Newt Gingrich’s political rise was anything but certain — a northerner in a Southern state, a historian prone to grandiose commentary. It takes him three tries to win a seat in the House of Representatives. But even as a freshman in 1979, his aim was clear: Defeat the Permanent Democratic Majority. Steve traces Newt’s origins and shows how the freshman congressman launches his first battle, with an attack on what Gingrich sees as corruption in Congress.
