It is good for young men to be ambitious and look for meaning outside themselves. The essential task now is to channel this energy correctly. Caesar, Napoleon, and Trump may leave earthly legacies, but ultimately, their achievements will pass away. The only way truly to fulfill one’s quest for purpose is to find it in the unchanging, eternal God.

On the contemporary American right, particularly among young men, the great man theory of history is enjoying a renaissance. Caesar, Napoleon, and even Donald Trump are looked upon with great admiration as men who challenged lethargic systems against staggering odds in pursuit of greatness. For a generation of men who grew up being told that they were privileged oppressors while watching women surpass them on many metrics, the frustration is understandable.

The current education system all too often stifles masculinity, pushing equity and inclusion at the expense of virtue and honor, or even simpler things like rough and tumble play. When this gets paired with lagging economic outcomes and seemingly fewer opportunities to realize one’s grand ambitions (or even to buy a home and start a family), the angst is almost inevitable. The left would do well to engage with these concerns more seriously and drop the smugness that it has shown to young men over the last decade.

And yet, there is something incomplete, and perhaps even contradictory, about how great man theory (especially as practiced by these men) intersects with conservatism, and especially Christian conservatism.

Many of these young men at least identify as Christian, and yet Jesus (nor Peter, John, or any other Biblical figure) rarely comes up when they discuss their heroes. They tend to prefer brash men with illustrious military careers, and often lots of blood on their hands. 

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