architect responsible for the traditional style and regal proportions seen in many of the nation’s finest public buildings—including the Supreme Court Build-ing, in Washington, D.C.. Upo
Trang 1(Joint Tribal Council v Morton, 528 F.2d 370 [1st Cir 1975]) Prior to the Gignoux decision, Maine Indians were considered “colonial”
Indians and not the Indians of the frontier that Congress meant to protect in the Noninter-course Act Gignoux ruled in 1975 that the statute did apply, thus making some previous land transactions illegal and making the Maine tribes“federal” Indians
Gignoux’s reputation as a trial judge spread quickly According to one of his former law clerks, lawyers and other judges packed his courtroom during their spare time to watch Gignoux’s performance
Gignoux was serious about the fair and equitable administration of justice Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he served the U.S Judicial Conference The Judicial Conference is the principal machinery through which the federal court system operates, establishing the stan-dards policies governing the federalJUDICIARY In recognition of his efforts with the Conference, Gignoux recieved the Devitt Award in 1987
Gignoux’s work with the Judicial Confer-ence brought him national recognition, and in
1970 he was considered for a nomination to the U.S Supreme Court Although he was not appointed, he did make an impression on future Court justice DAVID H SOUTER When Souter filled out a questionnaire in preparation for his confirmationHEARING20 years later, he noted a voting-rights case that he had argued in 1970 before Gignoux He said, “It was one of the most gratifying events of my life, for the argument included a genuinely dialectical exchange between the greatJURISTand me.”
As Gignoux’s reputation grew, Chief Justice
WARREN E.BURGERcalled on him to preside over some very political, and potentially explosive, cases In 1973 Warren appointed him to preside over the contempt trial of Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Lee Weiner, and John Froines These 1960s radicals known as the Chicago Seven (even though there were eight of them) had already been tried and convicted for their participation in violent demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, in Chicago Following their trial, contempt charges were filed against the individuals and their lawyer,WILLIAM M.KUNSTLER, for their behavior in court Gignoux found only Hoffman, Rubin, Dellinger, and their lawyer to be in contempt,
but he did not impose additional sentences on the parties involved, saying that theirCONVICTION
and their previous time served were punish-ment enough
On June 1, 1983, after 25 years on the federal bench, Gignoux took senior (or semiretired) status, but he continued to hear cases around the country and to serve on theTEMPORARY EMERGENCY COURT OF APPEALS, which heard cases from district courts on the Emergency Natural Gas Act of
1977 Gignoux’s ability to uphold both the letter and the spirit of the law, against overwhelming political and social pressures, was still very much
IN EVIDENCE when, during his first year of
“retirement,” he was asked to preside over the trial of U.S district judge Alcee L Hastings (see
IMPEACHMENT[sidebar]) Hastings, who was later acquitted of CONSPIRACYto solicit a bribe and of obstruction of justice, was the first sitting U.S judge to face criminal charges Although pres-sured to drop the charges throughout the trial, Gignoux said that“the court is entirely persuaded that the government has submitted evidence that is sufficient to sustain a finding by the jury
of guilty.” Also during the Hastings trial, Gignoux rejected one of the first serious efforts to open
a federal court trial to TELEVISION coverage; Gignoux believed that he was prohibited by federal law from permitting cameras in the courtroom
Gignoux died on November 4, 1988, in Portland, Maine Shortly before his death, the city renamed the federal courthouse there in his honor Gignoux was acknowledged by friend and circuit judge Frank M Coffin as an
“inspiration” and as a jurist who served honorably and well “in the most demanding and delicate of trial situations.”
