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Newt Gingrich

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Newt Gingrich
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  • Born: 17 June 1943
  • Birthplace: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  • Best Known As: Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1995-1999

Name at birth: Newton Leroy McPherson

Newt Gingrich was the Speaker of the House of Representatives and one of the key leaders of the so-called Republican Revolution of the 1990s. A former professor of history at West Georgia College, he was elected in 1979 to the U.S. House of Representatives. Ambitious, conservative and outspoken, by 1995 he had become Speaker of the House and the de facto leader of the G.O.P. He was widely considered responsible for gaining a Republican majority in the House of Representatives in the election of 1994. The next year he became Speaker of the House. Never popular with the public at large, Gingrich saw his image further damaged in 1997 when he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. After a disappointing Republican showing in the 1998 election, Gingrich resigned the Speakership and his seat in Congress. He was succeeded as Speaker by Illinois representative Dennis Hastert.

In 1995 Gingrich was bitten on the chin by a baby cougar during an appearance with TV host and zoologist Jack Hanna.

 
 
Political Biography: Newton Gingrich
(Newt Gingrich)

(b. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 17 June 1943) US; Member of the US House of Representatives 1978 –  ; minority whip 1989; Speaker of the House 1994 – Named after his natural father, Newton McPherson, Newt Gingrich was adopted by his stepfather, army lieutenant Robert Gingrich. He graduated BA from Emory University in 1965 and from Tulane University, New Orleans, he graduated MA in 1968 and gained a Ph.D. in European History in 1971. As a temporary stepping-stone to a career in politics he became a history professor at West Georgia College, chosen for what he regarded as its potential as a future political constituency. In 1974 and again in 1976 he unsuccessfully challenged West Georgia's sitting Congressman, Democrat Jack Flynt. He finally gained the seat for the Republicans in 1978 when Flynt retired.

Gingrich soon achieved prominence as an advocate of confrontational politics and emerged as the principal spokesman for the conservative coalition in the House. Involving himself closely in the process of candidate selection, he set about transforming the Republican Party into a more disciplined, cohesive instrument for revolutionizing the American political agenda.

He is attributed with being the architect of the Republican landslide of 1994 which brought the first Republican majority in the lower house for forty years and the speakership to Gingrich himself. Having fought the election on the basis of his programmatic "Contract with America" promising balanced budgets, lower taxes, welfare reform, and a crackdown on crime, Gingrich used his disciplined Republican freshmen to try to deliver his promised revolution in American politics.

Described as ruthless, brilliant, obnoxious, Gingrich transformed the House of Representatives and the speakership into instruments of personal and political power. Gifted propagandist and populist, Gingrich introduced a new style into American politics and succeeded in setting the agenda for the 1990s. But his political future is by no means certain. Having ousted the previous Democratic Speaker on ethics charges, he has himself become the subject of investigation by the House ethics committee. He is the author of To Renew America (1994).

 
Biography: Newt Gingrich

Hailed as "Time'"s "Man of the Year" in 1995 and touted by some historians as this century's most influential Speaker, U. S. Representative Newt Gingrich (born 1943) held on to his Speaker's post by a narrow margin of only three votes in 1997. "For better or worse, he has changed the language and substance of American politics perhaps like no other politician in recent history," said "Time" magazine's editor James Gaines. The man who felled the former Speaker of the House Jim Wright on ethics violations was himself charged and fined for his own violation of House ethics in 1996. His "Contract with America" fell short of its promises and his conservative stance has taken on a liberal hue. The Speaker now faces his greatest challenge from within his own party. The question many are asking is whether he can survive his current tenure as Speaker of the House.

Bomb Thrower or Visionary?

"Our view is that Newt Gingrich is a bomb thrower, " Time reported. A fire-breathing Republican Congressman from Georgia, he is more interested in right-wing grandstanding than in fostering bi-partisanship…. Another view is that Newt Gingrich is a visionary. An impassioned reformer … {who} innovative thinking and respect for deeply felt American values to the House." In any case, Congress has not been quite the same since Gingrich was first elected to represent Georgia's Sixth Congressional District in 1978.

Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to 19-year-old mechanic, Newton C. McPherson, and 16-year-old, Kathleen Daugherty, Newt's life had a rough start. His parents split within days of their marriage. His mother remarried Robert B. Gingrich, a career soldier, three years later. Gingrich maintained his ties to the McPherson family. Even as a political figure, he wore a McPherson tartan tie.

As the stepson of an Army officer, Newt Gingrich moved from town to town attending five schools in eight years both here and abroad. Gingrich recalls how his experience formed his political approach to Howard Fineman in Newsweek. "Politics and war are remarkably similar systems," said Gingrich. "You grow up an Army brat named Newton, and you learn about combat."

In 1960, the Gingrich family moved from Fort Benning, Georgia. Not long after, Gingrich pursued his political career in Columbus. In fact, within a few months in Georgia, he ran a successful campaign for his friend's election to class president. At Emory University in Atlanta, Gingrich established a Young Republicans club.

