Daniel Joseph Boorstin (October 1, 1914 – February 28, 2004), an United States historian and writer, was the Library of Congress from 1975 until 1987. Boorstin graduated with highest honors from Harvard, studied at Balliol College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and earned his PhD. at Yale University. He was a lawyer and university professor. He also served as director of the National Museum of History and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution.Boorstin wrote more than 20 books, including a trilogy on the American experience and one on world intellectual history. The Americans: The Democratic Experience, the final book in the first trilogy, received the 1973 Pulitzer Prize in history. Boorstin also wrote the books The Discoverers, The Seekers and The Creators, a trilogy of books that attempt to survey the History of science, philosophic and Art history histories of humanity respectively. Within the discipline of social theory, Boorstin’s 1961 book The Image: A guide to Pseudo-events in America is notable as it is considered by some to be an early, landmark attempt to describe aspects of American life that would later famously be termed hyperreality and postmodernity. In The Image, Boorstin describes shifts in American culture - mainly due to advertising - where the reproduction or simulation of an actual event becomes more important or 'real' than the event itself. He goes on to coin the term pseudo-event which describes events or activities that almost solely exist within the realm of advertisements or other forms of publicity, but largely did not actually occur in real life. The idea of Pseudo-events closely mirrors work done later by French postmodernists such as Jean Baudrillard and Guy Debord. The work was often used as a text in American sociology courses. When United States President Gerald Ford nominated Boorstin to be Librarian of Congress, the nomination was supported by the Authors League of America but opposed by the American Library Association because Boorstin "was not a library administrator." The United States Senate confirmed the nomination without debate. During his term as Librarian of Congress, Boorstin established the Center for the Book to encourage reading and literacy. In addition, he spearheaded what became a 10-year project to completely renovate the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, restoring the main building to its original 1897 condition. He became Librarian of Congress Emeritus on August 4, 1987. Boorstin was born in Atlanta, Georgia and died in Washington, D.C. Boorstin was of Jew descent.

                       

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