vGILBERT, CASS Cass Gilbert was the U.S architect responsible for the traditional style and regal proportions seen in many of the nation’s finest public buildings—including the Supreme Court Build-ing, in Washington, D.C His remarkable body
of work included FEDERAL, state, municipal, educational, and religious structures as well as facilities designed for commercial, industrial, and private USE Gilbert believed strongly that architecture should serve the established politi-cal and social order; much of his work continues to serve its public purpose decades after its conception and completion
TRIALS WHICH
PROCEED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH
THE LAW,THE RULES
OF EVIDENCE AND THE
STANDARDS OF
DEMEANOR NOT ONLY
REAFFIRM THE
INTEGRITY AND
VIABILITY OF THE
JUDICIAL PROCESS,
BUT ALSO SERVE TO
INSURE THE ABILITY
OF EACH ONE OF US
TO PROTECT THE
RIGHTS AND
LIBERTIES WE ENJOY
AS CITIZENS
—E DWARD G IGNOUX
88 GILBERT, CASS
Trang 2Gilbert was born November 24, 1859, in
Zanesville, Ohio, where his grandfather, Charles
Champion Gilbert, was the first mayor He
attended school in Zanesville until the death of
his father, Samuel Augustus Gilbert, in 1868 At
that time, his mother, Elizabeth Fulton Wheeler,
apprenticed him to an architectural firm in
St Paul, Minnesota There he completed his
education and trained as a surveyor In 1878
Gilbert enrolled at the MassachusettsINSTITUTEof
Technology, where he studied architecture for
one year
Income from occasional surveying work
allowed Gilbert to embark, in 1879, on the
customary grand tour of Europe, undertaken by
many young men of his social standing and
economic means He traveled in England,
France, and Italy and was exposed to many of
the classic architectural styles that would later
dominate his work
Upon his return to the United States,
Gilbert was employed as a draftsman by the
New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead,
and White, where he was influenced by name
partner and noted architect Stanford White His
association with this firm gave him an
opportu-nity to hone his skills and to learn the business
side of running an architectural enterprise
Seeing his promise, the firm sent him to
St Paul in 1881 to oversee a building project
By December 1882 Gilbert had severed ties
with McKim, Mead and formed a partnership
with St Paul architect James Knox Taylor
Together, Gilbert and Taylor pursued both
institutional and residential work, but they were
unable to succeed financially The business
partnership dissolved Well organized and
efficient, Gilbert found that he preferred to
work alone; he did not form another profes-sional partnership during his career His architectural work from this period included the Dayton Avenue Church, St Paul (1888);
St Martin’s by the Lake, Minneapolis (1888);
and the Lightner House, St Paul (1893)
Gilbert did establish a personal partnership,
on November 29, 1887, when he married Julia
T Finch Their growing family—which ulti-mately included Emily, Elizabeth Wheeler, Julia Swift, and Cass, Jr.—added to the financial burdens of the struggling architect To supple-ment his income from design work, Gilbert sold watercolors He had begun painting during his European travels, and he was known locally as a talented artist
Cass Gilbert.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
Cass Gilbert 1859–1934
❖
1859 Born,
Zanesville,
Ohio
1861–65 U.S Civil War
◆
1868 Began apprenticeship
at architectural firm in St Paul
1879–80 Went on grand tour of Europe; studied architecture in England, France, and Italy
◆
1896 Appointed architect for the Minnesota State Capitol
1902–07 Design and construction
of U.S Custom House in New York City
◆
1908 Elected president of the American Institute of Architects
◆
1910 Appointed to National Commission of Fine Arts
◆
1914–18 World War II
◆
1918 U.S.
Treasury Annex completed
1913 Woolworth building completed
1939–45 World War II
❖
1934 Died, Brockenhurst, England
1928–35 Design and construction of U.S
Supreme Court building
◆
1924 U.S.
Chamber of Commerce building completed GILBERT, CASS 89
Trang 3In 1896 Gilbert landed the job that would launch him to national prominence: He was appointed architect for the Minnesota State Capitol Building, in St Paul The majestic domed structure that he created was immensely popular Both its scale and detail were consid-ered appropriate for its public purpose His success convinced Gilbert that he was ready to compete in New York
Shortly after moving to New York, Gilbert was among those invited to submit plans for the U.S Custom House He won the competition, but not without controversy Other firms involved in the competition thought Taylor, then architect of the Treasury Building, in Washington, D.C., had unfairly influenced the choice of his former partner Despite the controversy, Gilbert was eventually awarded other commissions, including the Union Club and the West Street Building, in New York, and the Essex County Courthouse, in Newark, New Jersey
He also began to play a role in organiza-tions associated with his profession, being elected president of the American Institute of Architects in 1908 At various points in his career, he was an active member of the Architectural League of New York, Academy
of Design, National Institute of Arts and Letters, Academy of Arts and Letters, Royal Institute of British Architects, Royal Institute
of Canada, Architectural Society of Liverpool, Royal Academy of Arts, and French Legion
of Honor
Although Gilbert entered, and won, a number of competitions during his career, most
of his work came from his professional associa-tions and his power of persuasion His pursuit
of the contract for the Woolworth Building, in New York, is just one example of his tenacious nature HEARING that Frank W Woolworth was going abroad before naming an architect for his new building, Gilbert booked passage on the same boat; he had a signed contract in hand before the boat docked
