Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson

Carly Fiorina on the Future of the United States

AUDIO ONLY The path forward for the United States.

Uncommon Knowledge with Peter RobinsonMay 11, 2017
Carly Fiorina on the Future of the United States

Recorded on March 16, 2017

Although many people have heard of Carly Fiorina, former presidential candidate and first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, few have had the chance to sit down and speak with her. In this special live taping of Uncommon Knowledge, at the National Review Institute’s Idea Summit, with guest host Michael Franc, director of Hoover’s Washington, DC, Programs, Fiorina discusses the 2016 presidential election, her personal path to conservatism, and her beliefs about the future for US and global politics. She opens up about the often-brutal criticisms she received during the election, her choice to become conservative, the loss of her stepdaughter to drug addiction, and the ways in which she believes conservatives are fighting to help people help themselves by giving them the tools and resources necessary to change their own path. Fiorina goes on to analyze the current state of the union, the disenfranchised Americans she’s met, and the solutions she believes in for the future of the United States.

Special Guest Host:  Michael Franc is the Hoover Institution’s director of DC programs, where he oversees research and outreach initiatives to promote ideas and scholarship in our nation’s capital. He holds a dual appointment as a research fellow. Mike Franc is a longtime veteran of Washington, DC, policy making. Before joining Hoover, Franc served as policy director and counsel for House majority leader Kevin McCarthy. He also served as the vice president of government relations for the Heritage Foundation from 1997 to 2013. During that time, he managed all the think tank’s outreach with Capitol Hill and the Executive Branch.  He also completed a tour of duty as communications director for former House majority leader Dick Armey (R-TX) and worked for the US Department of Education and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has been quoted widely in the print and broadcast media and was a regular contributor to the National Review Online and other publications. Franc has a BA from Yale University and a JD from Georgetown University.

Cast

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina

Related

Event

The Russia-DPRK Alliance & the Development of the Military-Economic Complex in North Korea

The Hoover History Lab and Northeast Asia History Working Group hosted The Russia-DPRK Alliance & the Development of the Military-Economic Complex in North Korea on April 1, 2026.

September 23, 2026

Videos

Russia: Repression, War, And Prospects For Freedom

H.R. McMaster and Vladimir Kara-Murza discuss the state of the war in Ukraine, the prospects and perils facing Russia's opposition, the shifting currents of Russian domestic politics, the effort to organize the Russian diaspora into a coherent political force, and prospects of a post-Putin Russia.

September 23, 2026

Videos

Brazil’s Institutional Crisis: When Courts Become Rulers

Brazil’s Supreme Court has become a center of political authority, challenging the separation of powers and placing new pressure on Congress to reassert its constitutional role.

September 22, 2026 • 3 Min Watch