He was an influential historian and academic who traced the evolution of liberalism from the New Deal in the United States through to the 21st century. And, he was the 70-year old son of former TV News Anchor David Brinkley.

Alan Brinkley died Sunday in Manhattan from complications related to ALS.

Brinkley grew up in a house where guests included John Kennedy and Arthur Schlesinger Jr., and where politics, history and culture were all-day conversations.

He was a prominent author, National Book Award winner and a Pulitzer Prize finalist who taught at Harvard and Columbia Universities.

Liberalism and the forces opposed to it were the themes of much of his work.