There is a tendency today to treat history as something abstract, academic, or disconnected from modern life. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
History remains one of the most practical subjects a person can study because you can learn from the past. You can see how errors in judgment came about and what information, experience or wisdom could have prevented those errors.
The most serious leaders, statesmen, and thinkers throughout history have almost always been students of history itself. They understood that while technology changes and societies evolve, the fundamental realities of human nature remain remarkably consistent across generations.
Reading about ancient Greece introduces us to enduring ideas about citizenship, civic responsibility, public service, and the obligations individuals owe to society and one another. Studying the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire provides lessons not only about institutional strength and political stability, but also about how great societies can decline. Rome’s history offers warnings about political factionalism, excessive ambition, civic decay, corruption, concentration of power, and the erosion of the shared values that once held the republic together. Its rise demonstrates what strong institutions can achieve; its decline illustrates what can happen when leaders place personal interests above the long-term health of the society they serve.
The same is true when studying the American founding. One of the remarkable aspects of the Founders was the extent to which they immersed themselves in history. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and their contemporaries carefully studied ancient Greece and Rome, the British constitutional tradition, Enlightenment political thought, and the successes and failures of governments throughout history. They understood that effective institutions are rarely created from scratch. Instead, they drew upon centuries of accumulated experience, adopting ideas that had proven effective while attempting to avoid mistakes that had led other societies into instability or tyranny. The American system itself stands as an example of leaders using historical knowledge to build something new and durable.
Reading about Winston Churchill during the Second World War offers perspective on courage, perseverance, moral clarity, and leadership under extraordinary pressure. Churchill understood that civilization itself depends upon the willingness of individuals and nations to defend it during moments of uncertainty and danger. His life also reflects the value of historical literacy itself, as he viewed contemporary events through the broader lens of history rather than solely by the pressures of the immediate moment.
History also reminds us that no society or institution is guaranteed permanent success. Great civilizations have risen and declined. Strong economies have weakened through complacency and short-term thinking. Political systems that once appeared stable and durable have fractured when leadership failed to uphold the principles and institutions that sustained them.
That perspective is particularly important today. Modern culture increasingly rewards immediacy, reaction, and short attention spans. News cycles move by the hour, and many decisions are judged almost entirely through the lens of short-term outcomes. Reading history encourages the opposite mindset. It teaches patience, perspective, and the ability to evaluate events within a broader context.
History also reminds us how much can be lost when societies abandon tolerance for others or shared civic purpose. At the same time, it demonstrates the extraordinary resilience of free societies when strong leadership, sound institutions, and cultural confidence remain intact.
For leaders in business and public life, these lessons remain highly relevant. Markets fluctuate, industries evolve, and technologies transform entire sectors of the economy, but human behavior itself changes very little. Ambition, fear, hate, greed, courage, tolerance, compassion, compromise, discipline, and resilience continue to shape decision-making just as they always have.
The study of history does not provide simple formulas or easy answers. What it provides is something far more valuable: perspective, judgment, and the ability to think beyond the moment immediately in front of us.
The leaders who navigate complexity most effectively are often those who understand that the present is never fully disconnected from the past and that wisdom is often found by studying the experiences, successes, and failures of those who came before us.
Elliott Broidy is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Broidy Capital Holdings, LLC, a private equity investment firm specializing in AI-driven public safety software. He is also the Co-Chair of the Fund to End Antisemitism, Extremism and Hate which supports the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88, an initiative of The Counter Extremism Project.