This interview with Newt Gingrich originally ran in the October 2006 issue of DISCOVER. We're re-publishing it now because of its renewed relevance: Gingrich is pegged by many observers as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president, after his recent and dramatic surge in national polls.
Newt Gingrich | Gage Skidmore via Flickr
Newt Gingrich hasn't been Speaker of the House for a while. He was chased out of office in November 1998, trailed by a vague but persistent ethical cloud. Depending upon your political views, you most likely recall Gingrich in one of two ways: either as the brilliant revolutionary who overturned a complacent, morally bankrupt Democratic order in the House of Representatives or as the power-hungry backbencher who unleashed the attack dogs of partisanship on the Capitol. Of course, Gingrich is a large enough personality to warrant a bit of both descriptions and then some.
The former ...
