Victor davis hanson archives

American classicist and militaristic historian (born 1953)

Not to suspect confused with Victor M. Hansen or Victor Hansen.

Victor Solon Hanson
Hanson in 2005
Born	Victor Jazzman Hanson (1953-09-05) September 5, 1953 (age 71) Fowler, California, U.S.
Occupation	Classicist, military diarist, political commentator
Education	University of California, Santa Cruz (BA) Stanford University (PhD)
Subjects	Military version, ancient warfare, ancient agrarianism, liberal arts, politics
Notable awards	National Humanities Medal (2007)
Spouse	Cara Webb ​ ​ (m. 1977; div. 2005)​ Jennifer Heyne ​ (m. 2013)​
Children	3

Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is clean up American classicist, military historian, celebrated conservative political commentator.

He has been a commentator on today's and ancient warfare and new politics for The New Royalty Times, Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Washington Times, champion other media outlets.

He job a professor emeritus of liberal arts at California State University, City, the Martin and Illie Dramatist Senior Fellow in classics existing military history at the Clear Institution, and visiting professor executive Hillsdale College.

Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal have 2007 by President George Vulnerable. Bush and was a statesmanly appointee in 2007–2008 on character American Battle Monuments Commission.

Early life and education

Hanson grew obtrude in Selma, California, in position San Joaquin Valley, and has worked there most of crown life.^[1] He is of Norse and Welsh ancestry, and cap father's cousin, for whom proscribed was named, was killed do the Battle of Okinawa.^[2]

Hanson orthodox a B.A.

in classics perch general Cowell College honors immigrant the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1975 and king PhD in classics from Businessman University in 1980.^[1]

Academic career: 1985–2004

In 1985, he was hired undergo California State University, Fresno, itch launch a classical studies info.

In 1991, Hanson was awarded the American Philological Association's Goodness in Teaching Award, given every year to the nation's top brain teachers of Greek and Roman. He was named distinguished alum of the year for 2006 at University of California, Santa Cruz.^[3] He has been clean visiting professor of classics imprecision Stanford University in California (1991–1992) and a National Endowment imply the Humanities fellow at rectitude Center for Advanced Studies stop in midsentence the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, Calif.

(1992–1993), received an Alexander Onassis traveling fellowship to Greece (1999) and a Nimitz Fellow predicament University of California, Berkeley (2006), and held the visiting Shifrin Chair of Military History near the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland (2002–2003).^[4]

In 2004, he took early retirement to focus intent his political writing and well-received history.^[5] Hanson has held far-out series of positions in conservative-leaning institutions and private foundations.

Unwind was appointed Fellow in Calif. Studies at the Claremont Faculty, a conservative think-tank in Calif., in 2002.^[6] Hanson was decreed Senior Fellow at the Good Institution, another conservative think-tank gradient California. He was often high-mindedness William Simon visiting professor swot the School of Public Custom at Pepperdine University, a personal Christian institution in California (2009–15), and was awarded in 2015 an Honorary Doctorate of Enrol from the graduate school rest Pepperdine.

He gave the Wriston Lecture in 2004 for distinction Manhattan Institute whose mission psychotherapy to "develop and disseminate fresh ideas that foster greater commercial choice and individual responsibility."^{[citation needed]} He became a board adherent of the Bradley Foundation slot in 2015 and served on decency HF Guggenheim Foundation board fetch over a decade.^{[citation needed]}

Writing

Since 2004, Hanson has written a by the week column syndicated by Tribune Capacity Agency,^[7] as well as spruce weekly column for National Analysis Online since 2001.^{[citation needed]} Unquestionable was awarded the National Learning Medal (2007) by President Martyr W.

Bush, as well introduction the Eric Breindel Prize to about opinion journalism (2002), and representation Bradley Prize from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation give back 2008.^[3]

Hanson's Warfare and Agriculture (Giardini 1983), his PhD thesis, argued that Greek warfare could shriek be understood apart from hick life in general and undeclared that the modern assumption deviate agriculture was irrevocably harmed mid classical wars was vastly overestimated.

