The end of an era

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat

Just a few hours earlier, Republicans began announcing their challenges to the House leadership. The Speaker's Office had just responded with a press release and, as far as I thought, the war was on. Newt was going to take on the challengers for his seat.

We took the Congressional subway under Independence Avenue to the Capitol building. Upon entering the Speaker's Office, I took a seat off to the side, and waited for Gingrich to get on the conference phone from Georgia. "This is so exciting," I remember saying to the person next to me, as I prepared anxiously to hear him tell us the plan of action.

What would happen was very different.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, known by those gathered in that room simply as Newt, told us he was resigning from Congress.

Wow.

On one hand, I felt privileged to be among the first few to learn of the end of an era in American government. On the other, I was deeply saddened to hear the man I had for so long looked up to call it quits.

The mood around the room was one of disbelief. With the exception of perhaps his top aides, it appeared that most of those present were unaware of the decision.

As shocking as it was, the Speaker's announcement to step down is not so difficult to understand. Gingrich had become the whipping post for Democrats across the country. Fueled by over $100 million in attacks ads and the willing assistance of the media, his political and ideological adversaries were able to demonize him in the minds of the easily lead and poorly informed.

Many Republicans had become tired of the liberals running from the issues by running against Newt. A small group within the party had, for this reason, vowed not to support him as Speaker.

Had Gingrich fought this Clinton-style, he would have likely retained his post. However, he courageously and selflessly placed the good of his party and America before his own. For this he should be congratulated.

Only time will tell what this will mean for the future of the GOP. I fear that this "what have you done for me lately?" attitude can only further weaken the party. It was Speaker Gingrich's leadership that created and has maintained a Republican majority through three consecutive elections, a feat not matched in nearly seven decades.

Politics on Capitol Hill is seldom pretty, however at least one intern feels that you should stand behind the man who made you. You live by the sword, you should be prepared to die by it.

But that is all in the past now, and history will be the true judge of Newt Gingrich. It will not judge him by two-bit ads claiming he wanted to starve hungry school children or by a Newsweek front page portrayal as "The Gingrich That Stole Christmas." Such nonsense can only satisfy the weak minds of the truly ignorant.

Gingrich certainly had his critics, however, history will not judge him by them either. Rather it will judge him by his actions. And mostly, it will judge him within the framework of the words of another great Republican leader, President Theodore Roosevelt.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds? Who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that this place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Whether one believed in his politics or policy, few can deny the monumental importance of this leader. A man who stood firm for what he believed to be right and made no apology for it. Most of all, a man who dreamed great dreams for the future of America.

"Well Al, you've made history," my internship coordinator Nicole told me as we got back on the elevator. "Newt's last intern."

That's something I will always be proud of. I want to thank Speaker Gingrich for the opportunity to aid him in his historic service to our country. Even if in a way too small to be notice by most, I am truly honored to have served a man I consider a hero.

All the best, Newt. You'll be missed.

Al Mollo is political science senior serving an internship in Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich's office. His column, From Atop the Hill, appears every Wednesday and he can be reached via e-mail at Al.Mollo@wildcat.arizona.edu.