During his time in Georgetown, Brinkley worked as the night manager at Second Story Books in DC. During the early 1990s, Brinkley taught American Arts and Politics for Hofstra aboard the Majic Bus, a roving transcontinental classroom, from which emerged the book
The Majic Bus: An American Odyssey (1993). In 1993, he left Hofstra to teach at the
University of New Orleans, where he taught the class again using two natural-gas fueled buses. According to the Associated Press, "...if you can't tour the United States yourself, the next best thing is to go along with Douglas Brinkley aboard
The Majic Bus." Brinkley worked closely with his mentor, historian
Stephen E. Ambrose, then director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans. Ambrose chose Brinkley to become director of the Eisenhower Center, a post he held for five years before moving to
Tulane University. Brinkley's first book was
Jean Monnet: The Path to European Unity (1992). His second was
Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years (1992). He then co-edited a monograph series with
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and
William vanden Heuvel in the 1990s. Brinkley also edited a volume on
Dean Acheson and the Making of US Foreign Policy with
Paul H. Nitze (1993). In 1999, he published
The Unfinished Presidency about
Jimmy Carter's active and influential post-presidency. Brinkley is the
literary executor for his late friend, the journalist and author
Hunter S. Thompson. He is also the editor of a three-volume collection of Thompson's letters. Brinkley is also the authorized biographer for
Beat generation author
Jack Kerouac, having edited Kerouac's diaries as
Windblown World (2004). In 2004, Brinkley released
Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War, about U.S. Senator
John Kerry's prior military service and anti-war activism during the
Vietnam War. The 2004 documentary movie
Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry is loosely based on Brinkley's book. Brinkley's biography of
Walter Cronkite,
Cronkite was published in 2012. It was also selected as a
Washington Post Book of the Year. Brinkley and
Johnny Depp were nominated for a Grammy for their co-authoring of the liner notes to the documentary:
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. He also co-edited with Johnny Depp the long lost novel of
Woody Guthrie titled
House of Earth.
Congressional hearing On November 18, 2011, during his testimony before a Congressional hearing on drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Brinkley had a heated exchange with Rep.
Don Young. Young, who had not been present during Brinkley's testimony, nonetheless characterized it as "garbage" and addressed Brinkley as "Dr. Rice." In response, Brinkley stated, "It's Dr. Brinkley.
Rice is a university. I know you went to
Yuba College and couldn't graduate." (In fact, Young had graduated from Yuba Community College with an associate's degree, and later received a bachelor's degree from Chico State.) Brinkley also noted that Young's comments were made even though Young had not been present during his testimony. Brinkley continued to push back against Young throughout the hearing until the committee chairman threatened to have Brinkley removed.{{cite news|access-date=November 18, 2011 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/douglas-brinkley-and-rep-don-young-in-committee-hearing-smackdown/2011/11/18/gIQABxqVZN_blog.html ==Critical reception==