Fired Up Republicans in Washington

From the time he landed in Washington in 1978, he gained a national reputation for his combative style and his leadership of a collection of young, aggressive, conservative House Republicans. "For his first five years in office," the New York Times said, "Mr. Gingrich, along with a band of young conservative Republicans turned their junior status to advantage and waged guerrilla warfare against democratic House leadership and even their own party's leaders. Under Mr. Gingrich's tutelage, about a dozen of the insurgents formed a group known as the Conservative Opportunity Society (COS) Republicans. Mr. Gingrich maintains, have become so accustomed to their minority status that they need to be prodded to challenge the status quo."

The tenets of Gingrich's philosophy were echoed by the COS - the antithesis of the "liberal welfare state," a state that he regularly criticizes. In 1984, "he turned preliminary sessions of he Republican national convention into a battleground until the Conservative Opportunity Society was inserted into the platform," the Atlantic said.

Gingrich was also well-known for his special taste for colleagues roasted on the moral spit of an ethics committee investigation. In 1979, during his first term, he called for the expulsion of Representative Charles Diggs, a Democrat from Michigan, who had been convicted of embezzlement. In 1983, he called for the expulsion of two representatives who allegedly had sexual relations with teenagers working as pages in the House. And later, of course, Gingrich spear-headed the movement to oust Jim Wright.

Grabbed Public Attention

In the early 1980's, Gingrich launched a new weapon, taking advantage of a rule allowing House members to read items into the record after Congressional sessions. He gave frequent speeches criticizing Democrats for their position on a wide range of issues, from communism to school prayer to Central America - speeches given before an empty House chamber, but broadcast nationwide on the cable network C-SPAN. This tactic was also used by Gingrich's followers - a group of conservative Republicans elected mostly in the 1980s and labeled the party's "young Turks," in contrast to the GOP's less aggressive old guard.

In the spring of 1984, an angry Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, then Speaker of the House, ordered the cable TV cameras to periodically pan the chamber to show that Gingrich was speaking to an empty House. O'Neill called Gingrich's tactics "the lowest thing I have seen in my 32 years in the House." The confrontation resulted in a rare House rebuke to the Speaker and wide coverage for Gingrich - something he valued highly. Newsweek defined what it called Gingrich's Newtonian law: conflict equals exposure equals power. "If you are in the newspaper everyday and on the TV often enough then you must be important."

Gingrich wrote in the Conservative Digest: "The Democratic Party is now controlled by a coalition of liberal activists, corrupt big city machines, labor union bosses and House incumbents who use gerrymandering, rigged election rules and a million dollars from taxpayers per election cycle to buy invulnerability. When Republicans have the courage to point out just how unrepresentative, and even weird, liberal values are, we gain votes…. Fear and corruption now stalk the House of Representatives in a way we've never witnessed before in our history."

Proved Wright Wrong

Gingrich's battle against Jim Wright began in 1987; a one-man crusade which few in Washington took seriously. Before Gingrich was through, however, more than 70 House Republicans signed his letter asking the House's ethics committee to investigate Wright. The accusations were related to Wright's links to a Texas developer, to his favors to savings and loan operators, and the way in which he published and sold a book of his speeches and writings Reflections of a Public Man. Wright received unusually large royalties and sold the book to political contributors - an arrangement seemingly designed to circumvent ceilings on donations.

Gingrich was ruthless on the offensive. His dramatic contentions won him necessary Congressional allies and his rhetorical skills made him eminently quotable, thus a media darling. "I'm so deeply frightened by the nature of the corrupt left-wing machine in the House that it would have been worse to do nothing," he was quoted as saying in the New York Times. "Jim Wright has reached a point psychologically, in his ego, where there are no boundaries left." Following the investigation, the ethics committee said it had reason to believe Wright had violated House rules 69 times. Less than two months later, on June 6, 1989, Wright resigned as Speaker.

In March 1989, in the midst of his war with Wright, Gingrich's Republican colleagues elected him to the post of Minority Whip by a narrow 87-85 margin. The vote signaled "a wake-up call to incumbent GOP leaders from younger members who want a more aggressive, active party," said the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. "Gingrich's promotion from backbench bomb thrower to Minority Whip was an expression of seething impatience among House Republicans with their seemingly minority status."

Gingrich's supporters pointed to his energy, communication skills, and commitment to capturing a majority of House seats. "A year ago, no one would have predicted that this enfant terrible of the Republican Party could mount a credible bid for the leadership - let alone snag its No. 2 slot," the Weekly Review said, "But Republicans became particularly frustrated with their decade-old minority status in the House when the Reagan era came to an end: Even the eight year reign of a president as popular as Reagan couldn't deliver them from their plight. Gingrich's call for radical change fell on responsive ears."

Gingrich's high-profile role put his personal moral standards in the spotlight. His opponents resurrected the contradictions between Gingrich's ethics-and-traditional-values stand and his messy divorce from his first wife, who was cancer stricken. Democrats Newsweek said, also point out "his management of a political action committee that raised $200,000 - and gave $900 to candidates." After Gingrich took on Wright, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee publicized a 1977 deal in which Gingrich received $13,000 from a group of friends to write a novel. He wasn't in Congress at the time, although he had run twice unsuccessfully for the seat which he eventually won in 1978. Democrats say the arrangement allowed Gingrich's backers to support him financially and get a tax shelter in the bargain. Gingrich said he did research in Europe and wrote three chapters, but the book was rejected by publishers.

