Victor Davis Hanson on The Case for Trump

American Thinker.com ^ | June 16, 2019 | Terry Sambray

[Kaslin]

The Case for Trump, Victor Davis Hanson. Basic Books, 2019. 372 pp.

As the title suggests, The Case for Trump, balances a clinical approach to our currently incendiary politics alongside a brief for Donald Trump’s presidency. Of course, the success or failure of this attempt is a subjective matter though it seems to me that any reader of this book of whatever political stripe would concede that, for its length, it is thorough if not encyclopedic in its presentation of facts and its historical depth.

All of which is not surprising in that Victor Davis Hanson, occupies a unique position among the commentariat: he is a classical scholar, professor, historian, novelist, political, cultural commentator and farmer in California’s central valley while maintaining a residence in Palo Alto where he is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution on the Stanford campus. He is also a visiting professor at Hillsdale College in Michigan while spending appreciable time overseas.

One can see that his distinctly varied experiences are part of why he remains an engaging thinker and which makes all of the 372 pages of this book fly by. In a word, the book is a deliciously informative and an eminently readable take on the Trump ship of state as it tries to navigate around the depth charges laid by the treacherous deep state armada and a giddy and obtuse paparazzi.

Dr. Hanson’s opening chapter is his longest, wherein he demonstrates that by 2016 the traditional vision of “the two Americas” had ossified into mere “stale sloganeering.” As he puts it, “Trump did not create these divides. He merely found existing sectarianism politically useful, and, like President Obama, he far more adroitly leveraged it than had prior Republican nominees. “

[Innovative]

Good. I am sure he laid out well and made a compelling case.

[luvbach1]

Hanson is nothing if not a clear and incisive thinker. I admire his calm demeanor as well.

[Jim W N]

Not that complicated, if you love America.

If somebody loved America, wanted to restore her, and was elected President, it’s hard to imagine that person doing things much differently than Trump has done in an incredibly short amount of time.

Conversely, if someone hated America and wanted to destroy her, it is hard to image that person would things much differently than Obama did and the Delusional Lying Left (both Dems and some GOP) is doing.

[Macoozie]

The Tragic Hero.
Agreed.

The Revolutionaries needs to bust up the old ways are often abandoned once their hard work is done.

We love MAGA.
but as PDJT often says, it’s not just him, it’s us, the people, the movement.

[budj]

Good article. If you’re interested in an interview with VDH, here’s a good one:

https://www.hoover.org/research/victor-davis-hanson-case-trump-10

[CreviceTool]

I enjoyed the audiobook ... I wish he had narrated the book, but he is a busy man ...

[rightwingcrazy]

I think the demographic slice representing people who respect Hansen but haven’t made their mind up about Trump is very thin.

[bigbob]

VDH is one of the few people in the media today who can not only make sense, but bring undecideds to Trump’s side.

[iontheball]

The saying I so like is the one Dave Janda closes out his shows with, which he says his father taught him - Dream big, Dare to fail. That is truly an all American grit motto that describes the President’s approach to life perfectly. Hopefully, it is one we all are following.

[castlebrew]

An excellent read. Well documented; historical facts tied together to show the causes behind PDJT’s election.

Aside from, and in addition to the topic, the book is extremely well written. A pleasure to read sentences that are well-constructed from words of more than 2 syllables.

Strongly recommended. Run, don’t walk to get it.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this.

I just ordered the Kindle version and read the free intro.

Kissinger was very positive about Candidate and President Trump.

[Sapwolf]

Great book. He clearly understands now about 90%+ of WHY Trump won the 2016 election and why he has turned out to be a VERY good President. VDH gets it. Bought and read it back in April.

I also bought and read his book on the second world war and agreed with his final paragraph of WHY WW2 happened. There is plenty of stuff in it that a part time military history buff did not know.

[Albion Wilde]

bump

[Kaslin]

I just finished watching the interview. I had to take a nap as I woke up this at 4:30 and my eyes told me ‘Kaslin its time to take a nap’ It was a good interview and I try to pass it on

[gattaca]

bump

[bitt]

p

[a little elbow grease]

"Hanson is nothing if not a clear and incisive thinker. I admire his calm demeanor as well."

__________________

..... and the good man is a farmer. That means a lot to me.

[a little elbow grease]

From Jonathan Kay, in the Weekly Standard (3-14-05): [Jonathan Kay is managing editor of Canada's National Post and a media fellow at the Hoover Institution.]

____________

"MOST PEOPLE who earn Ph.D.s aspire to tenure-track professorships, think-tank jobs, or careers in government. When Stanford University awarded Victor Davis Hanson his classics degree 26 years ago, he chose to become a farmer.

"My grandmother was 93 and living alone," Hanson tells me as his pickup bounces along a dirt road winding through his family's grape vineyard. "My brothers, cousins, and I decided we'd come home and see if we could put the farm right."

But his career as a full-time farmer lasted just four years. In 1984, the price of raisin grapes fell from $1,300 per ton to $450. Struggling to make ends meet, Hanson reluctantly dusted off his résumé, got into his truck, and drove to the closest university, California State at Fresno. "I was dressed like this," he tells me, gesturing to his red and black lumberman's jacket and work-worn blue jeans. "The dean couldn't believe I was a Stanford Ph.D. The chairman made me go home and get my diploma.""