08/05/2021 – Victor Davis Hanson / VDH characerized a title in his intro: “America’s Strange and Ambiguous Relationship Between Generals and Politicians.” (not just on Patton) As a historical analyst, VDH is a genius with a gift from God! This is a presentation at Hillsdale College, a standout Christian worldview university.
“Victor Davis Hanson, the Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale College, is also a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor of classics emeritus at California State University, Fresno. He earned his B.A. at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his Ph.D. in classics from Stanford University. In 2007, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal, and in 2008, he received the Bradley Prize from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. He has written for numerous publications, including the Claremont Review of Books, The New Criterion, and The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of several books, including A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War and The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won.
Xenophon wrote that a successful general “must be resourceful, active, careful, hardy, and quick-witted; he must be both gentle and brutal, at once straightforward and designing, capable of both caution and surprise, lavish and rapacious, generous and mean, skillful in defense and attack.” This third CCA of the 2019-2020 academic year will consider the lives and characters of some of America’s greatest generals.”
Fascinating and captivating study; Enjoy! Soli Deo Gloria!
- Anyone think I should post VDH presentations, say once or twice a month? I have read his WW2 Book and his book on Trump. I should have read his book on the Peloponnesian War by now. In this presentation, I like his characterization of our culture – locked in a “therapeutic mindset”.
2 comments on “08/05/2021 – Victor Davis Hanson / VDH characerized a title in his intro: “America’s Strange and Ambiguous Relationship Between Generals and Politicians.” (not just on Patton) As a historical analyst, VDH is a genius with a gift from God! This is a presentation at Hillsdale College, a standout Christian worldview university.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
LennyK
Maybe another example was Winston Churchill, though not general. Hero during WWII but voted out of office two months later. People didn’t want a warrior who wanted to continue and fight Communism. They wanted peace time “stuff” promised by the other political parties, who kept campaigning through out the war while Churchill had his hand full saving Democracy in Europe.
admin
Yes!,excellent example from across the pond! It was fine when they desperately needed him
“in their darkest hour”, to relentlessly call the nation to heights
that they didn’t think they could reach. But after it all: We don’t need you anymore Winston, you
just make us a little uncomfortable with “all that bluster.” He didn’t make the greatest
calls on battlefield plans on the mainland of Europe, as VDH points out respectfully, but
he was a character. My favorite if I can get it right: Lady Astor slams him with: “Winston,
if I were married to you, I would give you a potion of poison to drink.” To which he retorts:
“Lady Astor, if you were my wife, I would drink it!”