In addition to these charges, two days before Gingrich was elected Minority Whip, the Washington Post reported that he had persuaded 21 supporters to contribute $105,000 to promote Window of Opportunity: A Blueprint for the Future, which he co-authored in 1984 with his second wife, Marianne, and science fiction writer David Drake. The book sold only 12,000 hardcover copies; the investors reaped tax benefits and Gingrich and his wife made about $30,000. Gingrich acknowledged that this book deal was "as weird as Wright's," but was on the up and up because "we wrote a real book for a real (publisher) that was sold in real bookstores." The book deal remained a question mark in Gingrich's past that did not stall his political career in the 1990s.

In October of 1990, Gingrich gained headlines again when he opposed - and led 105 fellow Republicans in voting down - a proposed budget package. His defiance and disregard for the presidential endorsement angered Senate Minority Leader Robert Dole, who was quoted in Newsweek: "You pay a price for leadership. If you don't want to pay the penalty, may be you ought to find another line of work." Dole felt Gingrich, fearful of his personal popularity, fought the budget in ignorance of the bi-partisan agreements that had been the fruit of hard work.

Reached Career-Long Dream

In November 1990, despite his growing reputation on the national level, Gingrich had a scare in his home district at the election. He won by a narrow margin of 983 votes of the nearly 156,000 cast in Georgia's Sixth District. The root of Gingrich's trouble at home was his blockage of federal mediation in the 1989 strike at Eastern Airlines. The Atlanta airport is of great importance to the surrounding communities, and 6,000 employees of Eastern lived in his district. Obviously shaken, Gingrich told his constituents that he had received their warning in the close re-election, and would more closely carry out their mandate in his coming term in office.

Gingrich spent the next four years pursuing his goal of achieving a Republican Majority in Congress. He reached his dream in 1994. On September 27, 1994, Gingrich and his associates presented his brainchild - the "Contract with America," a 100-day House Republican plan to revolutionize Congress, spending, and federal government operations. With Gingrich's consistent campaign support for Republican candidates all over the country, they received the partisan majority in the November elections.

As a result, Newt Gingrich took over as Speaker of the House in January of 1995. During his first year, he faced the challenge of living up to the promises detailed in the "Contract" and also once again confronted ethics charges but did not receive any convictions. He published two books in 1995 - the nonfiction To Renew America and the fiction novel 1945.

A Tenuous Second Term

Unlike his first election to the House as Speaker in 1995, Newt Gingrich won his second term by a narrow margin of three votes. Not only was the Speaker under investigation by the ethics committee for allegedly violating House standards by knowingly abusing the tax code in raising tax-deductible funds for a college course he taught, he was also criticized for his book deal with Harper Collins. Gingrich was originally offered a $4.5 million advance for two books, due to very strong criticism, he declined the offer and settled for royalties instead.

While exonerated from 74 of the 75 ethics charges levied against him, the one that he was charged with, admitted to, and levied a $300,000 fine for was enough to tarnish the rising star enough to put his second term as Speaker on shaky ground. Gingrich's greatest challenge was now coming from within his own Party.

Gingrich has come under intense fire from within the Republican Party. Many claim that he has damaged the Party beyond repair and the best thing for him to do is step down. The problem with that scenario is that the Republican Party has no successor that they feel strongly enough about to force a "coup" although there has been much talk of it. Unlike 1995 and 1996 when the Republican majority was united, they are currently a House divided. "The way some Republicans tell it," according to an account in the Economist "their troubles are wrought by Newt Gingrich. Two years ago Mr. Gingrich was celebrated {among those with short memories} as the most powerful Speaker of this century; now a fellow House Republican describes him as 'road kill on the highway of American politics."' Mr. Gingrich is said to be a man with no agenda, who cannot decide if he is conservative or liberal. The lackluster start of the 105th Congress, when compared to the 104th, clearly defines the state of affairs within the Republican Majority-held House and the Party itself. Mr. Gingrich, who has a resilience that few politicians have, has lost his political power base. The question on everyone mind is can he get it back?

Further Reading

Anderson, Alfred F., Challenging Newt Gingrich Chapter by Chapter (1996).

Wilson, John K., Newt Gingrich: Captial Crimes and Misdemeanors (1996).

Warner, Judith, Newt Gingrich: Speaker to America (1995).

Gingrich, Newt, Newt Gingrich's Renewing American Civilization (audio cassette, 1997).

 
US Government Guide: Newt Gingrich

Born: June 17, 1943, Harrisburg, Pa.
Political party: Republican
Education: Emory University, B.A., 1965; Tulane University, M.A., 1968 and Ph.D, 1971
Representative from Georgia: 1979–99
House minority whip: 1989–95
Speaker of the House: 1995–99

The man credited with gaining the majority for House Republicans in the 1994 elections—after 40 years in the minority—was Georgia Representative Newt Gingrich. He aimed to change business as usual in Congress and to “wipe the slate clean” of many liberal programs.

