How Newt Gingrich Shaped The Republican Party
When President Trump uses phrases like “radical left,” he’s pulling from a playbook Newt Gingrich helped write. Historian Julian Zelizer makes that case in his new book about Gingrich’s rise from a young and unknown congressman, who utilized cable television, especially CSPAN, to shape the Republican Party in ways still seen today.
Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson speaks with Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. His new book is “Burning Down The House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall Of A Speaker, And The Rise Of The New Republican Party.”
Book Excerpt: ‘Burning Down The House’
By Julian Zelizer
On the evening of July 13, 2016, the former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich marched through the hallways of an Indianapo- lis television studio as he prepared to appear live on Fox News.
The past twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind. The Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, was seriously considering naming Gingrich his vice presidential running mate. Gingrich loved being back in the spotlight; to him, the thrill of politics was like a narcotic.
Suddenly Gingrich had a chance to return to the heights of power he had missed since his Republican colleagues had pressured him to step down as Speaker of the House, one of the most
