Tony Blankley

Anthony David Blankley January 21 1948 January 7 2012 was an 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 DC He was a Visiting Senior Fellow in NationalSecurity Communications at the Heritage Foundation a weekly contributor to the nationally syndicated public radio program Left Right Center the author of The Wests 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 served as the editorial page editor for The Washington Times from 20022009 Blankley was briefly a child actor appearing most notably as Rod Steigers son in The Harder They Fall 1956 The movie was as Blankley liked to joke both his and his costar Humphrey Bogarts last movie He graduated from UCLA and Loyola Law School Los Angeles earning a JD He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1972