High School]], and received his bachelor's degree, master's degree, and doctorate from [[Harvard University]].

==Academic career==
Troy taught history and literature at Harvard University from 1988 to 1990. He has taught history at McGill University since 1990. Troy has authored seven books on the American presidency and the history of presidential campaigning, including biographies of [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Hillary Clinton]], and edited two others, including a revised edition of a comprehensive reference guide to American presidential elections previously edited by noted historian [[Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.]]  He has written numerous articles on the presidency and presidential elections that have appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''[[The Wilson Quarterly]]'', and other newspapers, magazines and journals. He has served as visiting scholar at the [[Bipartisan Policy Center]] and on the advisory board of the [[History News Network]]. The History News Network designated him one of the first "top young historians,<ref>{{cite web|last1=HNN|first1=Editor|title=Hillary Rodham Clinton: Polarizing First Lady by Gil Troy|url=http://historynewsnetwork.org/blog/35234|website=Historynewsnetwork.org|date=10 February 2007 |accessdate=9 September 2015}}</ref>" and Maclean's Magazine has repeatedly identified him as one of McGill's "popular Profs."

==Zionist activism==
Troy is a prominent activist in the [[debate over Zionism]] and the [[future of Israel]]. He has been a [[Shalom Hartman Institute|Shalom Hartman Center]] Research Fellow and helped found the center's Engaging Israel Program. His articles on the subject have appeared in ''[[The New Republic]]'' and elsewhere, and he has written two books, ''Why I am a Zionist'' and ''Moynihan's Moment: America's Fight Against Zionism as Racism'', which [[David G. Dalin]], writing in the ''[[National Review]]'', called "beautifully written, and rich in its insight and analysis&nbsp;... the definitive account of this episode and of why its legacy is an enduring one."<ref name="National Review 11Feb2013">{{cite news |url= https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/338667/man-standing/ |title= A Man Standing |author= David G. Dalin |date= 11 February 2013 |work= The National Review |accessdate= 11 February 2013 }}</ref> Jewish Ideas Daily designated Moynihan's Moment one of its "best books" of 2012, it was the winner of a 2014 J.I. Segal Award in the category of English Non-Fiction Award on a Jewish Theme, and his article "Democracy, Judaism, and War" won a 2014 [[Simon Rockower Award]] for Excellence in Single Commentary.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 34th Annual Simon Rockower Award Winners|url=http://www.ajpa.org/?page=2015Rockower|website=Ajpa.org|accessdate=10 September 2015}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Troy is married to the artist Linda Adams,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Linda |title=Linda Adams |url=https://lindaadams.com/about |access-date=22 April 2025 |website=Linda Adams |language=en-IL}}</ref> daughter of Canadian real estate investor [[Marcel Adams]].<ref name=Press>{{cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/israel/jerusalem-post/20100502/282226596935031|title=PressReader|via=PressReader|accessdate=11 May 2019}}</ref>

==Publications==
* ''To Resist the Academic Intifada: Letters to My Students on Defending the Zionist Dream''. Wicked Son Press, New York, 2024. {{ISBN|979-8-88-845890-7}}
* ''The Essential Guide to October 7th and its Aftermath,'' 2023
* ''The Zionist Ideas; Visions for the Jewish Homeland — Then, Now, Tomorrow'' (2018)
* ''The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s''. St. Martin's Press, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-25-006372-4}} 
*  ''Moynihan's Moment: America's Fight Against Zionism as Racism''. Oxford University Press, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-19-992030-3}}
*  ''History of American Presidential Elections 1789–2008''. (4th edition, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.,  Gil Troy & Fred L. Israel, editors). Facts on File, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-8160-8220-9}}
* ''Living in the Eighties''. (Gil Troy & Vincent J. Cannato, editors). Oxford University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-19-518787-8}}
* ''The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction''. Oxford University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-19-531710-7}}
* ''Hillary Rodham Clinton: Polarizing First Lady''. University Press of Kansas, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-1585-8}}
* ''Leading from the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents''. Basic Books, 2008. {{ISBN|0-465-00293-5}} (In paperback: ''Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents: From George Washington to Barack Obama''. University Press of Kansas, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-1883-5}})
* ''Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s''. Princeton University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-691-13060-6}}
* ''Why I Am a Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today''. Bronfman Jewish Education Center, 2002. {{ISBN|978-1-55234-647-1}}
* ''Affairs of State: The Rise and Rejection of the Presidential Couple Since World War II''. Free Press, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-684-82820-6}}. (In paperback: ''Mr. & Mrs. President: From the Trumans to the Clintons''. University Press of Kansas, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-1034-1}})
* ''See How They Ran: The Changing Role of the Presidential Candidate''. (Revised and expanded edition.) Harvard University Press, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-674-79680-5}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.giltroy.com Personal website]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Troy, Gil}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century American historians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Jewish American activists]]
[[Category:Historians of the United States]]
[[Category:Academic staff of McGill University]]
[[Category:Writers on Zionism]]
[[Category:Jewish American historians]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:American Zionists]]