Hoover Institution

Hoover Institution
Motto	Ideas defining a free society…
Formation	1919
Type	Public policy think tank
Location	Stanford, California, U.S.
Director	John Raisian
Website	hoover.org

The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford.

The Hoover Institution is a unit of Stanford University, and is located on the campus. The Institution houses a large archive related to President Hoover, World War I, and World War II. Its mission statement outlines its basic tenets: representative government, private enterprise, peace, personal freedom, and the safeguards of the American system.^[1]

The Hoover Institution is influential in the American conservative and libertarian movements. The Institution has long been a place of scholarship for high-profile conservatives with government experience. A number of Hoover Institution fellows had connections to or held positions in the Bush administration and other Republican administrations. High-profile conservatives Edwin Meese, Condoleezza Rice, George Shultz, Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, and Amy Zegart are all Hoover Institution fellows. Retired U.S. Army General John P. Abizaid, former commander of the U.S. Central Command, was recently named the Institution's first Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow.

Mission statement

Herbert Hoover's 1959 statement to the Board of Trustees of Stanford University on the purpose of the Hoover Institution continues to guide its ideology and define its activities:

This Institution supports the Constitution of the United States, its Bill of Rights and its method of representative government. Both our social and economic systems are based on private enterprise from which springs initiative and ingenuity ... Ours is a system where the Federal Government should undertake no governmental, social or economic action, except where local government, or the people, cannot undertake it for themselves ... The overall mission of this Institution is, from its records, to recall the voice of experience against the making of war, and by the study of these records and their publication, to recall man's endeavors to make and preserve peace, and to sustain for America the safeguards of the American way of life. This Institution is not, and must not be, a mere library. But with these purposes as its goal, the Institution itself must constantly and dynamically point the road to peace, to personal freedom, and to the safeguards of the American system.

According to the Hoover Institution's website: "By collecting knowledge, generating ideas, and disseminating both, the Institution seeks to secure and safeguard peace, improve the human condition, and limit government intrusion into the lives of individuals."^[1]

History

Herbert Hoover in front of Hoover Tower at Stanford University

The Institution was set up by Herbert Hoover, one of Stanford's first graduates, who would later become the 31st President of the United States. He had been in charge of American relief efforts in Europe after World War I. Hoover's express purpose was to collect the records of contemporary history as it was happening. Hoover's helpers frequently risked their lives to rescue documentary and rare printed material, especially from countries under Nazi or Communist rule. Their many successes included the papers of Rosa Luxembourg, the Goebbels Diaries, and the records of the Russian secret police in Paris. Research institutes were also set up under Hoover's influence, though inevitably there were to be clashes between the moving force, Hoover, and the host university.^[2]

In 1919, Hoover donated $50,000 to Stanford University to support the collection of primary materials related to World War I, a project that became known as the Hoover War Collection. Supported primarily by gifts from private donors, the Hoover War Collection flourished in its early years. In 1922, the Collection became known as the Hoover War Library. The Hoover War Library was housed in the Stanford Library, separate from the general stacks. By 1926, the Hoover War Library was known as the largest library in the world devoted to the Great War. By 1929, it contained 1.4 million items and was becoming too large to house in the Stanford Library. In 1938, the War Library revealed building plans for Hoover Tower, which was to be its permanent home independent of the Stanford Library system. The tower was completed in 1941, Stanford University's fiftieth anniversary.^[3]

By 1946, the agenda of the Hoover War Library had expanded to include research activities; thus the organization was renamed the Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution and Peace. At this time, Herbert Hoover was living in New York City but remained integrally involved in the Hoover Institute and Library as a benefactor, fundraiser, and consultant.

In 1956 former President Hoover, under the auspices of the Institute and Library, launched a major fundraising campaign that allowed the Institute to realize its current form as a think tank and archive. In 1957, the Hoover Institute and Library was renamed the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace—the name it holds today.^[4]

In 1960, W. Glenn Campbell was appointed director and substantial budget increases soon led to corresponding increases in acquisitions and related research projects. Despite student unrest in the 1960s, the institution continued to thrive and develop closer relations with Stanford. In particular, the Chinese and Russian collections grew considerably. The Institute increasingly became a conservative think tank, with ties to Washington, especially since 1980. The Institute remains a component of Stanford University.^[5]

Members

Below is a list of Hoover Institution directors and prominent fellows, former and current.

