Their Gingrich was in key ways a failure -- most notably, he made gross strategic miscalculations about his chief adversary, Bill Clinton -- but in no way one dimensional. Indeed, the Post reporters' detailing of his first critical year as Speaker is also the tale of a sometimes astute manager and compromise-seeking bargainer. He was very much an adherent of respected books on management and leadership and did his best to thoughtfully heed their lessons.

That penchant for pragmatism helps explain his assembling a high-powered team, including the likes of current Speaker John Boehner. It also explains why ideology didn't rule his actions and why then, as now, there are suspicions among true-blue conservatives as to his loyalty to their cause.

Fast forward to his unlikely presidential candidacy. One finds clear and growing chagrin from longtime Gingrich watchers. Peggy Noonan correctly wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "What is striking is the extraordinary divide in opinion between those who know Gingrich and those who don't. Those who do are mostly not for him."

Tom Coburn, the conservative U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, was a member of the Gingrich-run House and is adamantly against him. He's one of many from that era. They and elite conservative media are rolling their eyes, with National Review editorializing last week against the Gingrich candidacy.

His character flaws, including impulsiveness and half-baked concepts, made him a poor Speaker, the magazine wrote. "Again and again he combined incendiary rhetoric with irresolute action, bringing Republicans all the political costs of a hardline position without actually taking one. Again and again he put his own interests above those of the causes he championed in public."

"Gingrich has always said he wants to transform the country," it concluded. "He appears unable to transform, or even govern, himself. He should be an adviser to the Republican party but not again its head."



Steve Gillon isn't surprised by this turn of events. A resident historian at the History Channel and author of "The Pact: Bill Clinton, New Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation," he says that "when I was doing interviews for my book, the harshest criticism of Gingrich came not from Democratic leaders but from fellow conservative Republicans who accused the speaker of having abandoned their cause and undermined their credibility. The very people who Gingrich helped bring to power are the ones who feel most betrayed by him."



Several historians trace Gingrich's at least temporary ascendancy in the Republican primary to the breakdown in party discipline, notably the end of an era in which party insiders most often chose the presidential nominee. It's really just been since the coming of the modern primary system, which essentially dates to the 1970s, that voters have gained control, creating the possibility of a disjoint between the views of the insiders and the rank-and-file voters that the outsiders win.