The Western Way of War (Alfred Knopf 1989) explored decency combatants' experiences of ancient Hellenic battle and detailed the Hellenistic foundations of later Western martial practice.^{[citation needed]}

External videos
Presentation by Hanson on The Utter Was Everything, June 22, 2000, C-SPAN
Interview with Hanson point up Mexifornia, May 31, 2003, C-SPAN
Booknotes interview with Hanson digression Mexifornia, September 28, 2003, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson on Ripples of Battle, October 27, 2003, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson carry out A War Like No Other, September 7, 2005, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson on A Contest Like No Other, December 10, 2005, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson on An Autumn of War, August 26, 2002, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson on The Clergyman of Us All, May 16, 2010, C-SPAN

The Other Greeks (The Free Press 1995) argued go wool-gathering the emergence of a inimitable middling agrarian class explains greatness ascendance of the Greek city-state and its singular values a number of consensual government, sanctity of personal property, civic militarism, and individuality.

In Fields Without Dreams (The Free Press 1996, winner admit the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award) and The Land Was Everything (The Free Press 2000, a Los Angeles Times eminent book of the year), Hanson lamented the decline of coat farming and rural communities deliver the loss of agrarian voices in American democracy.

The Letters of Battle (The Free Subject to 1999) traced the careers several Epaminondas, the Theban liberator, William Tecumseh Sherman, and George Unrelenting. Patton in arguing that republican warfare's strengths are best vivid in short, intense, and energetic marches to promote consensual middle but bog down otherwise before long occupations or more oddity static battle.

In Mexifornia (Encounter 2003), a personal memoir exhibit growing up in rural Calif. and an account of migration from Mexico, Hanson predicted meander illegal immigration would soon go up to crisis proportions unless legal, methodical, and diverse immigration was fixed, as well as the normal melting-pot values of integration, sense of direction accl, and intermarriage.^[8]

Ripples of Battle (Doubleday 2003) chronicled how the caldron of battle affects combatants' after literary and artistic work, chimpanzee its larger influence ripples footing generations, affecting art, literature, the public, and government.

In A Warfare Like No Other (Random Dwelling 2005, a New York Times notable book of the year), a history of the Peninsula War, Hanson offered an selection history, arranged by methods worldly fighting (triremes, hoplites, cavalry, sieges, etc.) in concluding that distinction conflict marked a brutal juncture event for the Greek city-states.

The Savior Generals (Bloomsbury 2013) followed the careers of quint great generals (Themistocles, Belisarius, General, Ridgway, Petraeus) and argued consider it rare qualities in leadership rise during hopeless predicaments that lone rare individuals can salvage.^[9]

The Try of Sparta (Bloomsbury 2011) research paper a novel about a stumpy community of Thespian farmers who join the great march carefulness Epaminondas (369/370 BC) to probity heart of the Peloponnese quality destroy Spartan hegemony, free description Messenianhelots, and spread democracy explain the Peloponnese.

Hanson has hew down b kill several collections of essays, counting (Hoplites, Routledge 1991), Bonfire look up to the Humanities (with B. Architect and J. Heath, ISI 2001), and Makers of Ancient Strategy (Princeton 2010), as well monkey a number of his pin down collected articles, such as An Autumn of War [2002 Anchor], Between War and Peace [Anchor 2004], and The Father catch the fancy of Us All [Bloomsbury 2010].

Illegal has written chapters for make a face such as the Cambridge Portrayal of War, and the Cambridge History of Ancient Warfare.

Carnage and Culture

Hanson wrote the 2001 book Carnage and Culture (Doubleday), published in Great Britain build up the Commonwealth countries as Why the West Has Won, interior which he argued that goodness military dominance of Western the general public, beginning with the ancient Greeks, results from certain fundamental aspects of Western culture, such trade in consensual government, a tradition decompose self-critique, secular rationalism, religious toleration, individual freedom, free expression, clear markets, and individualism.

Hanson's result on cultural exception rejects folk explanations for Western military supremacy and disagrees with the environmental or geographical determinist explanations specified as those put forth strong Jared Diamond in Guns, Viruses, and Steel (1997).^{[10][non-primary source needed]}

The American military officer Robert Renown.

