Born in Dallas, Texas, David Gene Reese served in Korea, attended Southern Methodist, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Rangoon Universities. He worked in international development for more than thirty years before retiring from the World Bank. After he became intensely interested in Liberia, its history, and its connections with the United States he spent ten years researching and writing this book. which he spent over fifty years working with the World Bank. While working in Liberia, he developed a fascination with the country, its history, and its connection to the United States that led to ten years of intensive research.

Reese's education includes degrees from Southern Methodist University, the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and Harvard University. He was also a fellow at the Rangoon-Hopkins Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Rangoon University, Myanmar.

Reese currently lives in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC.