Hi, this is Bill Whalen, the host of Goodfellows. Thanks for listening to the audio version of the show,

but we wanted to let you know that Goodfellows is primarily a video production, and you're missing a lot of

extra features by only listening to our show. Give it a look by going to Hoover.org forward slash

Goodfellows to see what you're missing. Thanks. The strength of our nation has always been that despite the odds and the obstacles, we push

to move forward, that we are guided by what we see that can be unburdened by what has been.

It's Wednesday, July 24th, 2024, and welcome back to Goodfellows,

a Hoover Institution broadcast examining social, economic, political, and geopolitical concerns.

I'm Bill Wayland, I'm a Hoover Distinguished Policy Fellow, back as your moderator today. I'm glad to announce that I'm joined by our Big Three, our Trinity of Goodfellows.

That would be the historian, Neil Ferguson, economist John Cochran, former presidential national security advisor, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster.

All three gentlemen are Hoover Institution Senior Fellows.

So guys, I've come to the conclusion that I miss one Good Fellows episode,

and Neil thank you for moderating in my absence.

But I miss one show and all hell breaks loose.

In the times since I've been on this show, what has happened?

Donald Trump merely, narrowly avoids assassination,

walks away miraculously not being gunned down in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Two days later, something of a surprise. He adds Ohio Senator J.D. Vance to the Republican

ticket ticket ticket, a bit of a surprise in that Vance is neither a ticket balancer, nor

puts a new state into play. I know Neil and John have thoughts on this. We'll get to that

the second portion of our show. We then saw a very organized Republican national convention with Republican

conventioneers walking out of that convention on a champagne high determined they were going

to crush Joe Biden in November and three days later, guess what? Joe Biden rather unceremoniously

...