Directors

• Ephraim D. Adams, 1920–1925
• Ralph H. Lutz, 1925–1944
• Harold H. Fisher, 1944–1952
• C. Easton Rothwell, 1952–1959^[6]
• W. Glenn Campbell, 1960–1989^[7]
• John Raisian, 1989–present

Honorary Fellows

• Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of the United Kingdom^[8]

Distinguished Fellows

• George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State^[9]

Senior Fellows

• Fouad Ajami, political scientist, Director of the Middle East Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University^[10]
• Richard V. Allen, former U.S. national security adviser
• Martin Anderson, former advisor to Richard Nixon and author of The Federal Bulldozer
• Gary S. Becker, 1992 Nobel laureate in economics
• Michael Boskin, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George H. W. Bush
• Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, political scientist, professor New York University
• Larry Diamond, political scientist, professor Stanford University
• Gerald A. Dorfman, professor of political science at Stanford University
• Niall Ferguson, historian, professor at Harvard University
• Morris P. Fiorina, political scientist
• Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel laureate in economics
• Timothy Garton Ash, historian, columnist for The Guardian
• Victor Davis Hanson, classicist, military historian, columnist
• Eric Hanushek, economist
• Caroline Hoxby, economist
• Ken Jowitt, historian
• Kenneth L. Judd, economist
• Seymour Martin Lipset, political sociologist
• Michael W. McConnell, legal scholar, former judge, professor at Stanford University
• Douglass North, 1993 Nobel laureate in economics
• William J. Perry, former U.S. secretary of defense
• Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. secretary of state
• Paul Romer, economist^[11]
• Abraham David Sofaer, scholar, former legal advisor to U.S. secretary of state
• Thomas J. Sargent, 2011 Nobel laureate in economics, professor at New York University
• Thomas Sowell, economist, author, columnist
• Michael Spence, 2001 Nobel laureate in economics
• Richard F. Staar, political scientist, historian
• Shelby Steele, author, columnist
• John B. Taylor, former U.S. undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs

Research Fellows

• Arnold Beichman, political scientist, author^[12]
• Peter Berkowitz, political scientist
• Robert Conquest, historian
• Dinesh D'Souza, author
• Mary Eberstadt, author
• Tibor R. Machan, philosopher
• Abbas Milani, political scientist
• Henry I. Miller, physician
• Russell Roberts, economist, author
• Kori Schake, foreign policy expert, author
• Peter Schweizer, author
• Antony C. Sutton, author

Distinguished Visiting Fellows

• John Abizaid, former commander of the U.S. Central Command^[13]
• Spencer Abraham, former United States Senator and secretary of energy
• Edwin Meese, former U.S. attorney general
• Diane Ravitch, former U.S. assistant secretary of education
• Donald Rumsfeld, former secretary of defense
• Alejandro Toledo, former president of Peru

Media Fellows

• Tom Bethell, journalist^[14]
• Sam Dealey, journalist, editor-in-chief of Washington Times
• Christopher Hitchens, journalist^[15]
• Deroy Murdock, journalist^[15][16]

Publications

The Hoover Institution's in-house publisher, Hoover Institution Press, produces multiple publications on public policy topics, including the quarterly periodicals Hoover Digest, Education Next, China Leadership Monitor, and Defining Ideas. The Hoover Institution Press also publishes the bimonthly periodical Policy Review, which it acquired from the Heritage Foundation in 2001.

In addition to these periodicals, the Hoover Institution Press publishes books and essays by Hoover Institution fellows and other Hoover-affiliated scholars.

