Dear Sort of Angry Reader Doug Waltner,You should read more than one columnist; I certainly do.

If you followed my columns from last year, you will remember that I had often criticized “Trumpism,” which is not directly tied to “anti-Obamism.” But by June 2016, when considering likely appointments to the Supreme Court, State, Defense, Homeland Security, and National Security Advisor, as well as issues such illegal immigration, taxes, health care, and spending, I felt there was no comparison between what Trump might do versus what Hillary Clinton most certainly would do. I think the first 100 days bears that out, namely that Trump is the more conservative candidate. I also thought he was likely to win the election, after listening to various working class people tell me that they were going to vote for the first time and for Trump.

As far as Obama, I don’t believe his reset with Russia, doubling the national debt, slashing defense, opening the border, dividing the country by identity politics, the Syrian and Libyan policies, abandoning Iraq, or the Iran deal worked out all that well; would you not agree?

As far as returning to “objective history,” I published the Savior Generals in 2013. It takes about 4 years—if at the same time one continues to write three columns a week and fulfill duties at one’s job—to write a serious history. The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won (Basic Books) appears on October 1, 2017. The manuscript is 250,000 words, and the book will be about 700 pages, so I have, in fact, each day until late in the evening been working on “objective history.”

Sincerely,

Victor Davis Hanson