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

In the News

The War Against the Producers

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Works and Days
Saturday, July 11, 2009

A “stimulus” of nearly a trillion dollars was proposed, without which we were told, unemployment would skyrocket and credit would tighten further...

Analysis and Commentary

Jackson captivated with spectacle, not music

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Tribune Media Services
Thursday, July 9, 2009

When Michael Jackson tragically died two weeks ago, millions were shocked...

In the News

What is Wisdom?—Sarah Palin and Her Critics

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Works and Days
Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The debate over Palin is sort of ossified...

Analysis and Commentary

A Thug’s Primer

by Victor Davis Hansonvia National Review Online
Monday, July 6, 2009

How strange that our rather nondescript, sober friends abroad do not garner attention from the current administration, yet overt enemies in Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Venezuela, and the West Bank most certainly do...

In the News

Laugh or Cry?

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Corner (National Review Online)
Monday, July 6, 2009

Much has been said about Maureen “I wanted to weave the idea into my column” Dowd’s latest take-down of Sarah Palin (“Caribou Barbie is one nutty puppy.”)...

In the News

Our Chrysalis Stage

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Pajamas Media
Saturday, July 4, 2009

I got a lot of flak the last year for writing two or three columns suggesting the Europeans and other Leftists abroad might be careful about what they wish for in Obama: he might well leap-frog over them, leaving them all with the world they used to fantasize about, while in reality they profited from the world they demonized.

In the News

Writing Sarah Off

by Victor Davis Hansonvia National Review Online
Saturday, July 4, 2009

Conventional wisdom suggests that short-term the Palin decision was unwise — e.g., "quitter," unpredictable, sulking, etc. But what else are her critics really going to say?

Analysis and Commentary

Missing Our Moment in Iran

by Victor Davis Hansonvia National Review Online
Thursday, July 2, 2009

Last month, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest a rigged presidential election...

In the News

Thoughts on a Schizophrenic Society

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Works and Days
Saturday, June 27, 2009

I was watching cable television about 5 PM on a Friday night, channel surfing between commercials on the Western station...

Analysis and Commentary

Our Historically Challenged President

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Tribune Media Services
Thursday, June 11, 2009

In his speech last week in Cairo, President Obama proclaimed he was a "student of history."...

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