[2] After receiving his degrees, Strauss worked in Washington, D.C., as a policy aid to the Presidential Clemency Board, directing a research team writing a report on the impact of the Vietnam War on the generation that was drafted.

Senator Charles Percy, and in 1980 he became chief counsel and staff director of the Subcommittee on Energy, Nuclear Proliferation, and Government Processes.

During the 1990s, Strauss developed another career as an historian and pop sociologist,[3] examining how generational differences shape attitudes, behaviors, and the course of history.

In 1999, Strauss received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, which led him to found the Cappies, a program to inspire the next generation of theater performers and writers.

[7][8] Generations made a deep impression on former U.S. vice president Al Gore, who called it the most stimulating book on American history he'd ever read.

[9] The Fourth Turning made a deep impression on Steve Bannon, who wrote and directed Generation Zero (2010), a Citizens United Productions film on the book's theory, prior to his becoming White House Chief Strategist.

He wrote a critical piece about the concept of "generations" and the "Millennials" (a term coined by Strauss and Howe) for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Strauss wrote three musicals, MaKiddo, Free-the-Music.com, and Anasazi, and two plays, Gray Champions and The Big Bump, about various themes in the books he has co-authored with Howe.