If former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich became President:
1. He would be taking the oath of office as the second oldest to Ronald Reagan, but about five and a half months younger than Reagan was when he took the first oath of office.
2. He would be only the second Speaker of the House to become President, after James K. Polk in 1844.
3. He would have had the second longest career in the House of Representatives of any President, a total of 20 years, as compared to
Gerald Ford’s nearly 25 years.
4. Only three other Speakers of the House were nominated for the Presidency–Henry Clay in 1824, 1832, and 1844; John Bell in 1860, and James G. Blaine in 1884.
5. He would be the longest out of public office (14 years), with Abraham Lincoln second with 12 years.
6. He would come into office with the most controversial and divisive reputation since Richard Nixon in 1968.
7. He would be only the second President to have an earned Ph. D. (Tulane University in History), after Woodrow Wilson (Johns Hopkins University, History and Political Science), elected in 1912, exactly a century earlier!
8. He would be the second President to be divorced after Ronald Reagan, but the first to have had two divorces and a third wife, and interestingly, his first two marriages lasted precisely 19 years each!
9. He would be the second President to come from the state of Georgia, after Jimmy Carter in 1976, although Gingrich was born and grew up in the state of Pennsylvania.
10. Gingrich would enter the Presidency as the most controversial and “ethically challenged” President since Richard Nixon, and only James G. Blaine, nominated by the Republicans in 1884, might be considered to be of equal “ethical challenge” to Gingrich.
11. Gingrich would compete with other Presidents for prolific authorship of books, including Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter.
12. Finally, Gingrich would continue the “summer birth” tradition of the previous four Presidents–Bush I in June, Clinton in August, Bush II in July, and Obama in August, if he were elected!