Visions and Voices hosts military lecture

Military historian and author Victor Davis Hanson spoke at Town and Gown on Monday, charting the trend of the “savior general” throughout centuries of war, focusing on the case studies of Themistocles, Belisarius, William Tecumseh Sherman, Matthew Ridgway and David Petraeus. The lecture was followed by a Q&A session with philosophy professor Scott Soames.

Heroes · Victor Davis Hanson spoke at Town and Gown Monday evening on the miltary generals who greatly affected war and history. – Benjamin Dunn | Daily Trojan

Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has written 18 books, including his most recent, The Savior Generals: How Five Great Commanders Saved Wars That Were Lost — From Ancient Greece to Iraq.

He outlined the careers and similarities between the generals who, through brilliant military strategy, rescued wars that would drastically change the Western world.

“What if the war is lost?” Hanson said.

He went on to reveal that the factors that traditionally won wars no longer matter. Hanson argued that manpower, technology, supply and morale become irrelevant when it is assumed that victory is out of reach. These men turned the tide of war through force of personality, intense study and a shared commonality with their troops, he said.

“Nothing is lost, no war is lost until we say it’s lost,” Hanson said.

Themistocles overcame the power of the vast Persian army at the Battle of Salamis, Belasarius re-established Byzantium under Justinian, Sherman rescued the Union and saved Lincoln’s presidency, Ridgway turned the tide of the Korean War and Gen. Petraeus outlined a new strategy for a failing conflict in Iraq that no one believed in.

All the generals worked to remind the troops of their purpose, though each ended his life underappreciated and often vindicated by his country. Hanson suggested that these brilliant leaders are needed but do not work in peacetime.

Hanson said he believes in the Thucydidean way of thought that says that human nature has remained the same through the ages so the study of the past is still relevant. He also introduced the modernist theory that through technology, humans have altered our brain chemistry so that history holds no value to study.

President C. L. Max Nikias opened the lecture, and lauded Hanson for “shedding a spotlight on the vast expanse of human history.”

“As a farmer and a classical scholar, Hanson studies how agriculture is connected to human conflict,” Nikias said.

During the Question and Answer session, Hanson criticized the hypocrisy of the government in the Iraq war and also questioned U.S. morale.

“It’s so hard to galvanize those absolute principles today,” he said. “We don’t believe in the American presence.”

Katie Kelson, a senior majoring in economics, attended the lecture because she heard a podcast featuring Hanson.

“There’s definitely a conservative bend to what he had to say,” Kelson said. “I definitely appreciate it even if I don’t agree completely.”

Marisa Tsai, a senior majoring in international relations, left the lecture highly impressed.

“I found a lot of what he had to say about these leaders really             thought-provoking,” she said.