The Woolworth Building, with its tremen-dous height and inventive use of terra-cotta, was
a huge success It was the tallest building in the world and it towered over the New York skyline for almost 20 years The building made Gilbert
a celebrity and substantially increased the demand for his professional services The Scott Memorial Fountain, Detroit (1914); Detroit
Public Library (1917); Brooklyn Army Terminal (1918); St Louis Public Library (1921); and a host of other schools, banks, libraries, museums, and municipal structures were commissioned in the years following his completion of the Woolworth Building in 1913
In 1910 Gilbert was appointed to the National Commission of Fine Arts by President
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT He was reappointed for another term by President Woodrow Wilson in
1914 Through this association, Gilbert secured some of his most prestigious work, including the U.S Treasury Annex (1918), Chamber of
COMMERCE (1924), and, finally, the Supreme Court Building
In 1928 Chief Justice and former president William Howard Taft became chairman of the Supreme Court Building Commission, created
by Congress to build a permanent home for the nation’s High Court Taft remembered Gilbert’s work on the National Commission of Fine Arts and selected him to design the new Court building
The structure envisioned by Gilbert was
a monumental temple of justice—one that evoked the power, authority, and solemnity of the Court His design, which filled the square-block site, featured a neo-classical white marble structure with an enormous central hall housing the courtroom Two symmetrical wings on either side of the central hall contained offices, libraries, and other Court functions The focus
of the Court chamber was an elevated bench, which looked out on seating for more than three hundred spectators
The interior layout of the building separ-ated the justices’ private areas from the public areas, and was designed to facilitate grand entrances into the courtroom The building’s private areas contained three-room office suites, a robing room, underground parking and entrances, temperature- and humidity-controlled library andDOCUMENTstorage facili-ties, and pressrooms
Gilbert’s architectural sketches were ap-proved by the commission in 1929, and construction began in 1931 The building was not completed until after Gilbert’s death in 1934; Gilbert’s son, Cass, Jr., supervised the final stages of the project
The Supreme Court Building opened its doors to the public on Monday, October 7,
LET US PAY OUR
ARCHITECTURAL
DEBTS TO THE
CREATORS OF THE
PLAN OF
WASHINGTON
—C ASS G ILBERT
90 GILBERT, CASS
Trang 41935 Initially, the building was criticized for
both its size and its exterior embellishment
To a large extent, the size was dictated by the
site: Gilbert strove to complement the scale
of the ADJACENT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS and of
other buildings in the Capitol complex Charges
of wasted space in the halls and corridors,
and excessive seating in the courtroom, have
diminished with time The building’s exterior
embellishment featured prominent legal figures
and themes and was executed by some of the
finest artists and sculptors of the day It is said
that one of the toga-clad figures depicted on the
building bears the likeness of the architect
himself
As a space designed for hearing arguments
and holding public discussion, the large
court-room was also criticized for its poor acoustics
Time and improved sound technology have
diminished this criticism In the early 2000s, the
Supreme Court Building is considered the
pinnacle of Gilbert’s work and is one of the
nation’s finest public buildings
While developing the Supreme Court
Build-ing, Gilbert also continued to work in New York
and across the country During this period he
designed the New York LifeINSURANCEBuilding,
the U.S Courthouse in New York City, the
GEORGE WASHINGTON Memorial Bridge, and the
state capitol buildings in Arkansas and West
Virginia
Biographer Egerton Swartwout described
Gilbert as “purposely impressive in manner
and rather pompous at times.” This description
could as easily be applied to the public buildings
Gilbert designed Gilbert’s work stayed true to
the traditional themes that inspired him as a
young man traveling in Europe Though his
Woolworth Building and other commercial
structures contributed to the evolution of the
modern skyscraper, Gilbert was not a fan of the
modern functional architecture that emerged in
the 1920s The turmoil ofWORLD WAR I and the
economic difficulties of the 1920s were said to
have solidified Gilbert’s commitment to classic
traditional style
Still much in demand by those who shared
his architectural vision, Gilbert died suddenly
May 17, 1934, on a golf holiday at Brockenhurst,
England, at age seventy-five He is buried in New
York City His personal and professional papers
are housed at the Library of Congress—across
the street from his Supreme Court Building
FURTHER READINGS Blodgett, Geoffrey 2005 Cass Gilbert, Architect, Conservative
at Bay Journal of American History 72 (December)
——— 2001 Cass Gilbert: The Early Years St Paul, MN:
Minnesota Historical Society.
Bluestone, Daniel M 1988 “Detroit’s City Beautiful and the Problem of Commerce ” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 47, no 3 (September).
Gaskie, Margaret F 1981 “The Woolworth Tower.”
Architectural Record (November).
Irish, Sharon Lu “Cass Gilbert’s Career in New York, 1899–
1905.” Ann Arbor, MI: Univ Microfilms.
——— 1989 “A Machine That Makes the Land Pay: The West Street Building in New York.” Technology and Culture 30.
——— 1973 “Mr Woolworth’s Tower: The Skyscraper as Popular Icon ” Journal of Popular Culture.
Jones, Robert Allan 1976 Cass Gilbert, Midwestern Architect
in New York Ph.D dissertation, Case Western Reserve Univ.
McGurn, Barrett 1982 “Slogans to Fit the Occasion.”
Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court Historical Society.
Murphy, P 1981 “Minnesota’s Architectural Favorite Son.”
