David Cortright was born November 15, 1946, in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, to Vernon and Margaret Cortright. In 1970, he married Monica Heilbrunn and the couple divorced in 1973. Cortright married Tricia Cameron in 1974. The couple later divorced and Cortright married Karen Jacob. He has three children. Cortright received a BA from the University of Notre Dame in 1968. He also earned an MA from New York University in 1970 and a PhD from the Union Institute in 1975. During his education, Cortright served in the US Army from 1968 to 1971 and fought in the Vietnam War—a war he felt was evil and unreasonable.