Amid Chaos at Home and Rising Threats Abroad, Look to Eisenhower as a Model of Leadership

By Newt Gingrich

At a time when political partisanship is undermining national unity, strong leadership is crucial. This is especially true as the US enters a new era of competition with the Chinese Communist dictatorship — a rivalry that will determine whether our grandchildren live in a world that is free and prosperous or cruel and oppressive. Add serious threats from Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Islamist terrorists, and it becomes clear how important political and military leadership is going to be.

Sometimes on my podcast “Newt’s World,” I take a deep dive into the lives of “immortals” of American history, men and women of unmatched courage and accomplishment. On this week’s episode, I discuss President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Few people provide a better model of leadership for our current moment than Eisenhower. He was honest, patriotic, incredibly practical, always willing to work hard, and able to relate to everyday people no matter how powerful he became. These qualities will always make for a good leader, no matter the time or place.

Eisenhower’s prescience and his strategic understanding of science and technology in establishing the United States as a pre-eminent global power were essential to securing freedom for generations of Americans to come. The five-star general was influential in bringing World War II to an end and his efforts throughout the war, especially with the planning and execution of D-Day, stopped the Nazi war machine. He also ended the Korean War and maintained active communications with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

In order to do Eisenhower’s life justice, this episode is part one of a three-part series on his life. I begin by focusing primarily on his military career right up until D-Day, which I argue is perhaps the single most complicated thing that humans have ever done.

I hope you will listen to this week’s episode to learn about one of the most important military careers in American history — a career that did nothing less than help save Western civilization.

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Are we living in George Orwell’s 1984? We are in the midst of a disturbing new movement in America. A movement where the new totalitarians on the left are controlling the narrative and the agenda and demanding that those who disagree lose their jobs. Newt discusses the latest firings in business in Part 4 of a special podcast series.

Biden In His Own Words – “Do not hold grudges”

Leading up to Joe Biden’s pick, an AP photographer snapped a photo of Biden’s notes during a July press conference. The hand-written notes featured Kalama Harris’s name on top with some phrases written below: “Do not hold grudges.” “Campaigned with me & Jill.” “Talented.” “Great help to campaign.” “Great respect for her.” It is no surprise that Biden needs to remind himself to avoid thinking about his troubled past with his running mate.

Joe Biden in His Own Words - The Series

Joe Biden simply cannot escape portions of his nearly 50-year record. His inability to bypass his past views on contentious subjects is beginning to define his 2020 race. A presidential hopeful who wants us to trust him with our health care, foreign policy, and economy, ought to have more insight than Biden has displayed. Catch up on any of our previous articles of "Joe Biden in His Own Words."

Honor Flight Network

The Gingrich Foundation is proud to announce the Honor Flight Network as its August Charity of the Month, in recognition of those veterans who served in World War II.

The Honor Flight Network gathers Americans who fought in World War II to travel with other veterans in their areas to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorial in their honor, the National World War II Memorial.