Larry P. Arnn
Hillsdale College president since 2000; Arkansas native; Arkansas State University BA 1974; Claremont Graduate School MA 1976 (student of Harry V. Jaffa); LSE/Oxford research; PhD 1985 under Jaffa on Churchill; Claremont Institute president 1985–2000; co-authored California Proposition 209 (1996, ended affirmative action in California); co-chaired Trump’s 1776 Commission
Who He Is
Larry Arnn is the institutional embodiment of West Coast Straussianism at scale. As Hillsdale College’s president, he transformed a small Michigan liberal arts college into the flagship educational institution of the MAGA New Right — combining elite political philosophy (Jaffa’s natural-right constitutionalism), mass popular outreach (Imprimis, free online courses), and direct policy influence (the 1776 Commission, the Council for National Policy) into a single coherent institutional project.
Biography
Born in Pocahontas, Arkansas. Received his BA from Arkansas State University in 1974. Enrolled at the Claremont Graduate School in 1975, where he became a student of Harry V. Jaffa — the scholar who defined Lincoln as the fulfillment of the Founders’ natural-rights project and who created West Coast Straussianism’s distinctive blend of Strauss and Lincoln. Arnn received his MA from Claremont in 1976.
He then went to London, where he did research at the London School of Economics and worked with Martin Gilbert on the Churchill papers at Oxford. He received his PhD from Claremont Graduate School in 1985, writing on Winston Churchill under Jaffa’s supervision.
Claremont Institute (1985–2000)
After completing his PhD, Arnn served as president of the Claremont Institute from 1985 to 2000. During this period the Institute was more conventionally right-of-center — establishing its reputation in constitutional law and natural rights theory before its later hard turn toward MAGA nationalism. Arnn was a co-author of California Proposition 209 (passed November 1996), which ended race-based affirmative action in California’s public institutions. This was a signature West Coast Straussian policy achievement: using colorblind natural-rights language to roll back racial equity programs.
Hillsdale College (2000–Present)
Arnn became Hillsdale’s president in 2000. Under his leadership, the college pursued a dual strategy:
“Two Hillsdales”: The residential campus (~1,500 students) and a vast online/outreach enterprise that reaches millions. Field describes these as operating on quite different logics — the residential campus a genuine liberal arts institution where professors teach across disciplines; the online empire a New Right messaging operation.
Imprimis: A lecture-based newsletter that under Arnn grew from roughly 1 million to over 6 million subscribers by 2024, making it one of the largest-circulation conservative publications in America. Contributors range from Claremont fellows to Trump administration officials to hard-right culture warriors.
Online courses: Hillsdale has produced 40+ free online courses on the Constitution, American history, and Western civilization. As of 2024, only one of these courses was taught by a woman — a detail Field notes as consistent with the college’s broader orientation toward traditional sex roles and masculine intellectual authority.
Charter school network: Since 2010, Hillsdale has operated a growing network of charter schools across multiple states, expanding its educational model beyond the college.
Washington DC expansion:
- 2010: Opened the Kirby Center, a DC policy and events hub
- 2019: Opened the Van Andel Graduate School of Government, a DC-based program for training conservative public servants
Heritage Foundation offer: In 2012, Hillsdale was offered the presidency of the Heritage Foundation — Arnn declined.
Council for National Policy: Arnn joined in 2014. The CNP is a secretive network of major right-wing donors and activists.
The 1776 Commission
Arnn co-chaired (with Vanderbilt’s Carol Swain) Trump’s 1776 Commission, convened in 2020–2021 as a direct response to The New York Times’ 1619 Project. The Commission produced the 1776 Commission Report — see 1776 Commission Report.
The commission was composed of 18 conservative academics, politicians, and activists — notably not professional historians. It met twice: January 5 and January 15, 2021. The executive director was Matthew Spalding (Hillsdale DC office; Kesler’s student; also on the commission was Harry V. Jaffa himself, in one of his final public acts before his death).
The Report was published January 18, 2021 — three days after its second meeting, two days before Trump left office. Biden dissolved the commission on his first day in office.
Significance
Arnn’s significance is institutional: he turned West Coast Straussianism from an academic tendency into a mass educational and political enterprise. The combination of Imprimis’ 6 million subscribers, 40+ online courses, a charter school network, a DC graduate school, and the 1776 Commission gave Hillsdale a reach no other single New Right institution can match. Field’s critique is that this reach amplifies a tendentious, ideologically driven version of American history — celebrating the Founding’s natural-rights ideals while consistently minimizing or eliding the history of slavery and racial injustice.
Cross-References
- Hillsdale College — the institution he leads
- Claremont Institute — his earlier institutional home; co-authorship of Prop 209
- Harry V. Jaffa — his mentor; the intellectual founder of both institutions’ traditions
- West Coast Straussianism — the tradition he represents
- 1776 Commission Report — the Trump initiative he co-chaired
- Charles Kesler — fellow West Coast Straussian; Kesler’s student Spalding was the 1776 Commission’s executive director
- The Claremonters — the movement Hillsdale helps staff and educate
- Ideas First — Hillsdale’s mass outreach as Ideas First at scale