December 22, 2011

The Gingrich-Churchill Comparison

By Bruce Walker
Newt Gingrich is not our "Next Reagan," the leader for whom we have pined since 1989, but could he be our next Churchill?  Jeffrey Lord at American Spectator has made the comparison, and it deserves more attention. Consider all the baggage that Winston Churchill carried with him when he first became prime minister in 1940.  His personal life was far from normal.  Clementine Churchill had a brief affair with Terence Phillip, and she offered her fourth child with Churchill to a friend.  Sarah, the Churchills' eldest child, committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. Is this a perfect parallel with Gingrich, who was divorced twice, preceded by affairs with the women he would marry, before his current twelve-year marriage to Callista?  No, but when we look at great leaders, perhaps we ought not to look for great home lives.  Reagan divorced when divorce was rare.  His daughter Patti not only took her mother's maiden name, but would pose for...(Read Full Article)