House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt D-Mo. I hope that whoever succeeds Newt Gingrich as speaker will immediately begin the process of repairing the damage that was wrought on this institution over the last four years.
With Gingrich out of the picture, the floodgates are opened to Republicans other than Livingston to jump into the fray. Among those considering a run for speaker are Reps. Watts Jr. Talent R-Mo. McIntosh R-Ind. He is being encouraged by conservatives who fear that Livingston is insufficiently committed to their agenda of tax cuts and other conservative causes, GOP sources said.
Power struggles will split the party up and down the leadership ladder. Steve Largent R-Okla. A key question is whether, when the dust settles, Republicans elect leaders like Largent who want to move the party to the right or more pragmatic politicians like Livingston who want to moderate its image. One thing is certain: None of the potential candidates to succeed Gingrich would have his domineering political personality, his visionary aspirations and his distinctive ability to attract and create controversy.
Matt Salmon R-Ariz. And he did resign in disgrace after that. This was the first time in American history that a speaker of the House has resigned from the House. The January vote on the bill titled "In the Matter of Representative Newt Gingrich," the body acted with overwhelming bipartisanship.
Voting in favor were Republicans, Democrats and one independent. Voting against were 26 Republicans and two Democrats. More Videos Gingrich loved being back in the spotlight; to him, the thrill of politics was like a narcotic.
Suddenly Gingrich had a chance to return to the heights of power he had missed since his Republican colleagues had pressured him to step down as Speaker of the House, one of the most influential positions in Washing- ton, back in November Following his dramatic departure from Congress, Gingrich experienced many professional ups and downs. The best of times came when he offered commentary on Fox News or filled the role of resident policy wonk at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
He also enjoyed earning money as a consultant. But now Donald Trump might be offering Gingrich, who turned seventy-three that June, one last chance to step back into the center of power. Many experts argued that Gingrich had a pretty good shot at winning the vice presidential sweepstakes. Gingrich was also one of the few senior figures in the Republican Party whom Trump had not knocked to his knees.
The former Speaker exuded the kind of gravitas that the reality TV star lacked, displaying an easy fluency in public policy and foreign affairs. He also had an instinct for partisan warfare unequaled by almost any Republican besides Trump. The New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, had been damaged by a scandal about a manufactured traffic jam back in the Garden State.
The Alabama senator Jeff Sessions seemed so much like a hard-line southern reactionary that he would instantly kill any hope that Trump could win over northern and midwestern independents. And the Indiana governor, Mike Pence, with his choirboy demeanor, felt much too boring a pick for the former star of The Apprentice, with his appetite for sensation and sizzle.
Gingrich was to be interviewed that night by Sean Hannity, the pugnacious Fox host whose tough-guy persona attracted a passionate right-wing audience. The day of the Fox interview, Trump had met with Gingrich in a two-thousand-square-foot penthouse suite at the Conrad hotel, a posh five-star high-rise in downtown Indianapolis. Trump had intended to fly back to New York the previous evening after attending a rally with Governor Pence, but a flat tire on the airplane had grounded him overnight.
Hannity, a close friend and ally of both Trump and Gingrich, had secretly allowed the former Speaker to fly on his private jet to Indianapolis to make sure that their scheduled meeting took place. Gingrich found Trump exhilarating, a fresh voice who would not be muted by the ostensible experts. He was one of the rare former members of Congress who was recognized on the streets. Perhaps more than any other politician, Gingrich introduced the rhetoric and tactics that have shaped Congress and the Republican Party for the last three decades.
Elected to Congress in , Gingrich quickly became one of the most powerful figures in America not through innovative ideas or charisma, but through a calculated campaign of attacks against political opponents, casting himself as a savior in a fight of good versus evil. Taking office in the post-Watergate era, he weaponized the good government reforms newly introduced to fight corruption, wielding the rules in ways that shocked the legislators who had created them.
His crusade against Democrats culminated in the plot to destroy the political career of Speaker Wright.
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