Architecture: the AIA Journal 3.
Myers, Rex C 1976 “The Montana Club: Symbol of Elegance ” The Magazine of Western History 26, no 4 (autumn).
Thompson, Neil B 2005 Minnesota’s State Capitol: The Art and Politics of a Public Building Minneapolis: Minne-sota Historical Society.
Tunick, Susan, and Jonathan Walters 1982 The Wonderful World of Terra Cotta Historic Preservation.
vGILLETT, EMMA MELINDA Emma Melinda Gillett was a remarkable ATTOR-NEY who helped establish one of the first co-educational law schools in the United States In
1896, Gillett and a colleague, ELLEN SPENCER MUSSEY, sponsored a series of lectures in Washington, D.C., for local women interested
in law Despite social pressures against women
in the legal profession, Gillett and Mussey held the lectures for two years They expanded their curriculum and created Washington College of Law, a co-educational INSTITUTION that later became part of American University
Gillett was born July 30, 1852, in Princeton, Wisconsin After her father, Richard J Gillett, died in 1854, Gillett moved to Girard, Pennsyl-vania, with her mother, Sarah Ann Gillett, and family Like Mussey, Gillett attended Lake Erie Seminary in Painesville, Ohio Upon graduation
in 1870, Gillett became a public school teacher
After ten years of teaching, she decided to move to Washington, D.C., to pursue a LEGAL EDUCATIONand career Her plans were thwarted
by the refusal of most district law schools to admit women Gillett overcame the obstacle by
THE MAJORITY OF THE[WOMEN] PRACTITIONERS WHO ARE STICKING TO THEIR WORK AND PLODDING ON[THEIR] WAY TO SUCCESS ARE UNMARRIED
—E MMA G ILLETT
GILLETT, EMMA MELINDA 91
Trang 5enrolling at Howard University Law College, a well-known, predominantly African American institution that did accept female students
Gillett earned a law degree from Howard in
1882 and a master of law degree in 1883 She began a successful law practice in Washington, D.C., and became VICE PRESIDENT of the D.C
region of the previously all-male AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION She also was elected president of the Women’sBAR ASSOCIATIONof theDISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Both Gillett and Mussey had been denied admission to the all-male, all-white law schools
in Washington, D.C., which likely motivated the women to form the Washington College of Law
Three additional motivating factors have also been identified First, women’s voluntary asso-ciations had experienced significant growth during the latter part of the nineteenth century
Second, opportunities for women in higher education had expanded Third, the women’s
SUFFRAGE movement had grown considerably
Gillett and Mussey established a co-educational institution, rather than a women-only law school They believed that admitting both men and women as students, as well as hiring male faculty and administrators, were necessary to promote gender equality Perhaps as important, Gillett and Mussey knew that admitting men as students and employing men in faculty and administrative positions were necessary to pro-mote the long-term success of the school Fifteen years after its establishment, in fact, the number of men enrolled in the school outnumbered the number of women, due largely to the fact that two other law schools in Washington, D.C., began to admit women as students Nevertheless, only women served as deans of the Washington College of Law until 1947 Washington College
of Law earned accreditation from the American Bar Association in 1940 and became a part of American University in 1949
Gillett succeeded Mussey as dean of the law school in 1913, heading the institution for ten years Gillett died on January 23, 1927, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 74
FURTHER READINGS Clark, Mary L 1998 “The Founding of the Washington College of Law: The First Law School Established by Women for Women ” American Univ Law Review 47,
no 3.
“Emma Melinda Gillett.” 1927 Women Lawyers’ Journal Available online at http://www.stanford.edu/group/ WLHP/articles/gillettobit.htm; website home page: http://www.stanford.edu (accessed July 26, 2009).
“Emma M Gillett.” History of WCL Washington College of Law Available online at http://www.wcl.american.edu/ history/gillett.cfm; website home page: http://www.wcl american.edu (accessed September 4, 2009).
vGILPIN, HENRY DILWORTH Henry Dilworth Gilpin served as attorney general of the United States from 1840 to
1841 under PresidentMARTIN VAN BUREN He was born April 14, 1801, in Lancaster, England He and his parents, Joshua Gilpin and Mary Dilworth Gilpin, boarded a ship for the United States in 1802 The Gilpins were aristocratic and socially prominent, not a struggling immigrant family Gilpin’s grandfather Thomas Gilpin was
a manufacturer and businessman who had been shipping goods to U.S harbors since colonial days He was among those who helped to plan and execute the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (which connects the head
of Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware River estuary and thereby shortens sea routes to Baltimore from the north and from Europe) Gilpin’s father, an author and poet with
Emma Melinda Gillett 1852–1927
1852 Born,
Princeton,
Wis.