As a brash new member of the House, Gingrich rejected compromise and consensus and adopted a more combative, confrontational position. When House proceedings began to be televised in 1979, Gingrich inaugurated the practice of giving late-afternoon speeches to an almost empty chamber and to a television audience across the country. In 1988, Gingrich brought the ethics charges that caused Speaker Jim Wright to resign.

Gingrich rose to leadership in the House by appealing to the dissatisfaction of Republicans so long in the minority and by offering them a strategy to win the majority. He proposed that Republican candidates for the House in 1994 sign a Contract with America, outlining the reforms they would enact if elected. When Republicans won the election, Gingrich became Speaker of the House.

An often controversial Speaker, Gingrich was widely blamed for shutting down the federal government during a budget impasse with President Bill Clinton in 1995. When the House moved to impeach Clinton in 1998, voters reacted negatively in the congressional elections and narrowed the Republican majority to five votes. Faced with mounting opposition within his own party, Gingrich chose to resign as Speaker and as a member of Congress.

See also Contract with America; Speaker of the House; Wright, Jim

Sources

  • Newt Gingrich, To Renew America (New York: HarperCollins, 1995)
 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Gingrich, Newt
(Newton Leroy Gingrich) (gĭng'grĭch), 1943–, U.S. congressman, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1995–98), b. Harrisburg, Pa., as Newton Leroy McPherson. A history professor, he was first elected as a Republican from Georgia in 1978 and became the leader of those House conservatives who favored using confrontational tactics to challenge the Democrats' long-time control of the House. He helped force Speaker Jim Wright's resignation in 1989 by questioning his financial dealings. That same year Gingrich became House minority whip.

In 1995, after large Republican gains in the 1994 elections (during which, touting a “Contract with America,” he championed a balanced-budget amendment, limitations on welfare benefits, and term limits for members of Congress), he became the first Republican Speaker in 40 years. Often didactic, frequently combative, Gingrich led Republicans in attempts to enact conservative legislation, leading to conflicts with President Bill Clinton, most dramatically over the budget in 1995 and 1996.

The Republicans' program was only partially successful, and Clinton's confrontations with Gingrich and the House helped to restore some of the stature the president had lost after the 1994 elections. In the 1996 House elections, Republicans retained the majority and Gingrich his speakership, but he began to lose favor with the conservative bloc, who saw him as backing away from their principles. In early 1997, the House, after an investigation initiated in 1995, reprimanded Gingrich for campaign funding violations. In the 1998 congressional elections, Democrats made substantial gains in the midst of the Clinton impeachment (see Lewinsky scandal), and Gingrich abruptly resigned his speakership and House seat. In 1999, he joined a Washington think tank and became a television-network political commentator. Gingrich's books include To Renew America (1995), Winning the Future (2005), and Pearl Harbor (2007), an historical novel which he cowrote.

 
Quotes By: Newt Gingrich

Quotes:

"In every election in American history both parties have their cliches. The party that has the cliches that ring true wins."

"If Thomas Edison invented electric light today, Dan Rather would report it on CBS News as, Candle making industry threatened."

"We're all human and we all goof. Do things that may be wrong, but do something!"

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."

 
Wikipedia: Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich

In office
January 4, 1995 – January 3, 1999
Preceded by Tom Foley
Succeeded by Dennis Hastert

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 6th district
In office
January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1999
Preceded by Jack Flynt
Succeeded by Johnny Isakson

Born June 17 1943 (1943--) (age 64)
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Political party Republican
Spouse Jackie Battley (div.)
Marianne Ginther (div.)
Callista Bisek
Alma mater Emory University
Religion Southern Baptist
Signature Newt Gingrich's signature

Newton Leroy Gingrich, (born June 17, 1943), served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. In 1995, Time magazine selected him as the Man of the Year for his role in leading the Republican Revolution in the House, ending 40 years of Democratic Party majorities in that body. During his tenure as Speaker he represented the public face of the Republican opposition to Bill Clinton.

A college history professor, conservative political leader, and prolific author, Gingrich twice ran unsuccessfully for the House before first winning a seat in November 1978. He was re-elected 10 times, and his activism as a member of the House's Republican minority eventually enabled him to succeed Dick Cheney as House Minority Whip in 1989. As a co-author of the 1994 Contract with America, Gingrich was in the forefront of the Republican Party's dramatic success in the 1994 Congressional elections and subsequently was elected Speaker. Gingrich's leadership in Congress was marked by opposition to many of the policies of the Clinton Administration, culminating in the impeachment of President Clinton shortly after Gingrich resigned as Speaker. Shortly after the 1998 elections, where Republicans lost 5 seats in the House, Gingrich announced his resignation as Speaker.