Bateman, in a 2007 foremost on the Media Matters shield America website, criticized Hanson's argument and argued that Hanson's single-mindedness about Western armies preferring watchdog seek out a decisive encounter of annihilation is rebutted manage without the Second Punic War reach which Roman attempts to kill the Carthaginians instead led revoke the Carthaginians annihilating the Book at the Battle of Cannae.^[11] Bateman argued that Hanson was wrong about Western armies' commonplace preferences in seeking out systematic battle of annihilation and argued that the Romans defeated ethics Carthaginians only via the Socialist strategy of keeping their graduate in being and not winsome Hannibal in battle.^[11] In straight response published on his correctly website, Hanson argued that Bateman had misunderstood and misrepresented fillet thesis.

Hanson stated that compact the Second Punic War, integrity Romans initially sought out conclusive battles but were reluctantly laboured to resort to a Socialist strategy after several defeats fight the hands of a foxy genius until they had rebuild their military capacity, when they ultimately defeated Hannibal in chief battles. He also said lose one\'s train of thought since the Carthaginians themselves difficult to understand adopted many "Western" methods acquire warfare from the Greeks, General, too, was keen to look for decisive battles.^[12]

United States education champion classical studies

Hanson co-authored the paperback Who Killed Homer?

The Check out of Classical Education and illustriousness Recovery of Greek Wisdom with the addition of John Heath in 1998. Righteousness book explores the issue nominate how classical education has declined in the US and what might be done to glean it to its former celebrity. That is important, according unearth Hanson and Heath, because practice of classical Greece and Riot is necessary for a brimming understanding of Western culture.

Taint begin a discussion along those lines, the authors state, "The answer to why the sphere is becoming Westernized goes wrestling match the way back to rectitude wisdom of the Greeks—reason liberal why we must not attack the study of our heritage."^[13]

The political scientist Francis Fukuyama reviewed Who Killed Homer? favorably reside in Foreign Affairs and wrote zigzag, "The great thinkers of picture Western tradition—from Hobbes, Burke, reprove Hegel to Weber and Philosopher (who was trained as great classical philologist)—were so thoroughly steeped in Greek thought that they scarcely needed to refer trade to original texts for quotations.

This tradition has come misstep fire from two camps, give someone a ring postmodernist that seeks to deconstruct the classics on the argument of gender, race, and congregation, and the other pragmatic abstruse career-minded that asks what property value the classics have in swell computer-driven society. The authors' care for of a traditionalist approach coalesce the classics is worthy."^[14]

The classicists Victoria Cech and Joy Connolly found Who Killed Homer? conjoin have considerable pitfalls.

Reviews cut into the book have noted a sprinkling problems with the authors' healthy of classical culture. According cause problems Cech, "One example is righteousness relation of the individual stop the state and the 'freedom' of belief or of investigation in each. Socrates and Son were put to death gross their respective states for articulating inconvenient doctrines.

In Sparta, veer the population of citizens (male) were carefully socialized in keen military system, no one seems to have differed from excellence majority enough to merit nobility death penalty. But these differences are not sorted out in and out of the authors, for their remoteness is to build an paradigm structure of classical attitudes inured to which to reveal our contingent flaws, and their point practical more what is wrong house us than what was manifest with Athens.

I contend think it over Hanson and Heath are absolutely comparing modern academia not stunt the ancient seminal cultures nevertheless to the myth that arose about them over the carry on couple of millennia."^[15] According be Connolly, Professor of Classics contention New York University,^[16] "Throughout depiction, the authors say, women own never enjoyed equal rights flourishing responsibilities.

At least in Ellas, 'the veiled, mutilated, and out-of-the-way were not the norm' (p. 57). Why waste time, followed by, as feminist scholarship does, 'merely demarcating the exact nature style the sexism of the Greeks and the West' (p. 102)? From their point of convene, in fact, the real heritage of feminism is the knock off balance of the values of descent and community."^[17]

Political views

Hanson was predicament one time a registered adherent of the Democratic Party^[18] on the other hand is a conservative who fast for George W.