1861–65 U.S Civil War
◆
1870 Graduated from Lake Erie Seminary
◆
1883 Earned LL.B and LL.M.
from Howard University Law College
◆
1890 Admitted
to U.S.
Supreme Court bar
1898 Founded Washington College of Law with Ellen Spencer Mussey
1896–98 Sponsored series of lectures for women interested in law
1914–18 World War I
1913–23 Served
as president of Washington College of Law
1927 Died, Washington, D.C.
1921 Founder and first president of Women's Bar Association of D.C.
1920–21 Served as vice president of D.C.
chapter of American Bar Association
1939–45 World War II
92 GILPIN, HENRY DILWORTH
Trang 6published works in both England and the
United States, dabbled in a number of artistic
and business ventures in the United States He
eventually settled in Pennsylvania, where he ran
a successful papermaking business
Gilpin was brought up near Philadelphia and
was educated at the University of Pennsylvania
He graduated as valedictorian of his class in 1819
and began to study law with a localATTORNEY In
1822 he was admitted to the bar but he did not
establish a practice Instead, he went to work as
an agent for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
Company The position allowed him to travel
and to pursue the literary interests encouraged by
his father From 1826 to 1832 he wrote detailed
accounts of his visits to Harper’s Ferry, the
Shenandoah Valley, Weyer’s Cave, Natural
Bridge, Lexington, Charlottesville,
Fredericks-burg, Washington, D.C., and other locations in
the Atlantic and southern states His writings
were collected by his father and later published
in a seven-volume work called Atlantic Souvenirs
(1826–1832)
Gilpin’s pedigree and business interests
permitted him to mix with prominent citizens
wherever he traveled During this early period
of travel, he met and married Eliza Johnson, of
New Orleans In 1826 he attended—and wrote a
famous account of—President John Quincy
Adams’s inaugural ball and public reception
On subsequent trips to the nation’s capital, he
developed an interest in politics by writing
profiles of men likeHENRY CLAY,DANIEL WEBSTER,
andANDREW JACKSON
Gilpin was a great admirer of Jackson and
was active in Jackson’s successful bid for the
presidency in 1828 In appreciation for Gilpin’s
support, Jackson named him to the board of directors of the Second National BANK OF THE UNITED STATES The First National Bank, located
in Gilpin’s hometown of Philadelphia, was established as the nation’s central bank in
1816 during the financial crisis after the WAR
OF 1812 It had opened in 1791 and closed in
1811 after its renewalCHARTER was successfully challenged by agricultural interests who were not served by the bank’s commercial focus
Like its predecessor, the Second National Bank had strong opposition Jackson believed that it had become too powerful, and he wanted
to diminish its influence by withdrawingFEDERAL
funds and depositing the money in selected state
Henry Dilworth Gilpin 1801–1860
❖
❖
1801 Born,
Lancaster,
England
1812–14 War of 1812
◆ ◆
1819 Graduated from University of Pa.
1822 Admitted to
Pa bar;
joined Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company
1826–32 Traveled throughout mid-Atlantic states;
Atlantic Souvenirs
published
1832–35 Served as U.S.
attorney for the Eastern District of Pa.
1837–40 Served as solicitor
of the U.S Treasury
◆
1841 Left public service for successful private practice
1840–41 Served as U.S
attorney general
1860 Died, Philadelphia, Pa.
1861–65 U.S Civil War
Henry D Gilpin.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
GILPIN, HENRY DILWORTH 93
Trang 7banks The Bank War, as the debate over the bank’s role in the federal economy came to be called, was a central issue in Jackson’s second presidential campaign Jackson’s re-election, along with the presence of his ally Gilpin on the board, ensured the bank’s DEMISE Gilpin successfully pressed Jackson’s arguments against the INSTITUTION, and the renewal of the bank’s charter was rejected The bank closed in 1836 when its charter expired
Gilpin’s willingness to act as Jackson’s chief spokesman at the height of the Bank War resulted in his removal from the board in the bank’s final years To fill the void left by his removal, Gilpin renewed his interest in the
PRACTICE OF LAW, and from 1832 to 1835 he served as U.S attorney for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania He also pursued a number of land-investment and business opportunities in the Michigan Territory
Jackson named Gilpin territorial governor
of Michigan in 1835, but the president’s opp-onents in Congress blocked the confirmation It was not until President Van Buren was elected a year later that Gilpin returned to a role in the federal government
Van Buren named Gilpin to beSOLICITORof the U.S Treasury in 1837 and elevated him to serve as attorney general of the United States from 1840 to 1841 As in his early years, Gilpin continued to chronicle his experiences The Gilpin Reports, published in 1837, and the Opinions of Attorneys-General of the United States, published in 1840, record his service to the Van Buren administration
Gilpin’s term as attorney general increased the demand for his legal services, and after leaving theCABINET, he devoted the last 20 years of his life
to the practice of law He also continued to oversee development of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company, where he rose to the positions of secretary and director
Gilpin retained a lifelong interest in politics and the DEMOCRATIC PARTY and served as a
DELEGATE to the party’s national convention in
1844 Gilpin tutored his younger brother, William, in the study of the law and was instrumental in launching the latter’s political career His brother went on to become the governor of Colorado
Gilpin died on January 29, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
FURTHER READINGS Gerdts, William H 1983 “The American ‘Discourses’ A Survey of Lectures and Writings on American Art,
1770 –1858.” American Journal of Art 15, no 3 Gray, Ralph D 1968 “A Tour of Virginia in 1827 Letters of Henry D Gilpin to his Father ” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 76, no.3 (October).