After resigning his seat, Gingrich has maintained a career as a political analyst and consultant and continues to write works related to government and other subjects, such as historical fiction. He has expressed interest in being a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination for the Presidency.[1] On September 28, 2007, Gingrich announced that if his supporters pledge $30 million to his campaign (until Oct. 21), he will compete for the nomination, as he launched his "Solutions Day" campaign. [2]On September 29, 2007 a spokesman announced he decided not to run.[3]

Early life and education

Newt Gingrich was born Newton Leroy McPherson on June 17, 1943 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to nineteen-year-old Newton Searles McPherson and sixteen-year-old Kathleen Daugherty, who were married in September 1942.[4][5] His mother raised him by herself until she married Robert Gingrich, who then adopted Newt. Gingrich has a younger half-sister, Candace Gingrich, a gay and lesbian rights activist who was born when Newt was already a young adult.

Gingrich was the child of a career military family, moving a number of times while growing up and attending school at various military installations. He ultimately graduated from Baker High School in Columbus, Georgia in 1961. He received a B.A. degree from Emory University in Atlanta in 1965. He received an M.A. in 1968 and a Ph.D in 1971 in Modern European History from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Gingrich taught history at University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia from 1970 to 1978, although he was untenured.[6] Newt also taught a class, Renewing American Civilization, at Kennesaw State University in 1993.[7]

Personal life

Newt Gingrich has been married three times. He married Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher, when he was 19 years old (she was seven years his senior at 26 years old).[8][9] After an alleged affair with Ann Manning in 1977, Gingrich sought a divorce from Battley[10]. In 1981, Gingrich wed Marianne Ginther[11], to whom he remained married until 1999, the same year Gingrich had an affair with a then 33-year-old Congressional staffer, Callista Bisek. He and Bisek were married in 2000 and currently reside in Virginia. Gingrich has two daughters, Kathy and Jackie from his marriage to Jackie Battley, two sons-in-law and two grandchildren.[12]

Although college peers noted Gingrich's preference to discuss politics more than his personal life,[13] Gingrich’s personal life has been the subject of much attention from both the media and his political opponents over the years. In 1992, his Democratic opponent, Tony Center, ran an ad claiming that Gingrich had "delivered divorce papers to his wife the day after her cancer operation," which was not strictly true, although friends have acknowledged that he discussed divorce terms with his estranged wife while visiting her in the hospital.[14] In March of 2007, it was revealed that Gingrich was having an affair while serving as Speaker of the House. Since this affair occurred during the same period when Congress investigated and impeached President Clinton, parallels have been drawn between Gingrich's cover-up and Clinton's.[citation needed]

In March 2007, Gingrich appeared on conservative Christian leader James Dobson's radio program and confessed, "There are things in my own life that I have turned to God and have gotten on my knees and prayed about and sought God's forgiveness."[15][16][17]

Positions and views

Illegal immigration

From Gingrich's five challenges: "No serious nation in the age of terror can afford to have wide-open borders with millions of illegal aliens crossing at will."

Although a source of friction in the conservative wing of the GOP (and some pro-union "blue dog" democrats), Gingrich supports a "guest workers program" for Mexican citizens, meaning that an undetermined number of Mexican citizens would be allowed to come to the United States and work for a period of time, then return to Mexico. Gingrich also supports the idea of allowing some of these guest workers to become citizens. In his book Winning the Future, he says:

"Along with total border control, we must make it easier for people who enter the United States legally, to work for a set period of time, obey the law, and return home. The requirements for participation in a worker visa program should be tough and uncompromising. The first is essential: Everyone currently working in the United States illegal must return to their home country to apply for the worker visa program. Anything less than requiring those who are here illegally to return home to apply for legal status is amnesty, plain and simple."

Global warming

In April 2007, Gingrich held an open debate on climate change with Senator John Kerry. In this debate, he stated that he believes that global warming is indeed an occurring phenomenon: "My message, I think, is that the evidence is sufficient that we should move toward the most effective possible steps to reduce carbon loading in the atmosphere." Gingrich's environmental ideas are likely to be revealed in his forthcoming book, A Contract with the Earth, which is being published in October, 2007. At the forum Gingrich supported tax breaks to mitigate carbon emissions instead of regulations such as cap-and-trade.[18]

United States Representative

Early elections

In 1974 and 1976, Gingrich made two unsuccessful runs for Congress in Georgia's sixth congressional district, which stretched from the southern Atlanta suburbs to the Alabama border. Gingrich lost both times to incumbent Democrat Jack Flynt. Flynt was a conservative Democrat who had served in Congress since 1955 and never faced a serious challenge prior to Gingrich's two runs against him. However, Gingrich nearly defeated Flynt in 1974, a year that was otherwise a very bad year for Republicans due to Watergate. A 1976 rematch was similarly close, despite the presence of favorite son Jimmy Carter on the presidential ballot.

Flynt chose not to run for re-election in 1978, and the Democrats fielded state senator Virginia Shapard in his place. Shapard's support of the Equal Rights Amendment [1] backfired against her in the socially conservative district, and Gingrich defeated her by almost 9 points.

