Victor Davis Hanson Gives Health Update After Undergoing Major Operation

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice posted a statement from Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson on Sunday revealing Hanson had a cancerous tumor removed after an operation.

Hanson told the audience of his podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” on Dec. 26 that he would be having an operation to address a “serious” medical condition that doctors could not at the time diagnose. Rice posted a statement from Hanson on X in which he said he was “hopeful” after the procedure.

“Please find an update from my dear friend and colleague, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson. He remains in our prayers,” Rice posted.

“I wanted to share a brief health update. I recently underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor and am now recovering. I’m doing well and hopeful as I move forward,” Hanson said in the statement. “Thank you for the many messages of support and prayers—they truly mean more than I can say. As I focus on recovery, I may not be able to respond to everyone, but please know how grateful I am.”

Hanson underwent the operation Tuesday at Stanford Medical Center.

“I don’t want to talk about my own problems, but I’ve had people call me and say, ‘You don’t look well, you’re hoarse, or you’re coughing.’ But it’s been a nine-month odyssey because the problem I had for a nonsmoker and nondrinker was a rare type and very hard to diagnose, so it’s no one’s fault other than my own perhaps for not realizing why I was not getting well,” Hanson said during his Dec. 26 announcement of the medical condition.

Hanson’s diagnoses comes after former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska announced he had metastatic pancreatic cancer on Dec. 23.

“Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die,” Sasse posted on X. “Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.”