Peter M. Robinson

Murdoch Distinguished Policy Fellow
Biography: 

Peter M. Robinson is the Murdoch Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he writes about business and politics, edits Hoover's quarterly journal, the Hoover Digest, and hosts Hoover's video series program, Uncommon Knowledge™.

Robinson is also the author of three books: How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life (Regan Books, 2003); It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP, (Warner Books, 2000); and the best-selling business book Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA (Warner Books, 1994; still available in paperback).

In 1979, he graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College, where he majored in English. He went on to study politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford University, from which he graduated in 1982.

Robinson spent six years in the White House, serving from 1982 to 1983 as chief speechwriter to Vice President George Bush and from 1983 to 1988 as special assistant and speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan. He wrote the historic Berlin Wall address in which President Reagan called on General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!"

After the White House, Robinson attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. (The journal he kept formed the basis for Snapshots from Hell.) He graduated with an MBA in 1990.

Robinson then spent a year in New York City with Fox Television, reporting to the owner of the company, Rupert Murdoch. He spent a second year in Washington, D.C., with the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he served as the director of the Office of Public Affairs, Policy Evaluation, and Research. Robinson joined the Hoover Institution in 1993.

The author of numerous essays and interviews, Robinson has published in the New York Times, Red Herring, and Forbes ASAP, the Wall Street Journal, and National Review Online. He is the editor of Can Congress Be Fixed?: Five Essays on Congressional Reform (Hoover Institution Press, 1995).

In 2005, Robinson was elected to serve as a Trustee of Dartmouth College.

Robinson lives in northern California with his wife, their children and their dog, Crusoe.

His research papers are available at the Hoover Institution Archives.

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In the News

The Word According to Tom Wolfe: Chapter 3 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Darwin, Marx, Freud, (E.O.) Wilson?...

In the News

The Word According to Tom Wolfe: Chapter 2 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Tom Wolfe says the ideas for his novels grow out of conversation — from what’s really happening...

Tom Wolfe is the author of numerous bestselling works of fiction and non-fiction.

The Word According to Tom Wolfe

by Peter M. Robinsonwith Tom Wolfevia Uncommon Knowledge
Monday, May 5, 2008

Peter Robinson engages America’s master novelist in a conversation that ranges from the death of the American novel to the “charming aristocracy” that seeks to dictate literary standards to the intersection of culture and the latest findings in neuroscience. Along the way, Tom Wolfe reaffirms his place as the preeminent chronicler of the changing American scene. (35:51) Video transcript

In the News

The Word According to Tom Wolfe: Chapter 1 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Monday, May 5, 2008

Tom Wolfe begins by discussing the written word, in its popular forms...

In the News

Kissinger on War & More: Chapter 5 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Friday, April 25, 2008

War and the media — the two have not partnered so well since Vietnam...

In the News

Kissinger on War & More: Chapter 4 of 5

by Peter M. Robinson with George P. Shultzvia Uncommon Knowledge
Thursday, April 24, 2008

Kissinger has partnered with George Shultz and others in the noble cause of a nuclear-free world...

In the News

Kissinger on War & More: Chapter 3 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Kissinger says the rise of India and China is an immensely significant event...

In the News

Kissinger on War & More: Chapter 2 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Kissinger says Europe is suspended between its past and its future...

In the News

Kissinger on War & Diplomacy: Chapter 1 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Monday, April 21, 2008

Henry Kissinger explains how the war in Iraq is not specifically about Iraq...

Henry Kissinger

Kissinger on War & More

by Peter M. Robinsonwith Henry A. Kissingervia Uncommon Knowledge
Monday, April 21, 2008

Peter Robinson explores the global challenges confronting American today--from Iraq to Europe to Iran and the dangers of nuclear proliferation--with Kissinger, one of the country's most preeminent foreign policy practitioners. Kissinger asserts that the 1960s myth, that the U.S. government is somehow an evil enterprise, is alive and well. In this environment, he says, our leaders need to present a clear and educated vision of America's role in the world. (36:10) Video transcript

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