As had been widely expected for the past week, President Donald Trump officially communicated to the Senate his intent to nominate Callista Gingrich, wife of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.
“Cally Lou,” as she is known by family and friends, is a native of Wisconsin, a cum laude graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and lifelong Catholic. While she has no formal diplomatic training, her nomination follows a similar pattern the president has employed for key posts: He sent an Orthodox Jew, David Friedman, to Israel; and he’s sent longtime friend of President Xi Jinping, former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, to China.
Democrats and anti-Trump “conservatives” have blasted the appointment, suggesting she’s unqualified, and that her six-year affair with her husband while he was still married to his second wife are disqualifying offenses. But they also neglect to note that Callista Gingrich won’t be going to the Vatican alone.
She will have her very capable husband available as a resource from which she will be able to steer through the sometimes treacherous territory of foreign diplomacy.
Newt Gingrich, before he became a politician, was a history professor who specialized in European history—he has a B.A. in history from Emory University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in European history from Tulane University. His stepfather being an officer in the U.S. Army, he lived for a time in both Orleans, France, and Stuttgart, Germany, in the late 1950s.
Callista Gingrich’s nomination must be approved by the Senate. The Hill newspaper reports there has been no vocal opposition to her appointment, so far. The White House has not made any statement about the nomination. {eoa}
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