Newt Gingrich

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Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
From: January 4, 1995 – January 3, 1999
Predecessor | Tom Foley
Successor | Dennis Hastert
U.S. Representative from Georgia's 6th Congressional District
From: January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1999
Predecessor | Jack Flynt
Successor | Johnny Isakson
Information

Party  | Republican

Spouse(s)  | Jackie Battley (1962-1981)
Marianne Ginther (1981-2000)
Callista Gingrich

Religion  | Baptist-turned-Roman Catholic

Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich (born Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, June 17, 1943) served as Speaker of the House from 1995 until 1999, preceding J. Dennis Hastert and succeeding Thomas Foley. He is widely considered the mastermind of the Revolution of 1994 and "Contract with America" that led the Republican Party to capture the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1954. He was considered the chief Republican opposition to President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

Popular with conservatives, Gingrich is a television commentator and the author of nineteen books including 11 fiction and non-fiction New York Times best-sellers.

Under his leadership, Congress passed welfare reform, passed the first balanced budget in a generation, and passed the first tax cut in sixteen years. In addition, the Congress restored funding to strengthen defense and intelligence capabilities, an action later lauded by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

Gingrich's congressional career ended in 1999 when he resigned from Congress after poor showings from Republicans in the midterm elections and due to being investigated by the House ethics panel. Claims were made that Gingrich had used a political consultant in the development of the GOP platform contrary to House Ethics Rules. Despite his claim of no wrongdoing, a $300,000 fine was imposed by the panel. The final three of the charges were dismissed in October 1998.[1][2]

In 2011, Gingrich entered the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination but withdrew on May 2, 2012, having secured primary victories only in South Carolina and Georgia, which he had represented in Congress. Had he remained in the contest, he may have drawn the support of Conservapedia (see Gingrich Administration). Voters and delegates instead chose the RINO Mitt Romney as the nominee.

## Contents

* 1 Speakership
* 2 Political Positions
* 3 Post Congressional Activities
* 4 Issues
* 5 Quotes
* 6 Writings
* 7 Personal life
* 7.1 Charitable work
* 8 See also
* 9 Further reading
* 10 External links
* 11 References

## Speakership[edit]

See also: Republican Revolution (1994) and Contract with America

* All ten items in the Contract With America were brought to a vote in the U.S. House in the first 100 days (the promise was to bring them to a vote). Nine of the ten items passed the House. The sole exception was term limits which received a plurality but required a two-thirds majority as a Constitutional Amendment.
* Committee Chairmen were term-limited as was the Speakership.
* The Legislative branch was cut including the Speaker's office. Also reduced were committee sizes. Unnecessary perks like the House barber shop, shoe shine and ice service were eliminated.
* The Congress was forced to live under the same laws as the rest of the land - OSHA, disabilities, workplace laws, members, staff etc.
* A big six accounting firm audited the U.S. House's finances for the first time in history.
* The Budget was balanced for the first time in a generation. When Time Magazine named Gingrich their Man of the Year in 1995, they said that because of Newt a balanced budget was no longer a question of if, but when.
* Tax rates were cut for the first time in 17 years. Included were a lowering of the capital gains tax rate, a $500 per child tax credit and new tax credits for tuition to college and voc-tech schools. The cap gains tax actually ended being scored as a revenue increase, a shift in tax policy debate due to Gingrich's success.
* Military spending increased for the first time in over 10 years including funding for a national missile defense.
* The line-item veto passed and was signed into law.
* Six of the bills were signed into law by the President. (In 1996, President Clinton pointed to 13 separate reforms that were contained within the Contract with America at the Democratic National Convention.)[3]
* More women were appointed to leadership positions in the House than any time in history.
* Increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act by 700%.
* Megan's Law was passed.[4][5][6]
* In response to the removal of former Democratic Speaker Jim Wright on ethical violations, Reps. David Bonior and Nancy Pelosi filed a list of alleged ethics charges against Gingrich in 1997. Gingrich reimbursed the committee $300,000 for investigative costs after failing to meet full disclosure requirements about a college class he was teaching at a community college in Georgia. A formal IRS investigation in 1999 exonerated Gingrich and found that the course was intended to educate students about American government and society.[7]
* He resigned from the House one day after being elected to his 11th term. This was in response to the poor Republican showing in the 1998 House elections, in which the GOP lost 5 seats and for which Gingrich was partially blamed.[8]

## Political Positions[edit]

Newt Gingrich with Ronald Reagan.

Gingrich supports Illegal immigration[9] and believes in Global warming.[10] He opposes Gun control and the corrupt United Nations. Gingrich is a strong supporter of Israel and called Palestinians 'Invented'.[11] He is pro-life and said that life begins at implantation.[12] Gingrich supports America returning to the Moon.

Despite his conservative positions, Gingrich defended the liberal and globalist National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster against conservative critics, using poor evidence in favor of him.[13]

## Post Congressional Activities[edit]

* Started the Center for Health Transformation, January 2003.[14]
* Ran for president in the GOP primary in 2012.
* Strongly supported the presidential campaign of Donald Trump in 2016 and was considered a serious contender for the positions of vice-president and Secretary of State.