Gray, Ralph D., ed 1965 Washington in 1825: Observations
by Henry D Gilpin Delaware Historical Society Rimini, Robert V 1967 Andrew Jackson and the Bank War New York: Norton.
Tobias, Clifford I 1975 “Henry D Gilpin: Governor in and over the Territory of Michigan.” Michigan History.
——— 1975 Henry D Gilpin and the Bank War, A Study in Reform Politics Cleveland, Ohio: Case Western Reserve Univ Press.
vGINGRICH, NEWTON LEROY With his election as Speaker of the U.S House
of Representatives in January 1995, NEWTON LEROY GINGRICH (R-Ga.) became a powerful politician Assuming control of the first Repub-lican majority in the House since 1952, Gingrich ruled that body during his first year with an authority not seen since the nineteenth century The veteran congressman from Geor-gia used his new position to proclaim the arrival
of an era in which his conservative agenda— including lower taxes, decentralized govern-ment, and deep cuts in social programs—would fundamentally alter the fabric of U.S society Since his arrival on the Washington, D.C., scene in 1979 as a brash and combative new member of Congress, Gingrich has shaped and guided Republican efforts on Capitol Hill With
an affinity for both intellectual debate and backroom deal making, this white-haired for-mer professor provided the vision, verve, and ideas that built a Republican majority His opponents, however,ACCUSEDhim of posessing a lack of concern for poor and disadvantaged persons, as well as an overly optimistic view of technology and the free market Observers have described his actions in Congress as alternately brilliant and petty, leaving many to wonder whether he will be a passing footnote or a pivotal chapter in U.S political history Gingrich was born June 17, 1943, in Harris-burg, Pennsylvania His parents, Newton C McPherson and Kathleen Daugherty McPherson, were separated after only three days ofMARRIAGE Gingrich’s mother remarried three years after his birth, and her new husband, Robert Bruce Gingrich, adopted Gingrich Gingrich’s adoptive father was a career army officer, and the family
IKNOW FEW THINGS
MORE STRIKING IN
THE HISTORY OF
HUMANKIND THAN
THAT KINDLING
ENTHUSIASM WHICH,
SPRINGING FROM ONE
INDIVIDUAL SWAYS
THE CONDUCT OF
IMMENSE BODIES
OF MEN
—H ENRY G ILPIN
94 GINGRICH, NEWTON LEROY
Trang 8moved frequently, living in Kansas, France,
Germany, and Fort Benning, Georgia
In 1958 the 15-year-old Gingrich
accompa-nied his family on a trip to Verdun, France, site
of the bloodiest battle of WORLD WAR I Deeply
moved by the story and scene of the battle,
along with a visit to rooms filled with bones of
the dead, Gingrich experienced an epiphany
that he later described as “the driving force
which pushed me into history and politics, and
molded my life.” The day after this visit, he told
his family that he would run for Congress,
because politicians could prevent such senseless
bloodshed
At age 19, Gingrich, who was then an
undergraduate at Emory University, married
his former high school math teacher, Jackie
Battley The couple had two daughters, Linda
Kathleen and Jacqueline Sue Gingrich
com-pleted his bachelor of arts degree at Emory in
1965 and obtained a doctor of philosophy
degree in modern history at Tulane University
in 1971 A liberal, reform-minded Republican
in these years, Gingrich worked for Nelson A
Rockefeller’s 1968 presidential campaign in
Louisiana
Gingrich took his first college teaching job
at West Georgia College, in Carrollton, Georgia,
with one eye toward an eventual seat in
Congress He nevertheless became a popular
teacher at West Georgia, and founded
environ-mental studies and future studies programs
In 1974 and 1976, Gingrich ran for a seat in
the U.S House from Georgia’s Sixth District, a
rural and suburban region on the northern
outskirts of Atlanta Still voicing moderate and
even liberal positions, he was endorsed in 1974
by the liberal newspaper the Atlanta Constitu-tion He narrowly lost both ELECTIONS In a move that some have called a calculated ploy to gain political office, Gingrich cast himself as
a conservative for the 1978 election In his platform he called for lower taxes and opposed the Panama Canal Treaty He beat the Demo-cratic contender by 7,600 votes, earning a seat in the 96th Congress
Shortly after his election, Gingrich and his wife separated He married Marianne Ginther
in 1981
Newt Gingrich.
