28. Richard L. Berke, “Gingrich, in Duel with White House, Stays True to his Role as an Outsider,” New York Times, October 5, 1990, www.nytimes.com/1990/10/05/us/budget-agreement-gingrich-duel-with-white-house-stays-true-his-role-outsider.html.
29. Ronald Brownstein, The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America (New York: Penguin, 2007), 148.
30. Morton Kondracke and Fred Barnes, Kemp: The Bleeding-Heart Conservative Who Changed America (New York: Sentinel, 2015), 141.
31. Steve Gillon, The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry That Defined a Generation (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 99.
32. Stephen Mihm, “Echoes of 1990s Scandal Roll Across Capitol Hill,” Bloomberg, December 27, 2017.
33. Clifford Krauss, “The House Bank: Gingrich Takes No Prisoners in the House’s Seat of Gentility,” New York Times, March 17, 1992.
34. Adam Clymer, “Michel, G.O.P. House Leader, to Retire,” New York Times, October 5, 1993.
35. Jim Wright, “Worth It All,” C-SPAN video archives, October 28, 1993.
36. Katharine Seelye, “With Fiery Words, Gingrich Builds His Kingdom,” New York Times, October 27, 1994.
37. Robert Griffith, The Politics of Fear: Joseph McCarthy and the Senate (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1970).
38. Jim Wright to Newt Gingrich, February 15, 1995; Wright, note to files, February 23, 1995; and Gingrich to Wright, December 3, 1995, JWA, box 22, File: 10. Thanks to Garrison Nelson and James Riddlesperger for alerting me to this telling exchange.
39. Jason Zengerle, “These Democrats Will Soon Have the Power to Investigate the White House. How Far Will They Go?,” New York Times, December 17, 2018.
40. Edward Walsh, “‘Pit Bull’ in the Chair,” Washington Post, March 19, 1997.
41. Adam Clymer, “House, in a 395–28 Vote, Reprimands Gingrich,” New York Times, January 22, 1997.
42. Sam Howe Verhovek, “To Jim Wright, What Goes Around,” New York Times, January 5, 1997.
43. McKay Coppins, “The Man Who Broke Politics,” Atlantic, November 2018.
44. Thomas E. Mann and Norman Ornstein, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism (New York: Basic Books, 2012); Brownstein, Second Civil War; Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter, Politics by Other Means: Politicians, Prosecutors, and the Press from Watergate to Whitewater, 3rd ed. (New York: Norton, 2002).
45. Mann and Ornstein, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks, xxiv.
46. Mann and Ornstein, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks, 8–10.
47. Matthew Green, Legislative Hardball (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019).
48. Todd Gillman, “Former House Speaker Jim Wright Recalls Gingrich as ‘Sociopathic,’” Dallas Morning News, March 2012.
49. “Gingrich Advisor: He’s Got Inside Knowledge, But He’s an Outsider,” MSNBC, January 22, 2016.
50. Nia-Malika Henderson, “Gingrich Says Birther Claims Not Racist, Are Caused by Obama’s Radical Views,” Washington Post, May 29, 2012.
51. Tim Alberta, American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump (New York: Harper, 2019), 113.
52. Julia Ioffe, “The Millennial’s Guide to Newt Gingrich,” Politico, July 14, 2016.
53. John Helton and Alyssa McLendon, “Gingrich’s 2012 Campaign Leaves Him with Mixed Legacy,” CNN.com, May 2, 2012.
54. “Newt Gingrich on the 1994 Republican Revolution and His Career in Politics,” interview with William Kristol, November 21, 2014, conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/newt-gingrich.
55. David Remnick, “It Happened Here,” New Yorker, November 28, 2016. See also Alberta, American Carnage.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
1 and 2: Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library, Arlington, Texas
3: Courtesy of the University of West Georgia
4: AP Photo/Calvin Cruce, Atlanta Journal Constitution
5: Marion S. Trikosko/PhotoQuest/Getty Images
6: Courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Library
7: AP Photo
8: DOONESBURY © 1994 G. B. Trudeau. Reprinted with permission of ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION. All rights reserved.
