Feature

Infidelity tells us little about leaders

Many of history’s greatest leaders cheated on their wives: Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, and Martin Luther King Jr., to name just three, said Victor Davis Hanson at NationalReview.com.

Victor Davis Hanson
NationalReview.com

By now, every voter knows that Newt Gingrich is a serial adulterer, said Victor Davis Hanson. Critics say that his personal moral failings would make Gingrich a less trustworthy, more erratic leader than the faithful Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. But history suggests otherwise.

Many of history’s greatest leaders cheated on their wives: Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, and Martin Luther King Jr., to name just three. The philandering Bill Clinton and Franklin Roosevelt certainly were more effective presidents than loyal husbands Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. And New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was wooing his third wife—while still married to wife No. 2—when 9/11 occurred. “Yet he proved steady and reliable in a way mayors more monogamous have not during lesser disasters.”

The truth is that so many factors are crucial to skilled leadership that it’s “impossible to isolate one trait—even one as critical as fidelity—as an absolute barometer of future success.” So when conservative voters favor Gingrich, they’re not endorsing his marital history. They’re acknowledging it matters less than how he’d govern

Recommended

Thousands march for democracy in Poland
Protesters march in Poland against the government.
A Polish Protest

Thousands march for democracy in Poland

10 things you need to know today: June 4, 2023
The aftermath of a deadly train crash in India.
Daily briefing

10 things you need to know today: June 4, 2023

More than 260 killed and 900 injured in Indian train crash
The aftermath of a deadly train crash in India.
Rest in Peace

More than 260 killed and 900 injured in Indian train crash

10 things you need to know today: June 3, 2023
President Joe Biden during an Oval Office address on the debt ceiling.
Daily briefing

10 things you need to know today: June 3, 2023

Most Popular

Is Trump's wall working?
International Border Wall Between Tecate California and Tecate Mexico.
Briefing

Is Trump's wall working?

Trump's recording: Is this 'game over'?
Former President Donald Trump smiles at the camera
Talking point

Trump's recording: Is this 'game over'?

10 states sue FEMA over flood insurance rate hike
FEMA State Disaster Recovery Center after Hurricane Ian
'a natural disaster of its own'

10 states sue FEMA over flood insurance rate hike