CALLISTA GINGRICH, GINGRICH PRODUCTIONS
Newton Leroy Gingrich 1943–
2000 1975
1950
◆
◆
◆
◆
◆
◆
2002 How to Win: A Battle Plan for Victory
in the War on Terror
published
1999 Appointed to U.S Commission on National Security/21st Century
1986–95 Served as chair of GOPAC
1979–99 Represented Georgia in the U.S.
House
1984 Window of Opportunity
published; helped shape Republican party platform
1989 Elected House minority whip
1974 Made first run for Congress
1971 Earned Ph.D from Tulane; began teaching at West Georgia College
1965 Earned B.A.
from Emory University
1943 Born Newton
Leroy McPherson,
Harrisburg, Pa.
1939–45
World War II
1950–53 Korean War
1961–73 Vietnam War
2001 September 11 terrorist attacks
2003 Founded the Center for Health Transformation
1994 Republicans won majority in Congress
◆
1994 Helped draft Contract with America
◆◆
1995 Elected Speaker of the House, led battle for balanced budget
◆
1996 Reprimanded and fined by House Ethics Committee for ethics violations
2008 Real Change published
GINGRICH, NEWTON LEROY 95
Trang 9In Washington, D.C., Gingrich joined a number of Republican first-year Congress members eager to leave their mark on the political landscape Unafraid of making ene-mies, he vigorously attacked Democrats and sometimes his own party, criticizing it for a complacent acceptance of its minority status in Congress He called instead for an aggressive effort to build a Republican majority, a feat he would orchestrate 16 years later
In February 1983 Gingrich began meeting regularly with other young conservatives in an organization they called the Conservative Op-portunity Society—a name designed to contrast with“liberalWELFAREstate,” the favorite target for their ideological barbs Gingrich and other young Republicans also gained notoriety for their creative use of the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN), which broadcast live proceed-ings of the House This group used the“special orders” period of the House, during which members of Congress may read items into the record, as a platform to denounce Democrats and advance their own views Although they were actually reading their material before an empty House chamber, Gingrich and his collea-gues attempted to create the impression that they were making unchallenged arguments to specific Democrats House Speaker Thomas P (“Tip”) O’Neill Jr (D-Mass.) responded by ordering the C-SPAN cameras to periodically pan the empty chamber
By 1984 Gingrich had developed the basic outlines of his conservative philosophy He published his views in a book, Window of Opportunity, cowritten with his wife, Marianne, and David Drake It remains an excellent guide to Gingrich’s thought In it, he exhibited, in addition
to a strong belief in the efficacy of the free market,
a strong devotion to technology as an answer to social ills He wrote of a“window of opportunity”
represented by “breakthroughs in computers, biology, and space.” Among his futuristic propo-sals was an ambitious space program, including a lunar research base by 2000
He contrasted this vision of a bright future with a “window of vulnerability” that opened onto an alternative future of Soviet expansion-ism and U.S decline This dystopia was to be prevented by large-scaleWEAPONSprograms such
as Star Wars, also known as the Strategic
DEFENSEInitiative, and the dismantling of welfare programs and excessive TAXATION The seventh
chapter of the book, “Why Balancing the Budget Is Vital,” foreshadowed a 1995–96 showdown between Gingrich and PresidentBILL CLINTONover theFEDERAL BUDGET
At the 1984 Republican National Conven-tion in Dallas, Gingrich gained naConven-tional atten-tion as he led a move to make the party platform more conservative, successfully insert-ing planks against tax increases and ABORTION
He won still more influence in 1986 when he became chair of GOPAC, a RepublicanPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE that serves as a principal source of funding for Republican candidates across the United States The organization, which Gingrich once called “the Bell Labs of politics,” also provided the means for him to spread his conservative gospel GOPAC has distributed printed and audiovisual works by Gingrich to hundreds of Republican candidates
In the early and mid-1990s, it came under investigation by theFEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
for alleged improprieties, including illegal assis-tance to Gingrich during his 1990 election campaign Gingrich stepped down as the head
of GOPAC in 1995
In 1987 Gingrich took on a major Washing-ton, D.C., figure when he accused House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) of ethics violations Gin-grich claimed that Wright had violated House rules in his dealings with a Texas developer and
in the manner by which he had profited from sales of a book Gingrich’s foes immediately attacked him as an irresponsible upstart, but
he remained unwavering in his attacks As he later told a newspaper, “I didn’t come here to pleasantly rise on an escalator of self-serving compromises.” Gingrich won a major coup in
1989 when the House Ethics Committee formally charged Wright with 69 ethics violations and Wright resigned from the House
