Peter M. Robinson

Research Fellow
Biography: 

Peter M. Robinson is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he writes about business and politics, edits Hoover's quarterly journal, the Hoover Digest, and hosts Hoover's video series program, Uncommon Knowledge™.

Robinson is also the author of three books: How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life (Regan Books, 2003); It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP, (Warner Books, 2000); and the best-selling business book Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA (Warner Books, 1994; still available in paperback).

In 1979, he graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College, where he majored in English. He went on to study politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford University, from which he graduated in 1982.

Robinson spent six years in the White House, serving from 1982 to 1983 as chief speechwriter to Vice President George Bush and from 1983 to 1988 as special assistant and speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan. He wrote the historic Berlin Wall address in which President Reagan called on General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!"

After the White House, Robinson attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. (The journal he kept formed the basis for Snapshots from Hell.) He graduated with an MBA in 1990.

Robinson then spent a year in New York City with Fox Television, reporting to the owner of the company, Rupert Murdoch. He spent a second year in Washington, D.C., with the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he served as the director of the Office of Public Affairs, Policy Evaluation, and Research. Robinson joined the Hoover Institution in 1993.

The author of numerous essays and interviews, Robinson has published in the New York Times, Red Herring, and Forbes ASAP, the Wall Street Journal, and National Review Online. He is the editor of Can Congress Be Fixed?: Five Essays on Congressional Reform (Hoover Institution Press, 1995).

In 2005, Robinson was elected to serve as a Trustee of Dartmouth College.

Robinson lives in northern California with his wife, their children and their dog, Crusoe.

His research papers are available at the Hoover Institution Archives.

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Recent Commentary

Interviews

Obamacare & the Supreme Court with Richard Epstein & John Yoo: Chapter 3 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonwith Richard A. Epsteinvia Uncommon Knowledge
Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Richard Epstein and John Yoo discuss the political implications of taking on Obamacare in the Supreme Court...

Interviews

Obamacare & the Supreme Court with Richard Epstein & John Yoo: Chapter 2 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonwith Richard A. Epsteinvia Uncommon Knowledge
Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Richard Epstein and John Yoo on whether the Federal Government can threaten to withhold Federal grants in an effort to coerce states into carrying out the provisions of Obamacare...

Paul Ryan

This Time is Different

by Paul D. Ryan, Peter M. Robinsonvia Hoover Digest
Monday, January 23, 2012

Paul Ryan is a straight shooter, and health care is his target. An interview with Peter Robinson.

Interviews

Obamacare & the Supreme Court with Richard Epstein & John Yoo: Chapter 1 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonwith Richard A. Epsteinvia Uncommon Knowledge
Monday, January 23, 2012

Richard Epstein and John Yoo examine the merits of various constitutional arguments for the striking down of Obamacare by the Supreme Court...

Analysis and Commentary

Not So Fast

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Ricochet
Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Speaking to a particularly esteemed political scientist, I got something of a start. I'd expected him to say that Romney as good as had the nomination in the bag. Not at all...

In the News

WWII with Andrew Roberts: Chapter 5 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Friday, January 13, 2012
In the News

WWII with Andrew Roberts: Chapter 4 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Thursday, January 12, 2012
In the News

WWII with Andrew Roberts: Chapter 3 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
In the News

WWII with Andrew Roberts: Chapter 2 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
In the News

WWII with Andrew Roberts: Chapter 1 of 5

by Peter M. Robinsonvia Uncommon Knowledge
Monday, January 9, 2012

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