## Issues[edit]

1. African-American males get the smallest return on Social Security.[15]

## Quotes[edit]

* "There is no attack on American culture more deadly and more historically dishonest than the secular effort to drive God out of America's public life."
* “All free people stand on Reagan's shoulders. His principled policies proved that free markets create wealth, that the rule of law sustains freedom, and that all people everywhere deserve the right to dream, to pursue their dreams, and to govern themselves.”
* “The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument.”
* If Thomas Edison invented electric light today, Dan Rather would report it on CBS News as "candle making industry threatened".”
* “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”[16]
* “It is impossible to maintain civilization with 12-year-olds having babies, with 15-year-olds killing each other, with 17-year-olds dying of AIDS and with 18-year-olds getting diplomas they can't read”

## Writings[edit]

As an author, Gingrich has published nine books including the best sellers, Contract with America and To Renew America and his most recent book, Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America. In June 2005, Never Call Retreat concluded Newt's series of active history studies in the lessons of warfare based on a fictional account of the Battle of Gettysburg and its aftermath. And in Saving Lives & Saving Money, Gingrich demonstrates how to transform health and healthcare into a 21st-century system.[17]

## Personal life[edit]

Newt and Callista

Gingrich was born into a single-parent household with his mother after his biological father abandoned the family. Robert Gingrich, a retired army officer, married Gingrich's mother and adopted him.[18] He has been married three times. His first wife, Jackie Battley, was his geometry teacher while he was in high school. They began their relationship when he was 16 years old, and married in 1962 after he graduated.[19] The couple had two daughters and divorced in 1981. Liberal and mainstream media sources have perpetuated a myth for decades Jackie was served with divorce papers "on her deathbed," however, she is very much alive. Only in December 2011 did FactCheck.org research and correct some of the smears.[20]

Gingrich married Ginther in 1981. The couple separated in 1988, reconciled in 1994, and later divorced in 1999. He began his relationship with Callista Bisek, a Congressional aide and his future third wife, in 1993 while he was still married to Ginther.[21] In response to inquiries Gingrich publicly admitted to having an extra-marital relationship. "The honest answer is yes," Gingrich said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards." Gingrich contrasted owning up to his shortcomings with President Clinton's perjury and criminal offenses, "The President of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials." [22]

### Charitable work[edit]

Gingrich is co-founder along with his wife Callista, of the Gingrich Foundation, a charitable nonprofit corporation. Among its charitable contributions, the Gingrich Foundation has established the Newt and Callista Gingrich Scholarship at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Other grants have been awarded to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, American Museum of Natural History, Arthritis Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, Learning Makes a Difference Foundation, Autism Society, Catholic Charities USA, American Heart Association, Washington National Opera, Wolf Trap Foundation, Atlanta Ballet, City of Fairfax Band, Mount Vernon Ladies Association, Museum of the Rockies, Trust for Public Land, and the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Gingrich serves as a Board Member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and has received the highest non-medical award the American Diabetes Association. In 1995 he was named Citizen of the Year by the March of Dimes.[23]

## See also[edit]

* Gingrich's campaign mistakes 2012
* Kit Wisdom

## Further reading[edit]

* Shirley, Craig (2017). Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. ISBN: 9781595554482.[9][10][11]

## External links[edit]

* Profile at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
* Biography. From Answers Corporation.
* Official site.
* On Facebook.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/101198.htm Ethics Committee Drops Last of 84 Charges Against Gingrich
2. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/gingrich123198.htm Gingrich Pays Off Ethics Penalty
3. ↑ [1]
4. ↑ [2]
5. ↑ [3]
6. ↑ [4]
7. ↑ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204661604577185030808355916.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
8. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/us/the-speaker-steps-down-excerpts-from-phone-call-about-gingrich-s-future.html
9. ↑ http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/11/23/gingrich-criticizes-federal-immigration-policy-at-debate/
10. ↑ https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/12/gingrich-feels-heat-global-warming-ad-pelosi/
11. ↑ https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/10/gingrich-describes-palestinian-people-as-invented/
12. ↑ https://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/02/newt-gingrich-pro-life-but-says-life-begins-at-implantation/
13. ↑ Wong, Kristina (August 19, 2017). Newt Gingrich Defends Embattled National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
14. ↑ Center for Health Transformation, History
15. ↑ Gingrich to black people: paychecks, not food aid
16. ↑ [5]
17. ↑ [6][7]
18. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/21/us/robert-b-gingrich-speaker-s-father-71.html
19. ↑ Newt Gingrich: Marital Affairs poligu.com, retrieved January 22, 2012.
20. ↑ https://www.factcheck.org/2011/12/the-gingrich-divorce-myth/
21. ↑ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-11-11/news/9911110139_1_callista-bisek-georgia-republican-house-speaker-newt-gingrich
22. ↑ [8]
23. ↑ http://www.gingrichproductions.com/about-us.html