How Newt inspired Silvio
I have a new piece up on the early days of Newt Gingrich’s foreign policy as speaker of the House. In the process of reading some of the early coverage of Gingrich’s tenure, I came across this kicker from a 1995 New York Times article which didn’t quite fit my piece but is pretty amusing ...
I have a new piece up on the early days of Newt Gingrich's foreign policy as speaker of the House. In the process of reading some of the early coverage of Gingrich's tenure, I came across this kicker from a 1995 New York Times article which didn't quite fit my piece but is pretty amusing with the benefit of hindsight:
I have a new piece up on the early days of Newt Gingrich’s foreign policy as speaker of the House. In the process of reading some of the early coverage of Gingrich’s tenure, I came across this kicker from a 1995 New York Times article which didn’t quite fit my piece but is pretty amusing with the benefit of hindsight:
Still, the Gingrich revolution has spawned clones who have suggested that Mr. Gingrich’s Contract with America be replicated elsewhere. In a front-page article in the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero several days ago, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s billionaire former Prime Minister, proposed a Contract With the Italians.
But Mr. Berlusconi’s enthusiastic endorsement of the Gingrich philosophy may not be worth much. His tenure as Prime Minister lasted only seven months.
Of course, Berlusconi would go on to serve a second term as prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and a third one from 2008 to 2011.
In fact, Berlusconi may be the only politician in the world with more political lives than Gingrich and a greater ability to bounce back stronger than ever from ethical and sexual scandals.
Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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