“Two of my favorite places on the planet are the American Museum of Natural History and the Bronx Zoo,” says Newt Gingrich, who once dreamed of becoming a paleontologist or zookeeper. Alas, a love of history won out — and while the former history professor and Speaker of the House says he tries to read “pretty widely,” he’s inclined toward the past.
He’ll be at the 92nd Street Y Thursday to talk politics with Jeff Greenfield and sign copies of his new book, “To Save America.” Don’t be surprised if he’s asked if he’ll run for president.
“I’m mostly trying to save America right now, and winning elections in November,” he tells The Post’s Barbara Hoffman. “After that, [third wife] Callista and I will make a decision . . . It’s not an ‘I’ decision.” By then, he might have caught up with Barack Obama’s books, which he says he’s “looked at” but hasn’t yet read.
Here’s what’s in his library.
The Effective Executive
by Peter Drucker
This short book is the best work on how to be an effective manager and leader I have ever read. I have reread it every year since first picking it up 40 years ago and still learn something new every time. [One thing I’ve learned is] all great managers focus on how to use their time because the more important they are, the less discretionary time they have. I constantly monitor my time.
The Education of Ronald Reagan
by Thomas Evans
Recounting Reagan’s eight years as a spokesperson for General Electric, this book is actually also a story about Lemuel Boulware, the VP of Labor and Community Relations for GE, who hired and tutored Reagan in free market capitalism.
The Battle
by Arthur Brooks
Brooks is one of the best analysts of Gallup data in the country and in “The Battle,” he shows decisively that America is overwhelmingly a center-right nation that believes in free enterprise tenants. He then presents a moral case for free enterprise that will resonate with the American people.
The Godfather
by Mario Puzo
Good fiction can teach important lessons . . . I think the 70-page-or-so section on the rise of the godfather, when he’s a young man, rivals [James] Clavel’s “Shogun” and Theodore White’s “Caesar at the Rubicon” as one of the most effective studies ever of the methodical acquisition of power. And the movies are amazing, an artform of their own.