9: Courtesy of the University of West Georgia
10: Courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Library
11: Mary Couts Burnett Library Special Collections Department and Texas Christian University
12: AP Photo/Barry Thumma
13: Laura Patterson/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
14: AP Photo
15: Courtesy of the Genealogy, History, and Archives Unit, Fort Worth Public Library, City of Fort Worth Planning Department Slides
16: Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
17: Andrea Mohin/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
18: AP Photo/Barry Thumma
19: AP Photo/Ira Schwarz
20: Diana Walker/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images
21, 22, and 23: AP Photo/John Duricka
24: Terry Ashe/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images
25: Getty Images
26: Laura Patterson/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
27: AP Photo/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Mark Gail
28: Courtesy of Ken Ringle, personal collection
29: AP Photo/File/Charles Krupa
30: CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
31 and 32: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
33: Cynthia Johnson/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images
34: Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
INDEX
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.
ABC, 147, 246, 260
abortion, 27, 31, 76, 182, 304
Abscam scandal, 46, 164, 263
Adamson High School, 90
Adler, William, 129, 131, 132
Afghanistan, 65
Africa, 39, 82
African Americans, 22, 26
civil rights movement and, see civil rights movement
racism and, 24, 41, 43, 92
voting by, 27, 78, 92
AIDS, 299
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), 54
Ailes, Roger, 9–10, 136
air-traffic controllers’ strike, 54
Albuquerque Tribune, 147
Alexander, Bill, 209, 215
Alexandria Gazette, 127
Alter, Jonathan, 76
Ambition and the Power, The: A True Story of Washington (Barry), 312n9
American Enterprise Institute, 28
American Press International (API), 122
Anderson, Jack, 98–99
Anderson, John, 40
Andrus, Cecil, 139
Animal House, 13
Anthony, Beryl, 236
Arias, Oscar, 118
Ashley, Thomas, 288
Associated Press, 17
Atkins, Chester, 152, 208–9, 255–56, 258, 259, 262
Atlanta, Georgia, 24, 25
Atlanta Air Center, 46
Atlanta Airport Holiday Inn, 35
Atlanta Constitution, 35, 38, 67, 134, 232
Atlanta Daily World, 26, 31
Atwater, Lee, 76, 137–38, 169–70, 174–76, 179, 212, 239, 243, 264, 282, 285, 288–90
Gingrich and, 137, 175
AuCoin, Les, 170
Austin, Jeanie, 290
Babcock, Charles, 112–13, 189–90
Bailey, F. Lee, 248
Baker, Howard, 115
Baker, James, 115
Baker High School, 18–20
Baltimore Sun, 31, 172
Bankers Monthly, 129, 130–32
banks:
House bank scandal, 295–96
see also savings and loan industry
Bannon, Steve, 5
Baptist church, 21, 23
Barber’s Bookstore, 113
Barnett, Billy Bob, 109–10
Barone, Michael, 132
Barry, John M., 130–31
The Ambition and the Power: A True Story of Washington, 312n9
Bartley, Robert, 128
Barton, Joe, 79, 183
Beatles, 21
Beckel, Bob, 25–26
Beckner, Steven, 55–56
Belgian colonial policy, 21–23
Bell Helicopter, 94
