Former Four Star Marine General Jim Mattis and best selling author and popular podcaster Ryan Holiday join Margaret Hoover to talk about the war in Iran, the Trump administration’s “murky” endgame, and the role of Stoic philosophy in military leadership.
This interview was recorded as part of the Hoover Institution’s “Ideas That Made U.S.” series at Stanford University.
Mattis– who led the Pentagon for two years in President Trump’s first term–discusses what he learned about Iran in his four decades of military service and why he doubts the regime will collapse due to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
Holiday, a communications expert and host of the Daily Stoic podcast, comments on the administration’s efforts to build public support for the war, and he recalls his own 2021 interview with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine–who shares Mattis' interest in Stoicism.
Mattis explains why he believes America’s alliances are vital, questions the Trump administration’s easing of sanctions on Russia, and discusses what an eventual end to the war could look like.
Support for Firing Line with Margaret Hoover is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, Peter and Mary Kalikow, The Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation, Pritzker Military Foundation, Cliff and Laurel Asness, Katharine J. Rayner, Charles R. Schwab, Lindsay and George Billingsley, The Meadowlark Foundation, Jared Stone, and Al and Kathy Hubbard.