That same year, Gingrich lobbied for and won (by two votes) the position of House minority whip, making him the second highest-ranking Republican in the House of Representa-tives This victory represented an important step
in his transformation from party pugilist to party leader However, Gingrich himself soon became the object of a House Ethics Committee probe of alleged violations of House rules on outside gifts and income The allegations focused on his earnings from two books, including Window of Opportunity Later that year, Gingrich was investigated again by the same committee for
WE MUST MAKE
GOVERNMENT MORE
EFFICIENT,MAKING
SURE TAXPAYERS GET
THEIR MONEY’S
WORTH
—N EWT G INGRICH
96 GINGRICH, NEWTON LEROY
Trang 10improperly transferring congressional staff to
work on his reelection campaigns In both cases,
the committee did not find sufficient grounds to
reprimand Gingrich
Gingrich nearly suffered defeat in the
elections of 1990 and 1992, winning the former
CONTESTby fewer than 1,000 of the 156,000 votes
cast But these narrow victories were followed
by a much wider reaching victory for both
Gingrich and his party in 1994
Gingrich had done much to lay the
groundwork for his 1994 win, particularly
through his organization of the CONTRACT WITH
AMERICA, a ten-point plan of action that was
intended to give Republicans a unified front
against their Democratic opponents The
con-tract called for such measures as tax breaks, a
balanced budget amendment to the
Constitu-tion, a presidential line-item VETO, term limits
for members of Congress, get-tough proposals
on crime, reduction of government regulations,
welfare reform, military budget increases, and
more In September 1994 Gingrich gathered
more than 300 Republican candidates for
Congress to sign the contract on Capitol
grounds
The big GOP win in 1994 gave the party a
gain of 54 seats and majority status in the
House In January 1995 Gingrich was voted
Speaker of the House His leadership soon led to
a dramatic change in House protocol Wresting
control from committee chairs by placing
loyal associates—many of them first-year
Re-publican Congress members—on key
commit-tees, Gingrich became one of the most powerful
speakers since the nineteenth century, at times
virtually dictating the content of legislation
Riding the crest of publicity attached to his
new position, Gingrich published two books,
To Renew America (1995) and 1945 (1995) To
Renew America was a best-selling work
com-municating Gingrich’s vision for the country It
presents a thesis that cultural elites have torn
down the traditional culture of U.S society It
also contains his already familiar calls to balance
theFEDERALbudget and decentralize the federal
BUREAUCRACY by returning power to states and
localities The book 1945 is a “what if” novel
that explores what the consequences would
have been if Nazi Germany had been
trium-phant inWORLD WAR II
Gingrich, eager to make his mark as Speaker,
initiated a 100-day plan to enact the Contract
with America into law He passed nine of the ten items of the contract through the House, but only three—the Congressional Accountability Act (Pub L No 104-1, 109 Stat 3), the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (Pub L No
104-4, 109 Stat 48), and the Paperwork Reduc-tion Act (Pub L No 104-13, 109 Stat 163)—
were signed into law by the president
Gingrich fought especially hard for one element of the contract: a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution After its defeat
in the Senate, he organized a Republican plan to balance the federal budget in seven years This plan included tax reductions and deep cuts in federal social programs Most controversial were provisions requiring large cuts to such programs
asMEDICAREand MEDICAID, which provide health care to elderly, disabled, and poor people Over the course of 1995, President Clinton gradually adopted the goal of a seven-year balanced budget plan—a change of mind that symbolized the pervasive power of the Republican agenda
When President Clinton vetoed the House budget plan late in 1995, Gingrich and his Republican colleagues refused to compromise their budget priorities As a result, the federal government was forced to shut down nones-sential services for lack of funding The budget showdown forced national parks, agencies, and other elements of the federal government to close their doors Gingrich came under fire as people complained of undelivered paychecks and other problems The impasse ended in January 1996, when Gingrich and Clinton reached a compromise that allowed provisional funding of the federal government and aban-doned the seven-year goal of balancing the budget
In 1995 Time magazine named Gingrich its Man of the Year, a fitting recognition of the Speaker’s large role in shaping the national political agenda Such power had not translated into universal public approval for Gingrich, however, particularly given the unpopularity of the federal government shutdown
President Clinton and Congress, despite their collective ideological differences, managed
to achieve a budget surplus in 1998, years ahead
of expectations The surpluses grew from $69 billion in 1998 to $122.7 billion in 1999
Nevertheless, Gingrich’s popularity dwindled during the late 1990s, due in large part to his policies and brash personality
GINGRICH, NEWTON LEROY 97