WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to confirm Heritage Foundation Executive Vice President Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D., as a member of the National Council on the Humanities.
The National Council on the Humanities is comprised of 26 distinguished private citizens whose members serve staggered six-year terms. President Donald Trump appointed Holmes to the council for a term that expires in 2022.
“America is the greatest, most enduring experiment in freedom and flourishing in world history,” Holmes said. “Our founders risked their lives to endow future generations with the blessings of liberty, and we have kept our republic in spite of the rest of the world being in nearly constant turmoil around us. Much of this miracle can be credited to the many Americans who have endeavored to protect and preserve our heritage by ensuring that the ideas and the documents that gave life to and sustain our nation are taught to every new generation.”
Prior to becoming Heritage’s executive vice president in 2018, Holmes oversaw the think tank’s defense and foreign policy institute for more than two decades. As a historian of U.S. political movements and ideology, he studies and writes about America’s place in the world and the changing political landscape.
His latest book, “The Closing of the Liberal Mind” (2016), reveals how liberals in America are turning their backs on their traditions and have become a force for “illiberalism”—namely, denying their fellow Americans’ rights and freedoms. His previous books include “Rebound: Getting America Back to Great” (2013) and “Liberty's Best Hope: American Leadership for the 21st Century” (2008).
“Dr. Kim Holmes is a stalwart advocate and defender of freedom, so his appointment to the National Council on the Humanities, the agency responsible for conveying the lessons of history to all Americans, should be celebrated by every citizen who shares his love for America,” said Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James. “I extend my heartiest congratulations to my friend and colleague Dr. Holmes for being selected by President Trump to serve as a member of the council.”
Holmes joined Heritage in 1985 and rose to vice president in 1991. He was a founding editor of the annual Index of Economic Freedom,which has become a signature Heritage publication.
Recognized around the globe as one of Washington’s foremost foreign and defense policy experts, Holmes served from 2002 to 2005 as an assistant secretary of state in the administration of President George W. Bush. While at the State Department, Holmes was responsible for developing policy and coordinating U.S. engagement at the United Nations and 46 other international organizations.
Previous appointments include the Defense Policy Board, the U.S. defense secretary’s primary resource for expert outside advice; the Board of Directors of the Center for International Private Enterprise; and public member of the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Holmes holds doctoral and master’s degrees in history from Georgetown University. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He was a research fellow at the Institute for European History in Germany and adjunct professor of European security and history at Georgetown University.
His scholarly articles have appeared in journals such as National Interest,Journal Aspenia (Italy), Harvard University's International Security and Columbia University's Journal of International Affairs.
