Founders’ Fire: From 1776 to Trump—Arthur Herman on Innovation, Wealth, and American Renewal | VDH

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 00:00 Welcome and New Book 00:49 What Founders Fire Means 03:02 War on Wealth Explained 05:02 Founders Take Risks 09:18 Cycles of Founding 11:53 Trump and Founder Politics 13:15 Outsiders and Bullying 18:53 Why America Enables Founders 24:27 Break and Patriot Innovators 27:59 Globalization Ends Innovation Begins 35:16 China and Founder Limits 38:57 Final Segment and Next Projects 41:21 Britain Navy and Manager Mindset 48:15 Closing Thoughts and Thanks