Editing Newt Gingrich (section)

=== Resignation ===
In 1998, Gingrich's private polls had given his fellow Republicans the impression that pushing the [[Clinton–Lewinsky scandal]] would damage Clinton's popularity and result in the party winning a net total of six to thirty seats in the House of Representatives. At the same time, Gingrich was having an affair with a [[Callista Gingrich|woman]] 23 years his junior.<ref>{{cite news | publisher = baltimoresun.com | date = January 20, 1995 | title = Gingrich won't give up book deal despite furor | first = Susan | last = Baer | url = https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-01-20-1995020036-story.html | access-date = March 5, 2020 | archive-date = November 22, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201122132243/https://www.baltimoresun.com/ | url-status = live }}</ref> But instead of gaining seats, Republicans lost five, the worst midterm performance in 64 years by a party not holding the presidency.<ref name=kc.l>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989559,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|title=Fall of the House Of Newt |date=November 16, 1998 |access-date=August 17, 2012 |first1=Nancy |last1=Gibbs |first2=Michael |last2=Duffy |archive-date=August 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821035730/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989559,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other ethics violations, including an unpopular book deal, added to his unpopularity even though he himself was reelected in his own district.<ref name="Fox News">{{cite news |publisher=[[Fox News]]|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/former-house-speaker-newt-gingrich-acknowledges-having-affair-during-clinton-impeachment/ |title=Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledges having affair during Clinton impeachment |access-date=August 22, 2018 |archive-date=August 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822050248/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/03/08/former-house-speaker-newt-gingrich-acknowledges-having-affair-during-clinton.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | publisher =  politifact.com | date =  January 23, 2012 | title =  Did Gingrich leave speakership "in disgrace"? | author =  Louis Jacobson and Katie Sanders | url =  https://www.politifact.com/article/2012/jan/23/did-gingrich-leave-speakership-disgrace/ | access-date =  March 5, 2020 | archive-date =  August 5, 2020 | archive-url =  https://web.archive.org/web/20200805030722/https://www.politifact.com/article/2012/jan/23/did-gingrich-leave-speakership-disgrace/ | url-status =  live }}</ref>

The day after the election, a Republican caucus ready to rebel against him prompted his resignation of the speakership. He also announced he intended a full departure from the House a few weeks later. In January 1999 he resigned his seat.<ref name="nytimes1998">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/us/the-speaker-steps-down-excerpts-from-phone-call-about-gingrich-s-future.html |title=The Speaker Steps Down |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804035421/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/us/the-speaker-steps-down-excerpts-from-phone-call-about-gingrich-s-future.html |archive-date=August 4, 2016 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 8, 1998}}</ref> When relinquishing the speakership, Gingrich referred to other Republicans when he said he was "not willing to preside over people who are [[Human cannibalism|cannibal]]s".<ref name="nytimes1998"/> Writing a retrospective on his career at that point, ''[[The New York Times]]'' in November 1998 described Gingrich as "an expert in how to seize power, but a novice in holding it" further opining that he "illustrate[d] how hard it is for a radical, polarizing figure to last in leadership".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/07/opinion/the-gingrich-coup.html|title=The Gingrich Coup|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 7, 1998|access-date=March 27, 2021}}</ref>

In December 1997, Gingrich flirted with a potential run for president in the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 election]], but his party's midterm performance and his subsequent resignation led him to drop any plans to do so.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/05/2000-in-july-1997-the|title=A Guide to Every Other Time Newt Gingrich Has Threatened to Run for President|first=Juli|last=Weiner|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=May 9, 2011|access-date=March 27, 2021}}</ref>