Gingrich was reelected six times from this district, facing only one truly difficult race. In the House elections of 1990, he defeated Democrat David Worley by only 974 votes. [2]

Pre-speakership congressional activities

In 1981, Gingrich co-founded the Congressional Military Reform Caucus as well as the Congressional Space Caucus. In 1983 he founded the Conservative Opportunity Society, a group that included young conservative House Republicans. In 1983, Gingrich demanded the expulsion of fellow representatives Dan Crane and Gerry Studds for their roles in the Congressional Page sex scandal.

In May 1988, Gingrich (along with 77 other House members and Common Cause) brought ethics charges against Democratic Speaker Jim Wright, who was alleged to have used a book deal to circumvent campaign-finance laws and House ethics rules and eventually resigned as a result of the inquiry. Gingrich's success in forcing Wright's resignation was in part responsible for his rising influence in the Republican caucus.[citation needed] In 1989, after House Minority Whip Dick Cheney was appointed Secretary of Defense, Gingrich was elected to succeed him. Gingrich and others in the house, especially the newly minted Gang of Seven, railed against what they saw as ethical lapses in the House, an institution that had been under Democratic control for almost 40 years. The House banking scandal and Congressional Post Office Scandal were emblems of this alleged corruption.

Election of 1992

See also: U.S. House election, 1992

During the 1990s round of redistricting, Georgia picked up an additional seat as a result of the 1990 United States Census. However, the Democratic-controlled General Assembly split Gingrich's old territory among three other districts. Gingrich's home in Carrollton was drawn into the Columbus-based 3rd District, represented by five-term Democrat Richard Ray.

At the same time, they created a new 6th District in Fulton and Cobb counties in the wealthy northern suburbs of Atlanta — an area Gingrich had never represented. However, Gingrich sold his home in Carrollton, moved to Marietta in the new 6th and won a very close Republican primary. The primary victory was tantamount to election in the new, heavily Republican district. Also, Ray narrowly lost to Republican state senator Mac Collins.

Speaker of the House

The Contract with America and rise to Speaker

From Left to Right: Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich — 1997
Enlarge
From Left to Right: Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich — 1997
Main article: Contract with America

In the 1994 campaign season, in an effort to offer a concrete alternative to shifting Democratic policies and to unite distant wings of the Republican Party, Gingrich presented Dick Armey's and his Contract with America. The contract was signed by himself and other Republican candidates for the House of Representatives. The contract ranged from issues with broad popular support, including welfare reform, term limits, tougher crime laws, and a balanced budget law, to more specialized legislation such as restrictions on American military participation in U.N. missions. In the November 1994 elections, Republicans gained 54 seats and took control of the House for the first time since 1954.

Longtime House Minority Leader Bob Michel of Illinois had not run for re-election in 1994, giving Gingrich, as the highest-ranking Republican returning to Congress, the inside track to becoming Speaker. Legislation proposed by the 104th United States Congress included term limits for Congressional Representatives, tax cuts, welfare reform, and a balanced budget amendment, as well as independent auditing of the finances of the House of Representatives and elimination of non-essential services such as the House barbershop and shoe-shine concessions. Congress fulfilled Gingrich's Contract promise to bring all ten of the Contract's issues to a vote within the first 100 days of the session, even though most legislation was held up in the Senate, vetoed by President Bill Clinton, or substantially altered in negotiations with Clinton. The Contract was criticized by the Sierra Club and by Mother Jones magazine as a Trojan horse tactic that, while deploying the rhetoric of reform, would have the real effect of allowing corporate polluters to profit at the expense of the environment;[19] It was referred to by opponents, including President Clinton, as the "Contract on America".[20]

However, most parts of the Contract eventually became law in some fashion and represented a dramatic departure from the legislative goals and priorities of previous Congresses. See Implementation of the Contract for a detailed discussion of what was and was not enacted.

Government shutdown and the "snub"

The momentum of the Republican Revolution stalled in late 1995 and early 1996 as a result of a budget fight between Congressional Republicans and President Bill Clinton. Speaker Gingrich and the new Republican majority wanted deep cuts to government spending, which Clinton flatly rejected. Without enough votes to override President Clinton's veto, Gingrich led the Republicans not to submit a revised budget, allowing the previously approved appropriations to expire on schedule, and causing parts of the Federal government to shut down for lack of funds.

Newt Gingrich as a "Cry Baby" on the cover of the New York Daily News.
Enlarge
Newt Gingrich as a "Cry Baby" on the cover of the New York Daily News.

Gingrich inflicted a temporary blow to his public image by seeming to suggest that the Republican hard-line stance over the budget was in part due to his feeling "snubbed" by the President the day before following his return from Yitzhak Rabin's funeral in Israel. Gingrich was lampooned in the media as a petulant figure with an inflated self-image[citation needed], and at least one editorial cartoon depicted him as having thrown a temper tantrum.[21] Democratic leaders took the opportunity to attack Gingrich's motives for the budget standoff, and some say the shutdown might have contributed to Clinton's re-election in November 1996.[22][23]

Tom DeLay recounts the event in his book, No Retreat, No Surrender, that Gingrich "made the mistake of his life" and says the following of Gingrich's mis-step of the shutdown[24]:

"He told a room full of reporters that he forced the shutdown because Clinton had rudely made him and Bob Dole sit at the back of Air Force One...Newt had been careless to say such a thing, and now the whole moral tone of the shutdown had been lost. What had been a noble battle for fiscal sanity began to look like the tirade of a spoiled child..The revolution, I can tell you, was never the same."