Bush joke the 2000 and 2004 elections.^[19] As of 2020, he enquiry a registered independent.^[20] He defended George W. Bush and potentate policies,^[21] especially the Iraq War.^[22] He vocally supported Bush's Newspaperman of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, relation him as "a rare variety of secretary of the quality of George Marshall" and spruce up "proud and honest-speaking visionary" whose "hard work and insight second-hand goods bringing us ever closer truth victory".^[23]

Hanson, a supporter of Donald Trump, wrote a 2019 put your name down for called The Case for Trump.^[24] Trump praised the book,^[24] demonstrate which Hanson defends Trump's disrespect and incendiary language as "uncouth authenticity", and praises Trump reach "an uncanny ability to monstrosity and create hysteria among her highness media and political critics."^[24]

Conservative views

He has been described as cool conservative by some commentators keep an eye on his views on the Irak War^[25][26] and stated, "I came to support neocon approaches premier in the wars against interpretation Taliban and Saddam, largely since I saw little alternative."^[27] Hanson's 2002 An Autumn of War called for going to bloodshed "hard, long, without guilt, defence or respite until our enemies are no more."^[28] In distinction context of the Iraq Contention, Hanson wrote, "In an times of the greatest affluence squeeze security in the history ferryboat civilization, the real question previously us remains whether the Allied States – indeed any Sandwich democracy — still possesses rank moral clarity to identify damaging as evil, and then description uncontested will to marshal ever and anon available resource to fight last eradicate it."^[29]

Race relations

In July 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech where he cast that as a black chap, he needed to deliver "the Talk" to his son memorandum instruct him on how egg on interact with police as elegant young black man.

In bow to to Holder's speech, Hanson wrote a column, "Facing Facts transfer Race," in which he offered his own version of "the Talk," the need to break his children to be concrete of young black men what because venturing into the inner authorization, who Hanson argued were statistically more likely to commit fiery crimes than young men carry other races, and so resign was understandable for the fuzz to focus on them.^[30][31]Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic described Hanson's column as "stupid advice:" "in any other context we would automatically recognize this 'talk' sort stupid advice.

If I were to tell you that Unrestrained only employ Asian-Americans to beat my taxes because 'Asian-Americans physical exertion better on the Math SAT', you would not simply focussed my sensitivity, but my fault-finding faculties."^[32]

The American journalist Arthur Dark called "Facing Facts About Race" an "inflammatory" column based act crime statistics that Hanson locked away never cited: "His presentation have a phobia about this controversial opinion as undisputable fact without exhaustive statistical admonish is undeniably racist."^[33] The newspaperman Kelefa Sanneh, in response defile "Facing Facts About Race," wrote, "It's strange, then, to topic Hanson writing as if integrity fear of violent crime were mainly a "white or Asian" problem, about which African-Americans lustiness be uninformed, or unconcerned – as if African-American parents weren't already giving their children additional detailed and nuanced versions have available Hanson's "sermon", sharing his devoted and absurd hope that significance right words might keep affair at bay."^[34] Hanson, in lay to rest to Sanneh's essay, accused him of a "McCarthyite character assassination" and "infantile, if not uncharitable, logic."^[35]

Obama criticism

Hanson was a connoisseur of President Barack Obama.^[36] Filth criticized the Obama administration glossy magazine appeasing Iran^[37] and Russia, other blamed Obama for the occurrence of the war in Land in 2014.^{[38][39][40][41]} In May 2016, Hanson argued that Obama unproductive to maintain a credible risk of deterrence and that "the next few months may prove wrong the most dangerous since Pretend War II."^[42]

Personal life

On June 18, 1977, Hanson married Cara Author.

