Hoover Institution

In June 1919, Herbert Hoover, then a wealthy engineer who was one of Stanford's first graduates, sent a telegram offering Stanford president Ray Lyman Wilbur $50,000 in order to assist the collection of primary materials related to World War I, a project that became known as the Hoover War Collection. Assisted primarily by gifts from private donors, the Hoover War Collection flourished during its early years. In 1922, the collection became known as the Hoover War Library (now the Hoover Institution Library and Archives) and had collected a variety of rare and unpublished material, including the files of the Okhrana, as well as a plurality of government documents.[17][18] It was housed originally in the Stanford Library, separate from the general stacks. In his memoirs, Hoover wrote:

I did a vast amount of reading, mostly on previous wars, revolutions, and peace-makings of Europe and especially the political and economic aftermaths. At one time I set up some research at London, Paris, and Berlin into previous famines in Europe to see if there had developed any ideas on handling relief and pestilence. ... I was shortly convinced that gigantic famine would follow the present war. The steady degeneration of agriculture was obvious. ... I read in one of Andrew D. White's writings that most of the fugitive literature of comment during the French Revolution was lost to history because no one set any value on it at the time, and that without such material it became very difficult or impossible to reconstruct the real scene. Therein lay the origins of the Library on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.[19]

By 1926, the Hoover War Library was the largest library in the world devoted to the Great War. It contained 1.4 million items and was becoming too large to house in the Stanford Library so the university allocated $600,000 for the construction of the Hoover Tower, which was to be its permanent home independent of the Stanford Library system. The 285-foot tall tower was completed in 1941 on date of the university's golden jubilee.[20][21] The tower has since been a well-recognized part of the Stanford campus.[22]

Former United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter speaks about defense innovation at the institution in Washington, D.C..

In 1956, former President Hoover, in conjunction with the Institution and Library, began a major fundraising campaign that transitioned the organization to its current form as a research institution as well as archive. In 1957, the Hoover Institution and Library was renamed the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace—the name it has presently.[23] In 1959 Stanford's Board of Trustees officially established the Hoover Institution as "an independent institution within the frame of Stanford University".[18] In 1960, W. Glenn Campbell was appointed director and substantial budget increases soon resulted in corresponding increases in acquisitions and related research projects. In particular, the Chinese and Russian collections grew considerably. Despite student unrest during the 1960s, the institution continued to develop closer relations with Stanford University.[24]

From the presidency of Richard Nixon (1969-1974) to that of Donald Trump (2017-2021), the Institute has provided a working environment for conservative experts.[25][26][27]

In 1975, Ronald Reagan, who was Governor of California at that time, was designated as Hoover's first honorary fellow. He donated his gubernatorial papers to the Hoover library.[28] During that time the Hoover Institution had a general budget of $3.5 million a year. In 1976, one third of Stanford University's book holdings were housed at the Hoover library. At that time, it was the largest private archive collection in the United States.[22] For his presidential campaign in 1980, Reagan engaged at least thirteen Hoover scholars to assist the campaign in multiple capacities.[29] After Reagan won the election, more than thirty current or former Hoover Institution fellows worked for the Reagan administration in 1981.[22]

In 1989, Campbell retired as director of Hoover and replaced by John Raisian, a change that was considered as the end of an era.[30] Raisan served as director until 2015, and was succeeded by Thomas W. Gilligan.[31]

George W. Bush administration (2001–2009)

Senior fellow Condoleezza Rice served as Bush's National Security Advisor (2001–2005) and as Secretary of State (2005–2009). President George W. Bush awarded the National Humanities Medal to the Hoover Institution in 2006.[32]

Former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Rex Tillerson during a public session in 2018 at the institution's forum.

The Trump administration maintained friendly relations with the institution and multiple Hoover affiliates became senior advisors or were hired for major jobs in government. Trump selected as Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis, who was the Davies Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Hoover 2013-2016, where he studied leadership, national security, strategy, innovation, and the effective use of military force.[33] In 2019 Mattis returned to his post at Hoover. [34] Distinguished Visiting Fellow Kevin Hassett became the first chairman of Trump's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). The CEA chief principal economist, Josh Rauh, took leave from his Hoover Institution fellowship. After the third CEA chairman Tyler Goodspeed resigned in 2021, he went to Hoover. [35] Scott Atlas, a Hoover fellow, was known for opposing public health measures as a major Trump advisor during the COVID-19 pandemic; he was condemned by a Stanford University faculty vote.[36] In February, 2020, the Hoover board of trustees brought in senior Trump economic officials for off-the-record forecasts. According to the New York Times: "The president’s aides appeared to be giving wealthy party donors an early warning of a potentially impactful contagion at a time when Mr. Trump was publicly insisting that the threat was nonexistent." The board members spread the bad news and the stock market had a selloff.[37]

In August 2017 the David and Joan Traitel Building was inaugurated. The ground floor is a conference facility with a 400-seat auditorium and the top floor houses the Hoover Institution's headquarters.[38]

In 2020, Condoleezza Rice succeeded Thomas W. Gilligan as director.[31]

At any given time the Hoover Institution has as many as 200 resident scholars known as Fellows. They are an interdisciplinary group studying political science, education, economics, foreign policy, energy, history, law, national security, health and politics. Some have joint appointments as lecturers on the Stanford faculty.[39]

During Stanford University faculty senate discussions on closer collaboration between the university and the Institution in 2021, Rice "addressed campus criticism that the Hoover Institution is a partisan think tank that primarily supports conservative administrations and policy positions" by sharing "statistics that show Hoover fellows contribute financially to both political parties on an equal basis", according to the university's newsletter.[5]

Funding sources and expenditures, FY 2022[45]

• Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom[49] (deceased)
• Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States[28] (deceased)
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Soviet dissident and Nobel laureate in literature[28] (deceased)
• Friedrich Hayek, philosopher and Nobel laureate in economics[28] (deceased)

• George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State[50] (deceased)

• Mark Bils, macroeconomist, National Fellow 1989–90[60]
• Stephen Kotkin, historian, National Fellow 2010–11[61]