Bentsen, Lloyd, 178, 268
Ben-Veniste, Richard, 217
Bernstein, Carl, 7, 148
Biden, Joe, 142
Billy Bob’s Texas, 109
Binstein, Michael, 129, 131, 132
bipartisanship, 6, 60
Black Monday market crash, 114, 118
Bloody Eighth, see Indiana, Eighth District of
Boehner, John, 10, 295–96, 305
Boland, Edward, 69, 71
Boland Amendment, 106
Bolling, Richard, 101
Bond, Julian, 35
Bonier, David, 265
Bork, Robert, 154, 289
Boston Herald, 147
Boston Tea Party, 165
Boxer, Barbara, 69
Braden, Tom, 56
Bradlee, Ben, 7
Bradley, Omar, 48
Bradshaw, Floyd, 92
Brock, David, 301
Broder, David, 26, 45, 49, 176
Brokaw, Tom, 120, 280–81
Broken Branch of the Federal Government, The, 155
Brooks, Jack, 142, 208, 277, 298
Brown, A. Whitney, 164
Brown, George “Hank,” 150–51
Brown, Mary, 183
Brown, William, 73
Brownstein, Ronald, 305
Brussels, 22
Buchanan, Pat, 56
Buckley, John, 287
Buckley, William, 184
budget, federal, 33, 50, 55, 76, 82, 94
deficits, 33, 54, 114–15, 159, 162, 214, 294
reconciliation bill, 114–17, 141, 151, 184
see also taxes
Burton, Dan, 300
Burton, Phil, 101
Burton, Sala, 101
Busby, Horace, 216
Bush, George H. W., 160, 174, 193, 217, 239, 264, 284, 288, 312n9
and aid to contras, 214
Cheney appointed secretary of defense by, 179–80, 183, 184
elected president, 159
and Gingrich’s election as minority whip, 196
presidential campaign of 1988, 135–38, 159, 281
Reagan and, 135
taxes and, 214, 294, 296
Tower nominated for secretary of defense by, 177–80
as vice president, 135–36, 138, 174–75
Wright and, 135–38, 159–61, 281
Byrd, Robert, 47, 114
cable television, 62, 70, 250
Camscam, 296
Cannon, Joe, 277–78, 283
Capital Cities Communications, 108
Capitol Hill Club, 192
Capitol Savings & Loan, 130
Cardin, Benjamin, 172
Carlson, Margaret, 211
Carter, Amon, 93
Carter, Jimmy, 14, 31, 32, 34, 47, 48, 65, 110, 112, 174
Carter, L. H., 77
CBS, 47, 224, 246, 264
CBS Evening News, 285
CBS This Morning, 282
censorship, 21
Central America, 55, 64–67, 69, 71, 75, 83, 118–22, 158, 262
see also Nicaragua
Central Park jogger, 285–86
Chaffetz, Jason, 9
Changing Congress, The, 95–96
Chapman, Jim, 116–17
Charen, Mona, 232
Charlotte Observer, 37
Cheney, Lynne, 73–74
Cheney, Richard “Dick,” 44, 73–74, 80, 83, 123, 141, 155, 161, 173, 181, 268–69
appointed secretary of defense, 179–80, 183, 184, 191
Chicago Board of Trade, 327n5
Chicago Tribune, 153–54, 233, 245–46
Christian Broadcasting Network, 113
Christian Science Monitor, 27
Christie, Chris, 2
Churchill, Winston, 117, 187, 287
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 64, 135, 158
in Iran-contra scandal, 105–6
Citizens for Reagan, 141, 154
civil rights movement, 21, 22, 24, 25, 41, 48, 94, 166
Wright and, 92, 95
Civil War, 6, 40, 263
Clark, Dick, 36
Clausewitz, Carl von, 23
Clay, Henry, 96, 256
Clay, Lucius, 17–18
Clean Air Act, 26
Clinton, Bill, 296, 299–300
Gingrich and, 300–301
impeachment of, 1, 300–301
Clifford, Clark, 217, 232
Clift, Eleanor, 229, 287–88
CNN, 56, 121, 134, 246, 268
Coastal Corporation, 203
Coats, Dan, 63
Coelho, Tony, 77, 79–82, 102–4, 112, 116, 117, 130, 155, 159, 171, 172, 218, 237, 264–65, 268, 276, 282
ethics scandal of, 237–39