Ethics sanctions

Gingrich was first accused of unethical behavior when he accepted an advance as part of a book deal as well as numerous other counts.[citation needed] Eighty-four ethics charges were filed against Speaker Gingrich during his term, including claiming tax-exempt status for a college course run for political purposes and using the GOPAC political action committee as a slush fund[citation needed]; see Joseph Gaylord. Gingrich retained former U.S. Representative Edwin Bethune of Arkansas, a Washington, D.C., lawyer and lobbyist, to represent him.[citation needed]

Following an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, Gingrich admitted that he had violated House rules and accepted the house committee's recommendation for punishment.[25][26] Gingrich was sanctioned for $300,000[27] after the House Ethics Committee concluded that his use of tax-deductible money for political purposes and inaccurate information supplied to investigators represented "intentional or . . . reckless" disregard of House rules.[28] Special Counsel James M. Cole concluded that Gingrich violated federal tax law and had lied to the ethics panel in an effort to force the committee to dismiss the complaint against him.[29]

Leadership challenge

In the summer of 1997, a few House Republicans had come to see Gingrich's public image as a liability and attempted to replace him as Speaker. According to Time, the conspiracy was engineered by several Republican backbenchers, including Steve Largent of Oklahoma, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mark Souder of Indiana. They soon gained the support of the four Republicans who ranked directly below Gingrich in the House leadership — Armey, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, Republican conference chairman John Boehner of Ohio, and Republican leadership chairman Bill Paxon of New York.

On July 9, DeLay, Boehner and Paxon had the first of several secret meetings to discuss the rebellion. The next night, DeLay met with 20 of the plotters in Largent's office, and appeared to assure them that the leadership was with them.

Under the plan, Armey, DeLay, Boehner and Paxon were to present Gingrich with an ultimatum — resign or be voted out. Combined with the votes of the Democrats, there appeared to be enough votes to vacate the chair. However, the rebels decided that they wanted Paxon to be the new Speaker. At that point, Armey backed out, and told his chief of staff to warn Gingrich about the coup.

In response, Gingrich forced Paxon to resign his post, but backed off initial plans to force a vote of confidence in the rest of the Republican leadership.[30]

Fall from speakership, resignation from the House

Gingrich's official portrait as Speaker
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Gingrich's official portrait as Speaker

By 1998, Gingrich had become a highly visible and polarizing figure in the public's eye, making him an easy target for Democratic congressional candidates across the nation. In 1997 a strong majority of Americans believed Gingrich should have been replaced as Speaker of the House, and he held an all-time low job approval rating of 28%.[31] During this period, Gingrich focused on the perjury charges against Clinton as a unifying campaign theme in national Republican advertising. While Republicans believed this theme would ensure gains in the 1998 midterm elections, they instead lost five seats in the House — the worst performance in 64 years for a party that didn't hold the presidency.

Gingrich suffered much of the blame for the election loss. Facing another rebellion in the Republican caucus, he announced on November 6 that he would not only stand down as Speaker, but would leave the House as well. He had been handily reelected to an 11th term in that election, but declined to take his seat. According to Newsweek, he had lost control over his caucus long before the election, and it was possible that he would not have been reelected as Speaker in any case.[32]

Post-congressional life

 Newt Gingrich with Trent Lott at the 2004 Republican National Convention
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Newt Gingrich with Trent Lott at the 2004 Republican National Convention

Gingrich has since remained involved in national politics and public policy debate. He is a senior fellow at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, focusing on health care (he has founded the Center for Health Transformation), information technology, the military, and politics. Gingrich is also a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the conservation think tank Hoover Institute, focusing on U.S. politics, world history, national security policy, environmental policy issues. He sometimes serves as a commentator, guest or panel member on television news shows, mostly on the Fox News Channel. He is listed as a contributor by Fox News Channel, and frequently appears as a guest on the channel; he has also hosted occasional specials for the Fox News Channel.

In June 2006, Gingrich publicly called for Congressman Jack Murtha to be censured by the United States Congress for what Gingrich claims was Murtha's statement that America was a greater threat to world stability than Iran or North Korea. The paper that originally printed the statement has recently backed away and admitted that Murtha had been misquoted and was merely citing a poll that showed the world believed the United States was a greater threat than either of those nations. Gingrich, however, has refused to apologize or retract his call for Murtha to be censured.

Besides politics Gingrich has written a book, Rediscovering God in America. Since Gingrich has, "dedicated much of his time to calling America back to our Christian heritage", Jerry Falwell invited him to be the speaker, for the second time, at Liberty University's graduation, May 19, 2007.[33]

Alternate history collaboration with William R. Forstchen

In 1995, Gingrich collaborated with William R. Forstchen on the alternate history novel 1945, describing a World War II in which the US fought against (and defeated) Japan only, while Nazi Germany defeated the Soviet Union, and the two confront each other in a cold war that swiftly turns hot.

