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Tony Blankley

Anthony David "Tony" Blankley (January 21, 1948 – January 7, 2012) was an English-American political analyst who gained fame as the press secretary for Newt Gingrich, the first Republican Speaker of the House in forty years, and as a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group. He later became an Executive Vice President with Edelman public relations in Washington, D.C. He was a Visiting Senior Fellow in National-Security Communications at the Heritage Foundation, a weekly contributor to the nationally syndicated public radio program Left, Right & Center, the author of The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? and American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century.He was a regular commentator for radio shows including The Diane Rehm Show, Left, Right & Center and The Steve Gill Show with a segment titled Fill In the Blanks. Earlier in his career, he was an editorial page editor for The Washington Times, a contributing editor and monthly columnist for George Magazine, and a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group.Blankley's political opinions were generally considered to fall within traditional conservatism, although he was labeled as a neo-conservative by some critics. He denied this label, claiming that his views are more comparable to a classic conservative, such as former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. His political career spanned several decades, and his most prominent position was a seven-year stint as House Speaker Newt Gingrich's press secretary.Prior to his career on Capitol Hill, Blankley served President Reagan as a policy analyst and speechwriter, and was a staff writer for Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler. Before coming to Washington, D.C., he spent 10 years as a prosecutor with the California Attorney General's office.He was briefly a child actor, appearing, most notably, as Rod Steiger's son in The Harder They Fall (1955). The movie was, as Blankley liked to joke, both his and his co-star Humphrey Bogart's last movie. He graduated from UCLA and Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), earning a J.D. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1972.Blankley continued to write for The Washington Times. He lectured at many universities and institutes. On November 19, 2009, he presented his lecture A Year out from the 2010 Congressional Elections – National Politics, Policy and their Communication at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics of Saint Anselm College.