Mack and, 228, 230, 234, 237
resignation of, 237, 239–40, 258, 285
Cohen, Richard, 231
cold war, 18, 296
Colmer, William, 64
Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, 28
Common Cause, 128, 130, 132–34, 138, 143, 145, 153, 165, 202–3, 238
communism, and anticommunism efforts, 65, 69–70, 72, 113, 122, 156
in Central America, see Central America
Confrontation, 56
Congress, U.S.:
committee era of, 6
corruption in, see corruption, scandals, and ethics issues
Democratic control of, 36, 168–69
Gingrich’s 1974 campaign for, 24–27, 29
Gingrich’s 1976 campaign for, 28–31
Gingrich’s 1978 campaign for, 32–37, 38
Gingrich’s reelections to, 47, 57, 295
honoraria and, 164–65, 169, 189, 201–2, 206, 246, 254, 273
paths to power in, 38, 94
post office scandal in, 296
public frustration with, 96–97
Republican control of, 9, 289, 294, 298
salaries and pay raises in, 29, 163–75, 234, 249, 257, 273
Wright’s love for, 264
see also House of Representatives, U.S.; Senate, U.S.
Congressional Record, 73
Conservative Campaign Fund, 242
Conservative Digest, 45, 55–56
Conservative Opportunity Society (COS), 58–65, 68–71, 75, 79, 107, 155, 161, 192–95, 300
as alternative to Liberal Welfare State, 58–59
“floor strategy” of, 68
Lee and, 61–63, 68
plan to topple the Democratic majority, 113–14
Wright and, 104
conservatives, conservatism, 162, 172, 174, 257, 297
agreement on
issues among, 50–51
antiestablishment trend in, 162
congressional pay raise and, 165–68
“Contract with America” and, 297–98
Democratic–Republican coalition of, 49
Gingrich and, 29, 31, 33, 160, 162
growing movement of, 27–28
New Right, 27–28, 114, 290
Reagan and, 47–48
religious, 27
talk radio and, 166–68, 233–34
Constitution, U.S., 40, 66, 163
“Contract with America,” 297–98
contras, see Nicaragua
Conway, Kellyanne, 303, 304
Coors, Joseph, 209
corruption, scandals, and ethics issues, 26, 29–32, 34, 38, 45–46, 78, 96–97, 164, 215, 254, 290
Abscam, 46, 164, 263
The Broken Branch of the Federal Government report on, 155
campaign financing and, 102
Coelho and, 237–39
congressional post office scandal, 296
Craig and, 151
Democrats accused of, 57, 113–14, 155–56, 282–83, 289, 291, 295
of Gingrich, 2, 76–77, 189–91, 194, 209–10, 215–16, 283, 286, 300, 301
Gingrich’s campaign against Flynt, 26–27, 29, 30
Gingrich’s focus on, 46, 107, 264–65, 282–83, 285–86, 289, 295
Gingrich’s idea for 700 Club to highlight, 113–14
and Gingrich’s meeting with Nixon, 56–57
Gingrich’s provocative statement about, 264–65
Gingrich’s targeting of Diggs, 37, 39–47, 67, 85, 107, 126, 157, 263
Gingrich’s targeting of Wright, 6–9, 11, 110, 113, 180, 183, 184, 204, 209, 240, 281–84, 290, 291, 293, 299, 302–3; see also Wright, Jim, House Ethics Committee investigation of
Gray and, 285
House bank scandal, 295–96
House pages and, 151
Indiana Eighth District election and, 78–84, 104, 158, 184
Iran-contra, 105–6, 117–18, 136, 158, 180
Koreagate, 42–43, 101, 250
Mack and, 218–38
partisan scandal wars, 293–94
in Reagan administration, 105–6, 117–18, 133, 136, 147–48, 173
Wall Street, 238
Watergate, see Watergate
Wright on, 93
Burning Down the House Page 42