Craig Shirley. Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative. Nelson Books, 2017. See here to purchase the book.
Craig Shirley is renowned for his books about Ronald Reagan. I first
heard of him when I was watching a panel on CSPAN2. The panelists were
discussing Ronald Reagan’s stance towards the New Deal. One author
argued that Reagan supported it, Shirley contended that Reagan opposed
it, and another panelist said that Reagan supported some parts and was
critical of other parts. Shirley’s arguments on Reagan’s stance towards
the New Deal were not very impressive, but he did raise interesting
considerations. For example, he argued that Reagan’s liberal policy on
immigration was due, in part, to the Cold War, as Reagan did not want to
look repressive, as the USSR.
Citizen Newt is about Newt Gingrich, who served as Speaker
of the House during the 1990’s. The introduction is about Gingrich’s
childhood, and it touches briefly on his education. The rest of the
book goes from his first race for U.S. Congress (which he lost), to the
widespread triumph of the GOP in national and state elections in 1994.
The Republicans took control of the House of Representatives and Newt
Gingrich became Speaker.
The introduction was the closest look in the book at Newt Gingrich
the human being. The rest of the book did not explore as much what made
Gingrich tick, personally-speaking, though it occasionally commented on
his divorce from his first wife, Jackie. Rather, the rest of the book
focused on his public moves and persona. And that was actually pretty
entertaining!
The book is a compelling political drama. Shirley narrates
Gingrich’s political iconoclasm against Republicans and Democrats, and
the conflicts among the powers-that-be. Shirley also relates the past
to the present, as he talks about people who are household names now,
but were just starting out back then. Occasionally, Shirley mentions
incidents in which political figures acted contrary to expectation.
Shirley seems to write more from a conservative perspective, but the
book does not read like a piece of hagiographical propaganda. Shirley
respects Gingrich and sometimes defends him, and he refers to Gingrich’s
political talents, such as Gingrich’s gift at extemporaneous speaking.
Yet, Shirley is honest about when he thinks that Gingrich made a
foolish move. Shirley also does not paint a narrative in which
Republicans are the heroes and Democrats are the villains. His account
of Tip O’Neill is glowing.
On Gingrich’s relationship with conservatism, Shirley acknowledges
nuance. While he depicts Gingrich as principled, overall, he chronicles
times when Gingrich waffled or embraced positions for political
expediency (i.e., protectionism). Shirley talks about the evolution of
Gingrich’s political perspective, as Gingrich went from being a
Rockefeller Republican to becoming one of the leaders of the
conservative movement in Congress. Gingrich was relatively progressive
on racial issues throughout his time in Congress, as he received votes
from many African-Americans in his district and championed a national
holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. and sanctions against South Africa.
Moreover, Shirley mentions the divisions among conservatives
themselves, on such issues as flag burning.
The book could have used more of a look at Newt Gingrich the person,
while attempting to explore what motivated Gingrich’s stances and
political moves. Still, the book, as it stands, is a compelling read,
and it whets my appetite for other books by Shirley, and political books
in general.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through BookLook Bloggers. My review is honest!