Newt was born Newton Leroy McPherson on June 17^th 1943 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to a sixteen year old mother, Kathleen Daugherty and a nineteen year old father, Newton Searles  McPherson, who were married for just three days. Later his mother married Robert Gingrich who adopted Newton and gave Newton a younger half sister, Candice Gingrich.

As the child of a military family Newt spent most of his childhood years traveling around and attending military schools. He finally graduated from Baker High School in Columbus, Georgia in 1961. He then attended Emory University in Atlanta and graduated with a B.A. degree in 1965 and an MA in 1968 and was awarded a PhD in 1971 in Modern European History from Tulane University in New Orleans.

From 1970 through 1978 Newt taught history at West Georgia College in Georgia

Following in the footsteps of his father, Newt also married at the tender age of nineteen but unlike his father who married a younger girl, Newt married his former high school teacher, Jackie Battley who was seven years older than him. Together they had two daughters but divorced in 1980 after Jackie had worked to put Newt through graduate school.

It was rumoured that Newt would not pay child support or alimony which his daughter Jackie Zyle has refuted.

Newt’s ability to keep the family together was put to the test in 1977 when he entered into an extramarital affair with a woman in Washington D.C. He was divorced!

In 1981 Newt was married for the second time to Marianna Ginther who was quoted as saying that she didn’t think Newt should ever be president based on the fact that she would not be happy being the first lady.

Once again in 1999 Gingrich had an affair with a thirty three year old, Callista Bisek, divorced his wife, and married Callista the next year. He was criticized for his condemnation of Bill Clinton’s affair at that time with Monica Lewinsky, while he was himself having an affair. He justified the difference by saying that Clinton was not being impeached for the affair but for lying under oath.

Since that time it has been argued that Gingrich’s suitability as president is questionable.

One of Gingrich’s greatest achievements was accomplished when Dick Cheney was appointed Secretary of  Defense in 1989 and Newt rose to the position of House Majority Whip.

In March 2006, Gingrich began a regular series of daily radio commentaries. These commentaries were modeled on Ronald Reagan's radio addresses in the mid-1970s.

Along with his political career Newt has also found time to write several books, "Rediscovering God in America", "Winning the Future” and “A Contact with the Earth” released in the Fall of 2007, based on his beliefs that global warming is a 21^st century problem which he debated in April 2007 with Senator John Kerry. 

It is strongly expected that Newt will announce his intension to run for president in 2008. 

ABB