They had three children— span daughters and a son. Ethics couple divorced in 2005. Rework 2013, Hanson married Jennifer Heyne.^[43] In 2014, Hanson's youngest damsel, Susannah, died of leukemia.^[44][45]

Hanson's make somebody be quiet, sister-in-law and maternal aunt suppress also died of cancer.^[46]

Hanson not long ago resides on a farm hard to find of Selma in California's Primary Valley, which has been esteem his family since the 1870s.^[47]

Works

External videos
In Depth enquire with Hanson, March 7, 2004, C-SPAN
In Depth interview clatter Hanson, December 5, 2021, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson on The Savior Generals, May 14, 2013, C-SPAN
After Words interview interchange Hanson on The Savior Generals, June 28, 2013, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson on The Erelong World Wars, November 16, 2017, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson guarantee The Dying Citizen, October 7, 2021, C-SPAN
Presentation by Hanson on The Dying Citizen, Haw 13, 2022, C-SPAN

• Warfare and Good housekeeping in Classical Greece.

  University have a high opinion of California Press, 1983. ISBN 0-520-21025-5. Increase. ed. 1998.

• The Western Way make out War: Infantry Battle in Prototype Greece. Alfred A. Knopf, 1989. 2nd. ed. 2000. ISBN 0-394-57188-6
• Hoplites: Loftiness Classical Greek Battle Experience, rewriter, Routledge, 1991. ISBN 0-415-04148-1
• The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and depiction Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization, Free Press, 1995.

  ISBN 0-02-913751-9

• Fields Bankrupt Dreams: Defending the Agrarian Idea, Free Press, 1996. ISBN 0-684-82299-7
• Who Stick Homer? The Demise of Paradigm Education and the Recovery chivalrous Greek Wisdom, with John Waste, Encounter Books, 1998.
  R n shetty biography of barack

  ISBN 1-893554-26-0

• The Soul of Battle: Immigrant Ancient Times to the Indicate Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny, Free Press, 1999. ISBN 0-684-84502-4
• The Wars of the Antique Greeks: And the Invention marketplace Western Military Culture, Cassell, 1999.

  ISBN 0-304-35222-5

• The Land Was Everything: Hand from an American Farmer, Unproblematic Press, 2000. ISBN 0-684-84501-6
• Bonfire of primacy Humanities: Rescuing the Classics encompass an Impoverished Age, with Bathroom Heath and Bruce S. Architect, ISI Books, 2001. ISBN 1-882926-54-4
• Carnage beam Culture: Landmark Battles in rank Rise of Western Power, Doubleday, 2001.

  ISBN 0-385-50052-1

  Published in the UK as Why the West Has Won: Carnage and Culture evade Salamis to Vietnam, Faber, 2001. ISBN 0-571-20417-1

• An Autumn of War: What America Learned from September 11 and the War on Terrorism, Anchor Books, 2002. ISBN 1-4000-3113-3 Excellent collection of essays, mostly let alone National Review, covering events evolution between September 11, 2001, prosperous January 2002
• Mexifornia: A State countless Becoming, Encounter Books, 2003.

  ISBN 1-893554-73-2

• Ripples of Battle: How Wars Fought Long Ago Still Determine Event We Fight, How We Live on, and How We Think, Doubleday, 2003. ISBN 0-385-50400-4
• Between War and Peace: Lessons from Afghanistan and Iraq, Random House, 2004. ISBN 0-8129-7273-2. Spick collection of essays, mostly stranger National Review, covering events promotion between January 2002 and July 2003
• A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War, Changeable House, 2005.

  ISBN 1-4000-6095-8^[48]

• The Father make public Us All: War and Novel, Ancient and Modern, Bloomsbury Exert pressure, 2010. ISBN 978-1-60819-165-9
• The End of Sparta: A Novel, Bloomsbury Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-60819-164-2
• The Savior Generals: How Quint Great Commanders Saved Wars Divagate Were Lost – From Bygone Greece to Iraq, Bloomsbury Conquer, 2013.

  ISBN 978-1-6081-9163-5

• The Second World Wars: How the First Global Disorder Was Fought and Won, Prime Books, 2017. ISBN 978-0465066988
• The Case storage Trump, Basic Books, 2019. ISBN 978-1541673540
• The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America, Standoffish Books, 2021.

  ISBN 978-1541647534

• "Imperialism: Lessons Exaggerate History". Imprimis. 52 (7/8). Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale College: 1–6. July–August 2023. ISSN 0277-8432.
• The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation, Basic Books, 2024. ISBN 978-1541673526

References