Victor Davis Hanson

Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow
Awards and Honors:
Statesmanship Award from the Claremont Institute
(2006)
Biography: 

Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution; his focus is classics and military history.

Hanson was a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California (1992–93), a visiting professor of classics at Stanford University (1991–92), the annual Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Visiting Fellow in History at Hillsdale College (2004–), the Visiting Shifron Professor of Military History at the US Naval Academy (2002–3),and the William Simon Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University (2010).

In 1991 he was awarded an American Philological Association Excellence in Teaching Award. He received the Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism (2002), presented the Manhattan's Institute's Wriston Lecture (2004), and was awarded the National Humanities Medal (2007) and the Bradley Prize (2008).

Hanson is the author of hundreds of articles, book reviews, and newspaper editorials on Greek, agrarian, and military history and essays on contemporary culture. He has written or edited twenty-four books, the latest of which is The Case for Trump (Basic Books, 2019). His other books include The Second World Wars (Basic Books, 2017); The Savior Generals: How Five Great Commanders Saved Wars That Were Lost - from Ancient Greece to Iraq (Bloomsbury 2013); The End of Sparta (Bloomsbury, 2011); The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern (Bloomsbury, 2010); Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome (ed.) (Princeton, 2010); The Other Greeks (California, 1998); The Soul of Battle (Free Press, 1999); Carnage and Culture (Doubleday, 2001); Ripples of Battle (Doubleday, 2003); A War Like No Other (Random House, 2005); The Western Way of War (Alfred Knopf, 1989; 2nd paperback ed., University of California Press, 2000); The Wars of the Ancient Greeks (Cassell, 1999; paperback ed., 2001); and Mexifornia: A State of Becoming (Encounter, 2003), as well as two books on family farming, Fields without Dreams (Free Press, 1995) and The Land Was Everything (Free Press, 1998). Currently, he is a syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services and a weekly columnist for the National Review Online.

Hanson received a BA in classics at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1975), was a fellow at the American School of Classical Studies, Athens (1977–78), and received his PhD in classics from Stanford University (1980).

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Recent Commentary

Analysis and Commentary

Post-election Thoughts

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Works and Days
Friday, January 22, 2010

Now that the voters of Massachusetts have splashed our hypnotized young god back into his own reflecting pool, it is almost surreal to follow the left’s sudden petulance and occasional hysteria — akin to the climate of 2005-6 among some of the right when the once pro-Iraq War neocons began bailing and heading for the exits. . . .

Analysis and Commentary

Our Philosopher-King Obama

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Real Clear Politics
Thursday, January 21, 2010

In Plato's ideal society, philosopher kings and elite Guardians shepherded the rabble to force them to do the "right" thing. . . .

Analysis and Commentary

The Democratic Reaction Richter Scale

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Works and Days
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Democratic statist transformation suffered a sudden earthquake in Massachusetts last night. . . .

Analysis and Commentary

Why the Great and Growing Backlash?

by Victor Davis Hansonvia National Review
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

What Scott Brown’s election portends for the Obama agenda. . . .

Analysis and Commentary

“Let Me Be Perfectly Not Clear” and “Make Lots of Mistakes About It”

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Works and Days
Sunday, January 17, 2010

“Lie” is a rather harsh word; the noun and its verb form leave little to context or extenuating circumstances. . . .

Analysis and Commentary

Our Sorta, Kinda War on Terror

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Tribune Media Services
Friday, January 15, 2010

President Obama has not signed up for a serious effort against radical Islam. . . .

Why do the dictators rage? Because, thanks to oil, they can.

Energy Extortionists

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Hoover Digest
Thursday, January 14, 2010

Why do the dictators rage? Because, thanks to oil, they can. By Victor Davis Hanson.

Analysis and Commentary

When Conservative Felonies Become Liberal Misdemeanors

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Tribune Media Services
Thursday, January 14, 2010

Such asymmetrical media and cultural reactions transcend race. . . .

Analysis and Commentary

Truths We Dare Not Speak

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Works and Days
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

There are a number of things we simply no longer talk about. . . .

Analysis and Commentary

The Way Our World Works

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Works and Days
Monday, January 11, 2010

The Strange Thing About Nemesis is that the deity picks its victims on the basis of irony and arrogance. . . .

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