Newt Gingrich Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Newton Leroy Gingrich was born on June 17, 1943, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. His parents were Kathleen Daugherty and Newton McPherson. However, his parents divorced when he was still a child. His mother later married Robert Gingrich. Robert adopted Newt and then changed his last name to match his. Newt Gingrich also has four half-siblings: Candace, Randy, Roberta, and Susan.

Education

As a youth, Newt Gingrich moved around often, as his stepfather was in the military. Even with his many changes in education, he still managed to graduate from Baker High School.

After high school, Newt Gingrich went on to attend Emory University. He later earned a bachelor’s degree from this school in 1965. Gingrich later went on to attend Tulane University where he earned his Master's degree  (1968) and Ph.D. (1970).

After earning his degree, Newt Gingrich spent a short time working as an assistant professor at West Georgia College.

Political Career

Newt Gingrich first began his political career in the early 1970’s when he took on the role of the Southern Region Director for Nelson Rockefeller’s presidential campaign. However, Rockefeller did not win the presidency.

In 1974, Newt Gingrich launched his first campaign to become a Republican member of  Congress. He did not win the election and ran again two years later losing again. It wasn’t until his third try, in 1978, that he was finally elected to the Congress. He would then remain a member of Congress for ten more terms.

It was while as a member of Congress, in 1983,  that she helped to form the Conservative Opportunity Society. Later on, in the same decade, he worked against Jim Wright (former Speaker of the House) because Wright was accused of breaking the campaign financing rules.

In the 1990’s, Gingrich’s career took a new lead. In the mid-1990’s, Newt Gingrich was elected as Speaker of the House. During his early years as Speaker, he worked against President Bill Clinton, who was elected in 1993. Once Clinton was president, he also encouraged him to sign the Welfare Reform Act. 

However, in the late 1990’s, Gingrich’s popularity began to waver. It was in part because of his refusal to compromise with President Clinton on federal budget cuts that there was a government shutdown in 1995. In 1997, he was re-elected as Speaker of the House, but because of previous scandals involving taken tax-exempt donations used for his own purposes, he had to pay a fine. It was only a year later that Newt Gingrich resigned as Speaker of the House. A year later, he also resigned from Congress.

In the 2000’s, Newt Gingrich remained involved with politics, in an informal sense. For a while, he worked with Fox News and a consultant.

In 2012, Newt Gingrich ran to become the Republican candidate for the United States presidency. One of his most famous promises was to put a permanent base on the moon, make the country’s budget more conservative, and making the country more independent on fuel production. However, he lost the bid to Mitt Romney, in part because his campaign was unorganized, as he did not manage his campaign finances well. However, it was later the Democratic bid, who later won the presidency: Barack Obama.

Most recently, Newt Gingrich has proven to be a Trump supporter. He encouraged other Republicans also to support Trump. For a short time, he wanted to be Trump’s running mate, but he eventually lost the vice-presidency to Mike Pence. However, Trump promised Gingrich a role in his administration. However, this did not happen.

Publications

Over his long career, Gingrich has also published several books. Some of his most popular books and series are listed below.

Gettysburg (series) (co-authored with William Forstchen)
Revolutionary War (series) (co-authored with William Forstchen)
Brooke Grant (series) (co-authored with Pete Earley)
Pearl Harbor (series) (co-authored with William Forstchen)
Understanding Trump
1945 (co-authored with William Forstchen)
Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract With America
Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World that Works (co-authored with Vince Haley and Rick Tyler)
To Renew America
A Contract with the Earth (co-authored with Terry Maple)

Family Life

Newt Gingrich first married to Jackie Battley in 1962. This couple has two children together: Kathy Lubbers and Jackie Gingrich-Cushman. However, this couple divorced in 1980. Part of the reason for the divorce was an affair he had with Marianne Ginther. This couple married in 1981 but later divorced in 2000. While married to Ginther, Newt Gingrich cheated again, this time to Callista Bisek. This couple married only a short time after his divorce to Ginther, in 2000. This couple is currently married.