Gingrich: John Bolton will be my secretary of state

Bolton has appeared many times on FOX News and is extremely knowledgeable. He does not see the terrorist threat through rose colored glasses like Obama and Clinton, and I believe would be invaluable to Newt as a foreign policy adviser.

Excerpt: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich promised conservatives on Tuesday he would ask former U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton to be his secretary of state if he’s elected president next year, according to several of those who met with him.

Hours later he repeated that vow publicly to the Republican Jewish Coalition, winning a round of applause.

“If he accepts it, I will ask John Bolton to be secretary of state,” said the former House speaker, who national polls show has vaulted to the top of the Republican presidential field and leads in three of the first four states that will vote for the next Republican nominee.

During the closed-door meeting in Arlington, Mr. Gingrich spoke and fielded questions for about two hours from 70 conservatives, and many said afterward that they came away impressed.

Asked by one questioner how he could assure conservatives he would be trustworthy, Mr. Gingrich volunteered that he would tap Mr. Bolton, a hero to conservatives who served President George W. Bush first as the State Department’s top nonproliferation official and then as an outspoken ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Bolton’s strong views and skepticism of multilateral bodies like the United Nations, and Mr. Bush named him as a recess appointment to the U.N. ambassadorship after Senate Democrats refused to confirm him.

Mr. Gingrich’s statement that Mr. Bolton would be his pick to head the State Department drew applause from the conservatives.

“John Bolton is certainly extremely well thought of by those in the conservative movement who care about national security, and I would certainly love to see him as secretary of state,” said Gary Bauer, president of American Values and a leading social conservative.

Read full Washington Times article here.