{"id":9655,"date":"2016-12-06T09:24:10","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T17:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=9655"},"modified":"2016-12-06T09:24:10","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T17:24:10","slug":"clever-fox-mattis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/clever-fox-mattis\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Clever Fox\u2019 Mattis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>By Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ <em>National Review<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Mattis appointment as defense secretary could prove to be Trump\u2019s most inspired, even given the nightmarish mess brewing abroad. But the media blitz has overdone the idea that Jim \u201cMad Dog\u201d Mattis is somehow a frenzied, \u201clet me at \u2019em\u201d gung-ho warrior.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He may be certainly all that (and we hope our enemies focus on the nickname). But he is also probably the most well-read defense secretary we have seen in decades, and his reading extends from Homer and Plutarch to modern strategic studies.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Trump alluded in his announcement to General George S. Patton. And that comparison could be apt \u2014 not just because Mattis in rare public moments has used profanity and tough talk as did Patton on frequent occasions. More importantly, though, Patton (who, like William Tecumseh Sherman, is still an enigmatic and often wrongly caricatured figure) was widely read too, and a keen student of biography and history. He often talked candidly not just because he meant what he said, but because it offered another \u2014 necessary \u2014 combative public side to a contemplative streak sometimes wrongly misunderstood as insufficiently martial.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWarrior monk\u201d is another sobriquet applied to Mattis, but monk seems also misleading in that few generals are more outgoing, well-traveled, and engaged.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He may be part \u201cSwamp\u201d and \u201cDesert\u201d Fox \u2014 but Jim \u201cClever Fox\u201d Mattis seems the best fit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review The Mattis appointment as defense secretary could prove to be Trump\u2019s most inspired, even given the nightmarish mess brewing abroad. But the media blitz has overdone the idea that Jim \u201cMad Dog\u201d Mattis is somehow a frenzied, \u201clet me at \u2019em\u201d gung-ho warrior. He may be certainly all that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1096,1092,285],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2vJ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11434,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/mattis-is-more-valuable-than-ever\/","url_meta":{"origin":9655,"position":0},"title":"Mattis Is More Valuable Than Ever","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Michael O\u2019Hanlon presented\u00a0recently a persuasive argument why Defense Secretary James Mattis should stay on the job for at least the duration of Trump\u2019s first term in order to finish his current initiatives \u2014 apparently in response to unsubstantiated rumors that Mattis\u2019s reputation has grown\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;James Mattis&quot;","block_context":{"text":"James Mattis","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/james-mattis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9906,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-metaphysics-of-trump\/","url_meta":{"origin":9655,"position":1},"title":"The Metaphysics of Trump","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review Paradox: How does a supposedly bad man appoint good people eager to advance a conservative agenda that supposedly more moral Republicans failed to realize? We variously read that Trump should be impeached, removed, neutralized \u2014 or worse. But until he is, are his appointments,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;McMaster&quot;","block_context":{"text":"McMaster","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/mcmaster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10310,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/trump-and-his-generals\/","url_meta":{"origin":9655,"position":2},"title":"Trump and His Generals","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"By Victor Davis Hanson National Review Trump\u2019s reliance on his generals shows that he values merit over politics. Donald Trump earned respect from the Washington establishment for appointing three of the nation\u2019s most accomplished generals to direct his national-security policy: James Mattis (secretary of defense), H. R. McMaster (national-security adviser),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;McMaster&quot;","block_context":{"text":"McMaster","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/mcmaster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11034,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/trumps-generals-are-too-valuable-to-be-dismissed\/","url_meta":{"origin":9655,"position":3},"title":"Trump&#8217;s Generals Are Too Valuable to Be Dismissed","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ Town Hall Near-daily gossip surrounds Donald Trump's three marquee generals. The media sometimes blare out rumors that Gen. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, is proving to be a loose cannon and might soon be fired. Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Donald Trump&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Donald Trump","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/donald-trump\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11586,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-departure-of-mattis-and-engagements-in-the-middle-east\/","url_meta":{"origin":9655,"position":4},"title":"The Departure of Mattis and Engagements in the Middle East","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review The near-destruction of ISIS in a matter of months (losing 99 percent of its landed caliphate), the restoration of sound defense budgeting, a reestablished sense of deterrence, and stable recalibration with allies were the signature achievements of James Mattis. And it seems a mistake\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ISIS&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ISIS","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/isis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9674,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/has-trump-nominated-too-many-military-leaders-or-not-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":9655,"position":5},"title":"Has Trump Nominated Too Many Military Leaders\u2014Or Not Enough?","author":"Megan Ring","date":"December 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0By Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review Choosing military men for top cabinet spots is not unprecedented, nor is it foolish given how Washington insiders have performed. President-elect Donald Trump is being faulted for supposedly appointing too many retired generals to cabinet-level jobs and \u201cmilitarizing\u201d the government. Former lieutenant general Michael\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Jim Mattis&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Jim Mattis","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/jim-mattis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9655"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9656,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9655\/revisions\/9656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}