Founders’ Fire: From 1776 to Trump—Arthur Herman on Innovation, Wealth, and American Renewal | VDH
6/3/202652 min
Victor Davis Hanson interviews historian Arthur Herman about his book "Founders’ Fire: From 1776 to the Age of Trump," linking the Founding Fathers to later American business and technology founders and arguing they drive American exceptionalism through risk-taking and innovation. Herman describes a recurring cycle in which founder energy becomes institutionalized and bureaucratic until crises like the Civil War and World War II spark renewal, and he ties recent political turbulence and Trump’s rise to a similar governance crisis and a push to reinvent government around founding principles. They address attacks on wealth and “robber baron” narratives, the role of patents and the pursuit of happiness in enabling entrepreneurship, the outsider traits common among founders, and a shift from globalization to an innovation-first model amid regulation, censorship, and antitrust pressures. 👉Go to JoinADF.com/HANSON or Text HANSON to 83848 to help support Alliance Defending Freedom’s work!https://www.JoinADF.com/HANSON.com 👉For more videos like this, subscribe to The Daily Signal’s YouTube channel and enable notifications to be alerted the second a new video drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
This episode is brought to you by Vuori. For Father's Day, give him something built for wherever the day takes him. Vuori's performance joggers, breathable polos, and travel-ready layers are made to move. From workouts to downtime, on the clock or off, these are the everyday staples he'll wear on repeat. Get twenty percent off your first order at vuori.com/fathersday. Exclusions apply, see site for details.
Speaker 20:24
Ooh, that face. Quantum Fiber Internet loves that face.
Speaker 30:29
That's Jamila.
Speaker 20:30
Yay to Jamila.
Speaker 30:31
She's thinking outside the box from inside the box.
Speaker 20:34
Quantum Fiber Wi-Fi keeps her meeting game strong. From the back door to the front lawn.
Speaker 30:38
Rushing all of her video calls. Back-to-back-to-back video calls.
Speaker 20:42
Quantum Fiber Internet blowing the socks is of all those people in all those boxes. Yay to you.
Speaker 30:49
Switch today at quantumfiber.com. Additional pods may be needed to achieve Wi-Fi coverage in some locations. Limited availability. Service in select locations only.
Speaker 40:55
[upbeat music] What happens when an educator objects to a school directive requiring her to violate her religious beliefs and deceive parents? Cathy McCord, a former Indiana school counselor, faced backlash. Despite her thirty-seven years in education, she was fired after simply confirming the truth. South Madison directed her and other staff to refer to students with opposite sex names