Newt Gingrich

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Newt Gingrich bigraphy, stories - Professor, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Newt Gingrich : biography

17 June 1943 –

Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich ( born Newton Leroy McPherson; June 17, 1943) is an American politician, author, and political consultant. He represented Georgia’s 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1979 until his resignation in 1999, and served as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. Gingrich was a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.

In the 1970s, Gingrich taught history and geography at the University of West Georgia. During this period he ran twice (1974 and 1976) for the United States House of Representatives before winning in November 1978. He served as House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995.

A co-author and architect of the "Contract with America", Gingrich was a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional election. In 1995, Time named him "Man of the Year" for "his role in ending the four-decades-long Democratic majority in the House".NPR (December 8, 2011). NPR.org, in photo caption. Retrieved February 16, 2012. While he was House speaker, the House enacted welfare reform, passed a capital gains tax cut in 1997, and in 1998 passed the first balanced budget since 1969. The poor showing by Republicans in the 1998 Congressional election and pressure from Republican colleagues caused Gingrich’s resignation from the speakership on November 6, 1998 CNN (November 6, 1998). and then the House on January 3, 1999.

Since leaving the House, Gingrich has remained active in public policy debates and worked as a political consultant. He founded and chaired several policy think tanks, including American Solutions for Winning the Future and the Center for Health Transformation. He has written or co-authored 27 books. In May 2011, he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. On May 2, 2012, Gingrich ended his presidential campaign and endorsed front-runner Mitt Romney.

After being raised Lutheran and spending most of his adult life as a Southern Baptist, Gingrich converted to Roman Catholicism in 2009. He has been married three times, with the first two marriages ending in divorce. He has two children from his first marriage and has been married to Callista (Bisek) Gingrich since 2000.

Personal life

Marriages and children

Gingrich has married three times. In 1962, he married Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher, when he was 19 years old and she was 26. They have two daughters from their marriage: Kathy Gingrich Lubbers is president of Gingrich Communications, and Jackie Gingrich Cushman is an author, conservative columnist, and political commentator whose books include 5 Principles for a Successful Life, co-authored with Newt Gingrich.

In the spring of 1980, Gingrich left Battley after beginning an affair with Marianne Ginther. In 1984, Jackie (Battley) Gingrich told The Washington Post that the divorce was a "complete surprise" to her. According to Jackie, in September 1980, Gingrich and their children visited her while she was in the hospital, recovering from surgery, and Gingrich wanted to discuss the terms of their divorce. Gingrich has disputed that account. In 2011 their daughter, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, remembers that it was her mother who requested the divorce, that it happened prior to the hospital stay, and that Gingrich’s visit was for the purpose of bringing the couple’s children to see their mother, not to discuss the divorce. Although Gingrich’s presidential campaign staff continued to insist in 2011 that his wife requested the divorce, court documents obtained by CNN from Carroll County, Georgia, indicated that Jackie had asked a judge to block the process stating that although "she has adequate and ample grounds for divorce… she does not desire one at this time [and] does not admit that this marriage is irretrievably broken." According to L. H. Carter, Gingrich’s campaign treasurer, Gingrich said of his first wife: "She’s not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of the President. And besides, she has cancer."{} Gingrich has denied saying it. His supporters dismiss Carter as a disgruntled former aide who was miffed at not being asked to accompany Gingrich to Washington.Seelye, Katharine Q. (November 24, 1994). . The New York Times.