Donald Trump will return to the Oval Office in a manner few saw coming – he won America’s popular vote; his coattails may lead to Republican control of Congress – while progressive institutions (legacy media, Hollywood, wokeism, and a tired Democratic playbook) take a beating. New York Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster to discuss an American election that defied conventional wisdom – and how Trump should proceed in the weeks ahead (key cabinet appointments, foreign and economic policies) given the surprise gift of an Election Night mandate.

Niall Ferguson, Victor Davis Hanson, and Andrew Roberts are senior fellows at the Hoover Institution and among the most prestigious and popular historians in the world. This is the first time they have appeared together in a public forum. Among the topics they cover in this wide-ranging discussion: the recent controversy regarding Winston Churchill’s role in World War II, the false premise of the 1619 Project, the Cold War, World War II, and the role of historians in public life. In addition, they critique recent trends in historical writing and the recent phenomenon in much historical research of self-loathing in Western historical narratives, arguing that these views often distort factual history.

Live from the Hoover Institution’s Fall Retreat, Lord Andrew Roberts, renowned historian and the Hoover Institution’s Bonnie and Tom McCloskey Distinguished Visiting Fellow, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster to discuss various historical counterfactuals, including British forces winning the pivotal Battle of Saratoga in 1777; Vladimir Lenin being assassinated before Communism takes root in Russia; John F. Kennedy surviving his motorcade through Dallas; plus China rejecting economic reforms and instead refashioning itself as a second North Korea.

Why has Israel repeatedly disregarded and gone the opposite way from the White House’s entreaties regarding the Middle East? And does the West fully fathom that Ukraine is losing its war of attrition with Russia? Walter Russell Mead, “Global View” columnist for the Wall Street Journal, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster to discuss the latest developments in those two combat theaters. Next, the fellows choose policies they feel have gone neglected in America’s presidential election, weigh in on one pundit’s assessment that the US is headed for “the greatest mental health crisis in the history of the country” should Donald Trump prevail, and reflect on the passing of Grateful Dead founding member Phil Lesh.