Victor Davis Hanson's The Classicist

Victor Davis Hanson examines how progressivism has captured American institutions: everything from higher education to high finance, from tech to sports. Along the way, he explains what progressives’ cultural ascendance has revealed about their ideology, predicts what it means for the Right, and analyzes whether a backlash is imminent.

Victor Davis Hanson explains the work of President Trump’s 1776 Commission (a body on which he served), describes the decline of history as an academic discipline, and explains why humility is an essential ingredient when judging figures from the past.

Victor Davis Hanson analyzes how Joe Biden’s early policy moves contrast with his campaign-trail rhetoric, reflects on the last days of Donald Trump, and explains how a fractured Republican Party can move forward.

As the president spends his final days in office embattled, progressives in Congress, Silicon Valley, and the incoming administration seize on the opportunity to mount new offensives against the Right. Will conservative populism survive the onslaught? Victor Davis Hanson explores that question and others in the newest installment of The Classicist.

Victor Davis Hanson examines the confluence of trends — a contempt for American history; the decline of the rule of law; the intellectual rot of the academy; the rise of ingratitude and cultural contempt — that are weakening the foundations of American society.

In a Classicist first, Victor Davis Hanson reacts in real time to an outbreak of mob violence at the U.S. Capitol. Professor Hanson calls for peace, encourages President Trump to cool the passions of his followers, and provides advice to president-elect Biden on how to lower the country’s temperature.

In the final Classicist of the year, Victor Davis Hanson takes a look back at the intellectual and political trends that defined 2020 — and predicts what they mean for the year to come.

The political trends that defined the year — and what they mean for America’s future.

Victor Davis Hanson describes the foreign policy challenges facing the incoming Biden Administration, analyzes the makeup of the incoming national security team, and prescribes a formula for the new president’s success in international affairs: change the rhetoric, not the policies.

The new president could succeed by wrapping inherited policies in new rhetoric.

Victor Davis Hanson explains the concept of the “tragic hero” — a figure both uniquely suited to address the issues of his time but destined to be reviled — and explains why the label may apply to Donald Trump.

How extraordinary circumstances bring forth unusual leaders.

Victor Davis Hanson looks at Donald Trump’s transformation of the Republican Party, the shifting of the conservative coalition, the implications of sharply divided federal government, and the foreign policy challenges ahead.

What happened on Election Day — and what it means for the future.

Victor Davis Hanson describes the transformative effect Donald Trump has had on the Republican Party — and explains how it will shape the party in the years to come, regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election.