Sidelights - anecdotes on House Speaker Newt Gingrich's high school and college years and other trivia on the Republican leader

Current Events, Jan 22, 1996

* Newt Gingrich was the only kid in Baker High in Columbus, Georgia, who always wore a tie to class. He emceed the school talent show, and was voted "Most Intellectual" in his senior class. * Newt got a graduate degree in history from Tulane University in 1969 (photo left). After graduation, he became a history professor at West Georgia College.

But his true interest was politics. He ran for Congress in 1974, and was defeated. He ran again in 1976, and was defeated again. But in 1978, he ran a third time, and won a seat. He has been in the House of representatives ever since. * Newt shares many similarities with Bill Clinton (Photo below as a high school student). Both were brought up by stepfathers. Each wanted to be in politics since high school. Neither served in the Vietnam War. Both briefly taught at a southern college. And today both own restored 1967 Ford Mustangs. * Newt's heroes include Franklin Roosevelt, John Wayne, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. He considers Franklin Roosevelt the greatest president in the 20th century.