information:highlighting
Newton Leroy Gingrich is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for Georgia's 6th congressional district serving north Atlanta and nearby areas from 1979 until his resignation in 1999. In 2012, Gingrich unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for president of the United States. In the 1970s, Gingrich was a professor of history and geography at the University of West Georgia. He won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1978, the first Republican in the history of Georgia's 6th congressional district to do so. 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". As House Speaker, Gingrich oversaw passage by the House of welfare reform in 1996 and a capital gains tax cut in 1997. Gingrich played a key role in several government shutdowns, and impeached President Bill Clinton on a party-line vote in the House. A disappointing showing by Republicans in the 1998 congressional elections, a reprimand from the House for Gingrich's ethics violation, and pressure from Republican colleagues resulted in Gingrich's announcing that he would not run for the speakership in the upcoming congress, resigning from the House on January 3, 1999, the same day his term as speaker ended. Academics have credited Gingrich with playing a key role in hastening political polarization and partisanship. 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. Gingrich ran for the Republican nomination for president in the 2012 presidential election, and was considered a potential frontrunner at several points in the race. Despite a late victory in the South Carolina primary, Gingrich was ultimately unable to win enough primaries to sustain a viable candidacy. He withdrew from the race in May 2012, and endorsed eventual nominee Mitt Romney. Gingrich later emerged as a key ally of President Donald Trump, and was reportedly among the finalists on Trump's short list for running mate in the 2016 election. Since 2020, Gingrich has supported Donald Trump's claims of a stolen election, and claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.