Among other things it was described as being "a disguised tract against gun control",[citation needed] as the key scene depicts an armed Tennessee civilian militia, led by Alvin York, defeating Otto Skorzeny's commandos, who raid Oak Ridge. It ended with a cliffhangerRommel invading Scotland and the British facing a desperate fight — but a promised sequel, provisionally called "Fortress Europa", has yet to be written.

Some years later, Gingrich and Forstchen turned to co-authoring an alternate history trilogy of the American Civil War, in which the Confederacy wins the battle of Gettysburg. The trilogy consists of Gettysburg (2003), Grant Comes East (2004), and Never Call Retreat (2005).

In 2007 they published Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th, the first of a new series.

Possible 2008 presidential run

Between 2005 and 2007, Gingrich expressed interest in being a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination for the Presidency.[34][35][36][37] On September 28, 2007, Gingrich announced that if his supporters pledged $30 million to his campaign (until Oct. 21), he would compete for the nomination.[38]

However, on September 29 spokesman Rick Taylor said that Gingrich will not seek the presidency in 2008 because he cannot continue to serve as chairman of American Solutions. "It is legally impermissible for him to continue on as chairman of American Solutions (for Winning the Future) and to explore a campaign for president," Taylor said.[39]

Books authored

Nonfiction

  • The Government's Role in Solving Societal Problems. Associated Faculty Press, Incorporated. January 1982 ISBN 0-86733-026-0
  • Window of Opportunity. Tom Doherty Associates, December 1985. ISBN 0-312-93923-X
  • Contract with America (co-editor). Times Books, December 1994. ISBN 0-8129-2586-6
  • Restoring the Dream. Times Books, May 1995. ISBN 0-8129-2666-8
  • Quotations from Speaker Newt. Workman Publishing Company, Inc., July 1995. ISBN 0-7611-0092-X
  • To Renew America. Farrar Straus & Giroux, July 1996. ISBN 0-06-109539-7
  • Lessons Learned The Hard Way. HarperCollins Publishers, May 1998 ISBN 0-06-019106-6
  • Presidential Determination Regarding Certification of the Thirty-Two Major Illicit Narcotics Producing and Transit Countries. DIANE Publishing Company, September 1999. ISBN 0-7881-3186-9
  • Saving Lives and Saving Money. Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, April 2003. ISBN 0-9705485-4-0
  • Winning the Future. Regnery Publishing, January 2005. ISBN 0-89526-042-5
  • Rediscovering God in America: Reflections on the Role of Faith in Our Nation's History and Future. Integrity Publishers, October 2006. ISBN 1-59145-482-4
  • "A Contract with the Earth," (Newt on the environment) Johns Hopkins Press, Due out October 1, 2007.

Alternate History

Alternate history is a subgenre of speculative fiction that is set in a world in which history has diverged from history as it is generally known. Gingrich co-wrote the following alternate history novels and series of novels with William R. Forstchen.

Civil War Series

Pacific War Series

References

  1. ^ Eilperin, Juliet (2006-06-10). Gingrich May Run in 2008 if No Frontrunner Emerges. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2006-08-25.
  2. ^ CNN, Gingrich edges closer to run
  3. ^ Allen, Mike (2007-09-29). Gingrich decides against White House run. The Politico. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  4. ^ The Long March of Newt Gingrich. PBS Frontline (1996-01-16). Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  5. ^ Biography of Newton Gingrich. U.S. Congressional Library (2007). Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
  6. ^ Lemann, Nicholas (1996-02-26). America's New Class System. CNN/Time. Retrieved on 2006-08-12.
  7. ^ Scott, Thomas (2007-02-21). Kennesaw State University. New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.
  8. ^ Russakoff, Dale (December 18, 1994), "He Knew What He Wanted; Gingrich Turned Disparate Lessons Into a Single-Minded Goal Series: MR. SPEAKER: THE RISE OF NEWT GINGRICH Series Number: 1/4;", Washington Post: A1
  9. ^ Cox (1995-01-04). first = Major W. Gingrich May Be Perfect for the Task. Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
  10. ^ Talbot (1998-08-28). first = Stephen Newt's glass house. Salon. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  11. ^ Good Newt, Bad Newt. Vanity Fair (via PBS).
  12. ^ ?.
  13. ^ ?.
  14. ^ Evans, Ben. "Gingrich had an Affair during Clinton probe", AP, 2007-03-08. Retrieved on 2007-03-08. 
  15. ^ ?.
  16. ^ Gingrich Had Affair During Clinton Probe. Associated Press (2007-03- 08). Retrieved on 2007-03-12.
  17. ^ Clinton and Presley: All Shook Up. Salon.
  18. ^ Quaid, Libby. Kerry, Gingrich Debate Global Warming, The Associated Press, April 10, 2007
  19. ^ "Contract on America's Environment", The Planet Newsletter, Sierra Club. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.