Gingrich's Earlier Years

Newt Gingrich is rising in the Republican polls so let’s look at his earlier years. Gingrich started his Congressional career in 1978 and became Speaker of the House in 1994. In 1995 Gingrich was among the Republicans leading a movement that temporarily shut down the U.S. federal government. When the previous appropriations bills expired, the government had to close the most non-essential offices; the shutdown became the longest-ever in U.S. history, ending when Clinton agreed to submit a Congressional Budget Office approved balanced budget plan. During the crisis, Gingrich's public image suffered from perception that the Republican’s hard-line stance over the budget was caused by his personal grievances, including a widely-shared editorial cartoon depicting him as having thrown a temper tantrum. Reflecting on the impact of the shutdown for the Republican Party, Gingrich later commented that, "Everybody in Washington thinks that was a big mistake. They're exactly wrong. There had been no reelected Republican majority since 1928. Part of the reason we got reelected ... is our base thought we were serious. And they thought we were serious because when it came to a show-down, we didn't flinch.” In a 2011 op-ed in the Washington Post, Gingrich stated that the government shutdown led to the balanced-budget deal in 1997 and the first four consecutive balanced budgets since the 1920s, as well as the first re-election of a Republican majority for the first time since 1928.

Gingrich is the only Speaker of the House to have been disciplined for ethics violations. During his term as Speaker, eighty-four ethics charges were filed against him; eighty-three of them were dropped. The remaining charge concerned a 20-hour college course called "Renewing American Civilization" that Gingrich had taught through the tax-deductible Kennesaw State College Foundation. Allegations of tax improprieties led to two counts "of failure to seek legal advice" and one count of "providing the committee with information which he knew or should have known was inaccurate" concerning the use of a tax exempt college course for political purposes. To avoid a full hearing, Gingrich and the House Ethics Subcommittee negotiated a sanctions agreement. Democrats accused Gingrich of violating the agreement, but it was forwarded to the House for approval. On January 21, 1997, the House voted 395 to 28 to reprimand Gingrich, including a $300,000 "cost assessment" to recoup money spent on the investigation. The full committee panel did not agree whether tax law had been violated and in 1999, the IRS cleared the organizations connected with the courses.

In the summer of 1997 several House Republicans, who saw Gingrich's public image as a liability, attempted to replace him as Speaker. The attempted "coup" began July 9 with a meeting between Republican conference chairman John Boehner of Ohio and Republican leadership chairman Bill Paxon of New York. According to their plan, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, Boehner and Paxon were to present Gingrich with an ultimatum: resign, or be voted out. However, Armey balked at the proposal to make Paxon the new Speaker, and told his chief of staff to warn Gingrich about the coup. On July 11, Gingrich met with the senior Republican leadership and explained that under no circumstance would he step down. If he was voted out, there would be a new election for Speaker, which would allow for the possibility that Democrats, along with dissenting Republicans, to vote in Democrat Dick Gephardt as Speaker. On July 16, Paxon offered to resign his post, feeling that he had not handled the situation correctly, as the only member of the leadership who had been appointed to his position by Gingrich instead of elected.

By 1998, Gingrich had become a highly visible and polarizing figure in the national public's eye. His national approval rating was 45% in April 1998 but his local approval was undiminished and he was handily reelected to an 11th term. Republicans lost five seats in the House in the 1998 midterm elections (the worst performance in 64 years for a party that didn't hold the presidency) and polls showed that Gingrich’s and the Republican Party's attempt to remove President Clinton from office was widely unpopular among Americans. Facing another rebellion in the Republican caucus, Gingrich announced on November 6, 1998 that he would not only stand down as Speaker, but would leave the House as well. Gingrich said, "I'm willing to lead but I'm not willing to preside over people who are cannibals. My only fear would be that if I tried to stay, it would just overshadow whoever my successor is."

Gingrich has since remained involved in national politics and public policy debates, especially on issues regarding healthcare, national security, and fighting for recognition of the role of religion in American public life.