Cruel Summer: McMaster’s Tour of Duty, the Debate, TSwift, and Yes, Churchill Was a Good Guy

What was it like to navigate America’s national security apparatus all the while coping with a mercurial commander-in-chief? Hoover senior fellow H.R. McMaster tells all in his new best-seller At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the White House – with additional insights provided by Hoover senior fellow Niall Ferguson, whose forthcoming biography of Henry Kissinger likewise will touch on national security and White House intrigue. After that: Niall and H.R. dissect the previous night’s presidential debate, assess the impact of Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris (spoiler alert: boy-dad Niall’s not a “Swiftie”), and offer thoughts on the perils of non-historians peddling “anti-history” and where the two fellows were 23 years ago during the 9/11 attacks on America.

Recorded on September 11, 2024.

ABOUT THE SERIES

GoodFellows, a Hoover Institution broadcast, features senior fellows John Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, and H.R. McMaster discussing the social, economic, and geostrategic ramifications of this changed world. They can’t banter over lunch these days, but they continue their spirited conversation online about what comes next, as we look forward to an end to the crisis.

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The opinions expressed on this channel are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.

© 2024 by the Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University.

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[aaaaaa]

There was a question on Ukraine during the debate. For us here in Poland much more important than eating pets.
You did not comment on what both candidates said on this subject.

[ladydove]

I was waiting for this discussion especially about the debate with bated breath. As usual, they never disappoint 👏🏽.

[casey]

Dick Cheney supporting Kamala Harris and RFK supporting Trump tells you everything you need to know about Kamala and Trump.

[johnathanscott]

Always enjoy these discussions. Thanks for your efforts to bring detail and context to the current election cycle

[JohanvandenBogaerde-xi]

Incredible courteous and thoughtful discussion as always
Thank you

[viktor]

Guys, I really enjoy your show, and lately try to listen most episodes. But I want to file a complaint! Because I usually listen it at night time before sleep, and it's like I am laying in bed, in the dark, with headphones, listening calm conversation, and in the next second suddenly this insert with Kany West!.. I almost shit my pants, because my first thought was that it was an air raid siren or a rocket flying over...

P.S. if serious, thank you for your job and bringing intellectual light into this world. And I am a personal fan of Niall, so just want to say hi, in this uncommon for me occasion to comment youtube. And want to say - at least 3 people reading his books because of my constant mentions and quoting :)

[obfuscati]

The US will not maintain deterrent level military forces all over the world in the future. Niall needs to accept that.

[Razorblade]

I listen to Tucker Carlson or rather did. I listened to 10mins of that interview and gave up after it. The guy in question is clearly not an intellectual. Extremely dishonest by Tucker. I certainly won't be listening to him that much again due to the outright disingenuous nature of how he presented the guy. Thank you for calling this out.

[tomcullen]

Another great show! Super intelligent conversation!

[kenithandry]

Thanks. I always look forward to GoodFellows. I always share your program on FB and i send links to my friends.

It’s something i can do to spread some sanity.

Oh, i have the new book and plan to start it this evening.

[dvsa]

I'm halfway through HR's book and very much enjoying it. I highly recommend it.

[HORSEBITE]

McMaster was spot on when he said we need a better way to choose the candidates running for president because the choices seem to have gotten worse every election. All primaries should be open so that everyone can vote once for the candidate of their choice.

[richardleslieburton]

Yes, Niall's right to say that whatever Trump and Harris engaged in was not in any shape or form a debate. Yes, H.R. is right to say we all lose out with these performative events unless they are also informative.

[nickgood]

The US may be savable, it's currently a close run thing.

The UK is - sadly - past saving.

[wandmb]

I look forward to reading your book General and I enjoyed visiting with you from time to time on the big jet.

[kimlennard]

There's a lot of love in the room today I reckon - mainly for each other's book releases

[bagsjr]

I just ordered HR McMaster's new book. Thanks

[TheWhitehiker]

Intercollegiate debate hasnt been well for 40 years or more, not only since woke made it even worse. The trouble is that publishers took over that student activity decades ago, selling arguments and evidence wholesale to student team, who dont have to do their own arguments and reasoning.

[karlhetzke]

I've read and love most of Niall Ferguson's books. I also find Darryl Cooper's podcasts incredibly interesting and well reaearched. Listening to hours of Darryl talk about the history of Israel and Palestine, its very obvious he's not an anti-semite (unless you believe anyone with sympathy for the Palestinian side is an anti Semite, in which case you probably think he is). He tells heart wrenching stories from the Holocaust to make you feel deeply why Jewish refugees in Palestine in 1948 thought the way they did. Given he has put out literally hours of audio content on the history of jewish persecutions, i think it's ridiculous that "reputable" newspapers are calling him a holocaust denier.

In a post on his substack after the Tucker interview, Cooper explained his argument about Churchill like this: Hitler was like a manic psycho holding his family hostage in their house, and the British were like the police who did everything they could to escalate the situation and ensure maximal damage was done by the time the manic psycho was taken out. You can disagree and argue that British war policy was as effective as it could have been, but given the scale of the conflict, the half century of cold war that followed, and the rhetorical power of WWII that neocons still use to justify every war they want to fight, i think its quite important to entertain arguments like Cooper's instead of just dismissing it as Nazi propaganda (after all, i dont think Niall would argue that historians/statesmen shouldnt take the arguments of their enemies seriously)

[andrewbaldwin]

How do you improve the debate format. Simple, move to the Lincoln-Douglas debate format and get rid of the moderators.