Customer Reviews

Lessons Learned the Hard Way

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read this book thinking that Gingrich would toot his own horn, and praise fellow Republicans. The more I read, the more I was impressed with his humility and candor regarding fellow Republican colleagues. It is great to see a leader apologize for a wrongdoing, or even a misunderstanding (without even being prompted to do so!) The last chapter was excellent as well. Gingrich lists almost undeniable goals for the next generation. Although he could not have expected his departure from the Speakership, he writes it almost as a farewell address, in the sense that he knows that it may not be accomplished during his tenure. However, it is still essential that these goals be realized. All in all, an enjoyable easy read.

This is a wonderful book for anyone curious about the remarkable times in which we live, the influence of public policy on our lives, the process of ideological legislation, and the limitations of power. In the amazing heat of the American style of public policy debate, Mr. Gingerich carves out a moment of historical perspective: nothing in American democracy is swift, nothing is certain.

His personal journey through the classic struggle between the Pragmatic and the Romantic is filled with surprising frankness and great personal charm.

I loved the book, and would recommend it highly.

With remarkable clarity he illustrates the institutional obstacles to change which make American Democracy and its historical traditions such a fascinating and contradictory experience.

Mr. Gingerich presides over the Congress in a time of incredible societal change as nearly all working Americans move strongly into capital investments and technology is in the earliest stages of transforming the workplace from the last hundred years into the next hundred years.

While the fierce ideological struggles of the present time will be forgotten within ten years as America transforms itself, Mr. Gingerich's book with its engaging historical perspective over the intensely personal politics of the present time, will stand as great advice to those men and women on how to fight the battles which will determine the new rules, as information and its access shapes the coming struggles over economic and cultural life in the twenty first century.

Other recommended reading: Alone , Winston Churchill by William Manchester - also a great political biography set in an historical perspective. The book is much larger but contains many of the same lessons for visionary leaders in times of transistion.

The talking heads from the networks and elsewhere always theorize what they think may of happened. Mostly according to what they heard from others who heard from others. This book is a piece of history, written by the man who was there in the room negotiating. The former Speaker is very honest and candid in his synapsis of what really happened. He tells where he went wrong and what he learned. Even though he is not the Speaker anymore, after reading this book you just know we haven't heard the last of Newt yet.

I've been a fan of Newt Gingrich ever since I read "Window of Opportunity" back in 1984 and I used to watch his special order speeches on the House floor on C-SPAN long after the rest of the country had gone to bed. I thought I would enjoy hearing from my role model, in his own words, why the 104th and 105th Congress stalled, shot itself in the foot repeatedly, and allowed our character-challenged president take credit for things he didn't do.

I was wrong.

Although I have a better understanding now of the events surrounding Congress over the last several years, I found the litany of apoligies and excuses depressing. I miss the visionary Newt, and the last chapter, which describes Newt's "4 goals for our generation" felt like an afterthought.

All in all, I'm glad Newt wrote this book, and it should be required reading for all Republicans, but don't expect to put the book down feeling inspired 'cause it isn't going to happen. Newt: catharsis is good for the soul, but please start looking forward instead of backward.

Great to hear from Gingrich himself -- rather than hearingabout him through the biased media filter.Our life and times from a history professor in Washington DC is a refreshing and interesting read.

This was a library book that I checked out. I was surprised by some of the things I read. I'm as critical as the next conservative on how the Republicans have turned their backs on us. Still, I realize now that they were working against an incredible inertia. Gingrich is very open about the disappointments, setbacks and failures the Republicans faced. You could feel how some of the optimistic idealism crumbled as many began settling for smaller victories. I found it to be a sad and sobering book.

Though Newt Gingrich is no longer an elected political official,
he remains active as both a political analyst and consultant, and
he continues to write books on many topics--including historical fiction.

Yet it was his past experience as Speaker of the House of Representatives
that most interested me . . . so when I recently had the opportunity
to get hold of LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY--written and read
by the author back in 1998 when he was Speaker of the House
of Representatives--I jumped at the chance to hear what he had
to say about a variety of topics.

These were just some of the highlights:

* In the short run, the public can perhaps makes things difficult for you.
But in the long run, they are the best and most reliable judges for what
they really need.

* The earned income credit program has a 21% rate of error. There
are two problems with this. If teaches people to commit fraud. And
it points out the double standard of the IRS; i.e., you need to be
100% accurate, but they only need to be 80%.

* We should have one focused border agency.

* Any foreign government willing to take on the drug dealers should
get all our support.

* We should adopt a national goal that everybody should be able
to read and right by the end of Grade 1.

And there was this one recommendation that I wholeheartedly support:

* I believe we should set the peace-time level for taxes at all levels
of government at 25%.

What I particularly liked about LESSONS LEARNED was how Gingrich
took on both Republicans and Democrats in his criticism of the
workings of government . . . in addition, he just didn't criticize
what's wrong; he made suggestions for improving the system.

For insight into Gingrich, one should skip this book and instead read his extensive set of Amazon reviews. Yes -- Newt Gingrich writes lots of reviews on Amazon! And not a single pan! Everything gets four stars or more, suggesting that Newt may be burdened by a seriously unsceptical mind.

And it's not all Toffler and Deming. He reads novels, history, and science books, and seems to have a military fetish. The reviews are generally well-written and useful, but Gingrich may overestimate the importance of books. On Kissinger's "Does America Need a Foreign Policy?" he writes, "This is a book the Bush Administration can use for sophisticated planning." I can just see Dubya, Cheney and Condy huddled over a dog-eared copy of Kissinger's book, marking up their map of geopolitical chessboard.

Before you get caught up with Newt's rhetoric, get Susan Molinari's book Representative Mom and read the chapter on Newt.

What stands out here is that Newt has learned "spin" from President Clinton. He knows that the American public loves a public apology. This is a fascinating makeover exercise. Like Linda Tripp's hairstyle. So the man who got fined $300,000 for taking our tax payer's money gets to dump on the man who cheats on a wife that doesn't mind at all. We guess from the book that this is Newt's business, not Hillary's? We also learn that Newt thinks that he can improve the economy. Mr Reagan had unemployment and inflation and a deficit. Mr Clinton has full employment, and no deficit. This book is a masterful exercise in spin. A must read for anyone wanting to understand how a profesional politician needs a soapbox and is made to look good by his handlers and ghostwriters. Clinton's rise in the polls just comes to show that the American public has figured it out. We don't elect a Pope, we elect a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who can get the work done. Results speak for themselves. Newt is a terrific pot. I inhaled. For a while.