Michael Koncewicz is a political historian who is the Michael Nash Research Scholar at the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University, one of the more renowned archives that focus on the history of labor and the left. He previously worked for the National Archives at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, contributing to the museum’s nonpartisan Watergate exhibit. He is currently working on the authorized biography of Tom Hayden.

Koncewicz’s first book, They Said ‘No’ to Nixon: Republicans Who Stood Up to the President’s Abuses of Power, was published by University of California Press in 2018. Culling from previously unpublished excerpts from the tapes and recently released materials that expose the thirty-seventh president’s uncensored views, the book reveals how Republican party members remained loyal civil servants in the face of Nixon’s attempts to expand the imperial presidency. His work has appeared on CNN and in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and The Washington Post. 

He received his Ph.D. in History from the University of California Irvine in 2014 and has taught at New York University, Hunter College, and the New York City College of Technology.

As the authorized biographer of Tom Hayden, I will examine how his life is a story of the sixties. Straddling the line between the left and mainstream politics, Hayden sought to empower those who fought for radical change during his formative years and beyond. Through the Port Huron Statement, SDS, the Chicago Conspiracy Trial, and his marriage to Jane Fonda, Hayden was a rare celebrity activist who many Americans saw as incarnating the era’s social movements. Civil rights organizers in the south inspired Hayden to devote his life to activism, leading him to become a community organizer in Newark. The antiwar movement pushed him to challenge the Cold War and fed his lifelong internationalism. His environmental activism arguably best embodied his ability to merge grassroots movements with electoral politics. His life offers readers a better understanding of the cultural and political legacy of the sixties, missed opportunities, and a compelling case study for those who are interested in the future of progressive politics.

He is also working on a detailed history of the Moratorium to End the Vietnam War. The book will tell the story of the organizers who spearheaded the Vietnam Moratorium Committee and explain how the campaign was a profound entry point for millions of Americans who stepped out to protest the war for the first time. By bringing antiwar politics to middle America, the Moratorium created a critical flashpoint for liberal-left politics during the Vietnam era.  

You can follow me on Twitter @MikeKoncewicz