The Black Republican

This year we have selected an historian as the recipient of our annual award, which is given each February to someone who reflects the spirit of the original "Black Republican" Abraham Lincoln. We try to make the announcement on the anniversary of Mr. Lincoln's birth, February 12th; this year we needed a few extra days to complete the presentation, so this post has been backdated.

So, without further ado, I present The Black Republican OF The Year Award recipient for 2006; Victor Davis Hanson.

A noted historian, Mr. Hanson is also one of today's preeminent social commentators. One cannot read any of his writings without finding him to be informed, fair, and dedicated to reporting the world as it is, while others report as they would have us believe it to be. He pulls no punches, he plays no favorites.

Five years after September 11, and three-and-a-half years after toppling Saddam Hussein, the U.S. is almost as angry at itself as it is at the enemy. Two quite antithetical views of the war on terror — and indeed, the entire American role in the Middle East — are now crystallizing.

Ideology and political affiliation are no longer necessarily touchstones to either opinion..........

Republican realists are welcomed by liberal Democrats, who want nothing to do with the neo-Wilsonian neo-conservatives that once would have seemed more characteristic of liberal’s erstwhile idealism. It is not just that public intellectuals, politicians, generals, and journalists have different views, but their views themselves are different in almost every 24-hour news cycle. Even the Bush administration at times seems torn, gravitating between both schools of thought.

A read of the rest of that piece clearly demonstrates the depth and perspective VDH brings to his writings. And then there is his ability to intertwine historical comparisons into the discussion.

When Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman pulled up to Savannah, Ga., after his legendary March to the Sea in December 1864, he was savagely slandered in the Southern press as a renegade leader of a "vandal horde."

But at that same time, leading Confederate officers privately appealed to him, hoping he would guarantee the safety of the relatives they had left behind in Savannah. Why, Sherman wondered, would his sworn enemies trust that such an enemy might be kind to their loved ones — unless they knew that their own slurs about him were mere rhetoric?

That same sort of pretense is evident in the Middle East, where the leaders of countries and organizations hostile to or critical of the United States often trust us far more than they let on.

And more than analyze and provide context he knows when to give advice, and his judgment is well worth heeding. After all, he has history on his side. That principle is well proven in his recent essay entitled "Give Petraeus a Chance".

In a flash of succinctness he begins and ends his advice within the title, and then fills the body with examples of historical successes which only occurred when the principles held to their core beliefs and trusted that with continued effort the right outcome would transpire. Brilliant writing, on point references, impeccable advice.

Leadership takes many forms. One need not be elected to be a leader. But, to be a leader worthy of that title in America one needs to be unwaveringly committed to the truth, and anchored in reality. VDH is all of that. Honest. Out in front. And anchored in a realism which only comes from knowing the past, (George Santayana would be proud) and a desire to see his fellow men avoid making the same mistakes as have their predecessors. With every essay he speaks power to blather; a trait we more of in these times of incoherent judgment, media manipulation of the news, and a very real threat to our existence.

Victor Davis Hanson exhibits integrity, judgment and discipline. His motivation is unselfish. He wants all lives bettered. Abraham Lincoln lived his life in that same way, "with malice toward none, with charity for all".