Task forces

The following Hoover Institution task forces are made up of both Hoover Institution fellows and scholars from other academic institutions. Hoover task forces encourage collaborative work in specific areas of public policy:^[17]

• K–12 Education
• National Security and Law
• Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity
• Virtues of a Free Society
• Economic Development
• Federal Tax and Budget Policy
• Health Care Reform
• Ideology and Terror
• Energy Policy
• Procedural Reform of Government ^[18]

Funding

The Hoover Institution is funded by multiple sources. It receives nearly half of its funding from private gifts, including corporate charitable foundations, and the other half from its endowment.^[19]

Past corporate donors have included:

• Archer Daniels Midland Foundation
• ARCO Foundation
• Boeing-McDonnell Foundation
• Chrysler Corporation Fund
• Dean Witter Foundation
• Exxon Educational Foundation ^{[20][unreliable source?]}
• Ford Motor Company Fund
• General Motors Foundation
• J.P. Morgan Charitable Trust
• Merrill Lynch & Company Foundation
• Procter & Gamble Fund
• Rockwell International Corporation Trust
• Transamerica

See also

• List of Stanford University Centers and Institutes

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Hoover Institution - Mission Statement". hoover.org. http://www.hoover.org/about/mission-statement. 
2. ^ Peter Duignan, "The Library of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. Part 1: Origin and Growth," Library History 2001 17(1): 3-19
3. ^ "Hoover Institution Library and Archives: Historical Background". hoover.org. http://0055d26.netsolhost.com/hila/history.htm. 
4. ^ "Hoover Institution - About Hoover - About Herbert Hoover and the Hoover Institution". hoover.org. http://www.hoover.org/about/2927671.html. 
5. ^ Peter Duignan, "The Library of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. Part 2: the Campbell Years," Library History 2001 17(2): 107-118.
6. ^ "Yacht club to host celebration of Virginia Rothwell". Stanford Report. September 1, 2004. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2004/september1/obit-rothwell-91.html. Retrieved March 25, 2008. 
7. ^ Trei, Lisa (November 28, 2001). "Glenn Campbell, former Hoover director, dead at 77". Stanford Report. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2001/november28/campbellobit-1128.html. Retrieved March 25, 2008. 
8. ^ "Honorary Fellow". Hoover Institution Stanford University. 2010. http://www.hoover.org/fellows/by-title/honorary-fellows. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
9. ^ "Distinguished Fellow". Hoover Institution Stanford University. 2010. http://www.hoover.org/fellows/by-title/distinguished-fellows. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
10. ^ "Senior Fellows". Hoover Institution Stanford University. 2011. http://www.hoover.org/fellows/by-title/senior-fellows. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 
11. ^ http://www.hoover.org/fellows/9787
12. ^ "Research Fellows". Hoover Institution Stanford University. 2010. http://www.hoover.org/fellows/by-title/research-fellows. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
13. ^ "Distinguished Visiting Fellows". Hoover Institution Stanford University. 2010. http://www.hoover.org/fellows/by-title/distinguished-visiting-fellows. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
14. ^ "William and Barbara Edwards Media Fellows". Hoover Institution Stanford University. 2010. http://www.hoover.org/fellows/by-title/media-fellows. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
15. ^ ^{a b} "William and Barbara Edwards Media Fellows by year (2008)". hoover.org. http://www.hoover.org/fellows/by-title/media-fellows/2008. 
16. ^ "William and Barbara Edwards Media Fellows by year (2004)". hoover.org. http://www.hoover.org/fellows/by-title/media-fellows/2004. 
17. ^ "Hoover Institution - Task Force". hoover.org. http://www.hoover.org/taskforces. 
18. ^ "Hoover Institution - Task Forces". hoover.org. http://www.hoover.org/taskforces/taskforces. 
19. ^ "Hoover Institution 2010 Report". Hoover Institution. p. 39. http://www.scribd.com/doc/52142814/Hoover-Institution-2010-Report. Retrieved 25 June 2011. 
20. ^ "Media Matters: Recipient Grants: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace". mediamattersaction.org. http://mediamattersaction.org/transparency/organization/Hoover_Institution_on_War_Revolution_and_Peace/funders. 

Further reading

• Paul, Gary Norman. "The Development of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace Library, 1919–1944". PhD dissertation U. of California, Berkeley. Dissertation Abstracts International 1974 35(3): 1682-1683-A, 274p.

External links

• hoover.org, the Hoover Institution's official website
• hoover.org/hila, the Hoover Institution Library and Archives official website
• hooverpress.org, the Hoover Institution Press's official website
• advancingafreesociety.org, the Hoover Institution's blog of research and opinion on current policy matters
• Video of Hoover Institution events and Uncommon Knowledge at YouTube
• Video of Hoover Institution events at FORA.tv