The Nineties in America - Salem Press (2009)

structionist tactics. Following the legislative defeat, a
number of House Republicans sought to remove
Gingrich from his position as Speaker. However,
Gingrich still had a great deal of support within the
House, and no overwhelming alternative to fill the
position existed.

1998 Elections and Loss of Power When newspa-
pers revealed in late 1997 that Clinton had engaged
in an affair with former White House intern Monica
Lewinsky, Gingrich utilized the incident as a means
of rallying public opinion against the president.
Still, many conservatives were cautious, warning
Gingrich not to focus all his energies in the hopes of
chasing the president from office. The animosity of
the Republicans’ attack on the president did not
match that of the public. In the end, Gingrich’s
choice to ignore outside counsel served him poorly.
The Republicans’ refusal to put the president’s in-
discretion behind them caused a public backlash
that hurt their party during the 1998 elections.
In the summer of 1998, the public became even
more angry with the Republican leadership when
Clinton painted them as a “do-nothing Congress”
for their failure to come to an agreement on educa-
tion legislation, forcing them to remain in session
until both sides could come to a compromise. The
battle lasted well into October and contributed to
the Republicans losing five seats in the House of
Representatives when the votes were tallied that No-
vember. It was the worst loss for the congressional
majority in a midterm election in more than half a
century. As the public face of the Republican Party,
Gingrich was held responsible for his party’s loss.
Shortly after the election, he not only stepped down
as Speaker but also resigned his position in Con-
gress, despite having been elected by his district to a
tenth term. Following his departure from govern-
ment, Gingrich became a commentator with Fox
News and joined a number of institutes that focus
on various areas of public policy.

Impact Newt Gingrich was a rare politician who
not only had the vision of a national Republican re-
alignment but also possessed the knowledge and
skill to bring that goal to fruition. Despite being pun-
ished for a number of ethics violations during his
congressional tenure, Gingrich brought his party
back to the majority in the House of Representatives
after forty years. His Contract with America ignited
the passions of a new generation of Republican legis-

lators who, despite his absence, held that mandate of

leadership until the Democrats regained the major-

ity following the midterm elections of 2006.

Further Reading

Gibbs, Nancy, and Michael Duffy. “Fall of the House

of Newt.”Time, November 16, 1998, 46-55. Report

on Gingrich and his party’s fall from power.

Gingrich, Newt.To Renew America.New York: Harper-

Collins, 1995. Gingrich outlines his political phi-

losophy and his policy goals.

Sheehy, Gail. “The Inner Quest of Newt Gingrich.”

Vanity Fair, September, 1995, 149-151. A look at

Gingrich from the perspectives of his family,

friends, associates, and himself.

Laurence R. Jurdem

See also Christian Coalition; Clinton, Bill; Clin-

ton’s impeachment; Clinton’s scandals; Conserva-

tism in U.S. politics; Contract with America; Elec-

tions in the United States, midterm; Elections in the

United States, 1996; Lewinsky scandal; Republican

Revolution; Term limits.

 Ginsburg, Ruth Bader

Identification Associate justice of the United

States since 1993

Born March 15, 1933; Brooklyn, New York

In 1993, Ginsburg became the second woman to sit on the

U.S. Supreme Court.

Prior to joining the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruth Bader

Ginsburg was best known for her work as the first

director of the Women’s Rights Project of the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She was the victo-

rious counsel of record in numerous equal protec-

tion lawsuits that came before the Supreme Court in

the 1970’s. These cases constituted much of the sig-

nificant sex equity litigation of the twentieth century

and had great constitutional and societal signifi-

cance. Between 1980 and 1993, Ginsburg sat on the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

Circuit.

On June 14, 1993, when President Bill Clinton

nominated Ginsburg to succeed Justice Byron White

on the U.S. Supreme Court, he spoke of her “pioneer-

ing” work on behalf of women. Her nomination

sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee by an

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Ginsburg, Ruth Bader The Nineties in America