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Newt Gingrich Biography

U.S. Representative

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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.

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

Newt joins Richard Nixon in our hall of fame for Quitters!