It has attracted influential scholars, economists, and policymakers, including
Milton Friedman (Nobel laureate economist)
Thomas Sowell (economist and political commentator)
George P. Shultz (former U.S. Secretary of State)
Condoleezza Rice (former U.S. Secretary of State and current director as of 2020)
Victor Davis Hanson (historian and classicist)
During the Reagan administration, the Hoover Institution was closely associated with conservative policy development and had strong influence in Washington.