Dr. David A. Smith is a senior lecturer in American history at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He received his undergraduate degree from what is now Texas State University in San Marcos, and his Ph.D. in modern American history from the University of Missouri in the year 2000.

In addition to being the author of Money for Art: The Tangled Web of Art and Politics in American Democracy, his columns on history, culture, and politics have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Townhall.com, Foxnews.com, the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, the Austin American-Statesman, and he writes a weekly column on art and culture for the Waco Tribune-Herald. He has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition, the Jim Bohannon Show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, the Mars Hill Audio Journal, the Mark Davis Show, WNYC's "Soundcheck," KERA's "Think," and many other radio stations. An avid public speaker, he has spoken to civic organizations ranging from art galleries to the Rotary Club, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, the Fort Worth World Affairs Council and the Audie Murphy Museum. His book reviews have appeared in outlets from the Washington Times to the Naval War College Review.