Newt Gingrich

American politician who had a rapid rise to popularity in 1994 when he was named the first GOP Speaker of the House in 40 years, followed within two years by a downfall for indiscretion, lying to the House Committee and the illegal use of public funds. He has a reputation as a tart-tongued verbal congressional street-fighter who relishes a confrontation. Born to teenage parents who separated soon after his birth, he was adopted by his mom's second husband whom she married when the boy was three. Both his father and adopted father were adopted themselves, and feeling rejection from both men, Newt had confusion about identity as a boy. Raised in a military household, he moved often with his dad's transfers. He discovered reading and immersed himself in words, remarking that he "became big words." His eyesight was so poor that he literally did not see people around him before the age of 12, when he got glasses. He always had a voracious appetite for learning and became a West Georgia college assistant history professor before pursuing a long quest for political power. He set a personal agenda of heroism, finding a way "to immerse my insecurities in a cause large enough to justify whatever I want it to." Gingrich married Jackie Battley at 19, seven years his senior; they had two daughters, Kathy and Jackie Sue. Jackie worked to put him through school clear to his PhD. Articulate and driven, he was a pure pragmatist. With unstoppable energy, after only a few years on campus, he pushed for the presidency of the college. Those close to him say he has no dimmer switch - he's always either brilliantly full-on, or totally turned off. He and Jackie entered marriage counseling but Newt continued to behave as though other people's rules did not apply to him. They divorced after 18 years of marriage with his reputation for episodic infidelities. After his divorce he married Marianne Ginther, 43, a business consultant. In 1973 his political career officially began when he declared himself a candidate for Congress. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1978. In 1995 he published his recent book "To Renew America." In a surprising move, Gingrich resigned as Speaker of the House and announced that he would also resign from his role as state representative following the mid-term elections on 3 November 1998. As a further symbol of the changes in his life, Gingrich lost 30 to 40 lbs from his chunky physique. Not the most popular figure with the public, he'll need a P.R. overhaul before he has a realistic change of capturing the 2000 GOP nomination. His wife, Marianne, is dead-set against the possibility. Marianne's take on the whole matter became irrelevant when Gingrich filed for divorce from her on 29 July 1999 in Cobb County, GA; they were married for 18 years. The couple separated on 10 May 1999, having had problems since Gingrich's resignation as Speaker of the House. His marriage to Marianne was his second; he divorced his first wife, Jackie, two years after his 1978 election to Congress. He acknowledged an affair with 23-year-younger Callista Bisek whom he started dating in 1993. They announced their engagement in May 2000 and married on 18 August 2000, Alexandria, Virginia. After leaving politics in 1999, Gingrich became a business consultant and a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institute. He has spent much of his time in Silicon Valley studying the intersection of business, technology and education. He still retains the dream he had of supplying a laptop to every child in America, seeing the computer as the teacher of the future. He declared his intention to run for US President on May 9, 2011. However, a month later, his senior staff all walked out on him. He vowed that he would still be a viable candidate, and indeed he was. By the beginning of December 2011, he had surpassed his opponents in many polls in states holding upcoming primaries. On 2 May 2012, Gingrich ended his presidential campaign and endorsed front-runner Mitt Romney Link to Wikipedia biography