The Conservative Revolution 3091995 destroyed the federal office building in Oklahoma City, and 169
men, women, and children lost their lives. That such an outrage by
American citizens could take place in this country seemed unbeliev-
able. But it clearly demonstrated that there were angry, armed individ-
uals who felt contempt toward the government and did not hesitate to
take the law into their own hands. The perpetrators of this tragedy
were apprehended, tried, and punished.
Violence and corruption. They dominated the news during the
1990 s. The health-care fiasco provided Republicans with additional
arguments about how the government had been corrupted by contin-
ued Democratic control over the past forty years. There were additional
scandals, too. One of them forced the resignation of Robert Packwood
from the Senate when several women charged him with sexual harass-
ment. Another involved the Congressional Post Office in which a grand
jury found evidence that funds had been embezzled and stamps pro-
vided to members had been exchanged for cash.
These scandals increased public anger over the behavior of their
federal officials, and Newt Gingrich, a House leader of Republicans,
kept reminding the electorate that it was time for a change. Forty years
of uninterrupted Democratic control of the House proved it. He re-
cruited young, energetic Republicans to run for office, raised money to
help them in their campaigns, and sent them training tapes to educate
them further in the ways of winning office. On September 27 , 1994 ,
some 300 Republican congressional incumbents and challengers to
Democratic incumbents gathered on the steps of the Capitol and un-
veiled Gingrich’s “Contract with America,” by which they promised to
cleanse the House of its corruption in the fi rst 100 days of the next
Congress if the public elected at least forty new Republicans.
And change did come—with devastating force. In the midterm
election of 1994 the Democrats hardly knew what hit them. They lost
52 seats in the House of Representatives, whereas not a single incum-
bent Republican failed to win reelection. Even the Democratic Speaker,
Thomas Foley, lost his election. The Republicans captured control of
the House, 230 to 204 , and a conservative revolution began in earnest.
Foley was the first sitting Speaker to lose since 1862 , when Galusha A.
Grow of Pennsylvania was defeated. Newt Gingrich was credited with
this unexpected triumph and was elected the new Speaker. Republicans