Burning Down the House

Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party

By: Julian E. Zelizer

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

A New York Times Notable Book!

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

The story of how Newt Gingrich and his allies tainted American politics, launching an enduring era of brutal partisan warfare

When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, President Obama observed that Trump "is not an outlier; he is a culmination, a logical conclusion of the rhetoric and tactics of the Republican Party." In Burning Down the House, historian Julian Zelizer pinpoints the moment when our country was set on a path toward an era of bitterly partisan and ruthless politics, an era that was ignited by Newt Gingrich and his allies.

In 1989, Gingrich brought down Democratic Speaker of the House Jim Wright and catapulted himself into the national spotlight. Perhaps more than any other politician, Gingrich introduced the rhetoric and tactics that have shaped Congress and the Republican Party for the last three decades. 

Elected to Congress in 1978, Gingrich quickly became one of the most powerful figures in America, not through innovative ideas or charisma but through a calculated campaign of attacks against political opponents, casting himself as a savior in a fight of good versus evil. Taking office in the post-Watergate era, he weaponized the good government reforms newly introduced to fight corruption, wielding the rules in ways that shocked the legislators who had created them. His crusade against Democrats culminated in the plot to destroy the political career of Speaker Wright.

While some of Gingrich’s fellow Republicans were disturbed by the viciousness of his attacks, party leaders enjoyed his successes so much that they did little collectively to stand in his way. Democrats, for their part, were alarmed, but did not want to sink to his level and took no effective actions to stop him. It didn’t seem to matter that Gingrich’s moral conservatism was hypocritical or that his methods were brazen, his accusations of corruption permanently tarnished his opponents.

This brand of warfare worked, not as a strategy for governance but as a path to power, and what Gingrich planted, his fellow Republicans reaped. He led them to their first majority in Congress in decades, and his legacy extends far beyond his tenure in office. From the Contract with America to the rise of the Tea Party and the Trump presidential campaign, his fingerprints can be seen throughout some of the most divisive episodes in contemporary American politics. 

Burning Down the House presents the alarming narrative of how Gingrich and his allies created a new normal in Washington.

©2020 Julian E. Zelizer (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“Newt Gingrich tied American politics to a rock and threw it down a well. That rock is still falling. Julian Zelizer’s new book takes readers to the edge of that well, not to listen for the splash, but to grab the rope, and pull.” (Jill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States) 

“With intensity and detail, Julian Zelizer recreates a drama that resounds in modern history. Most are well-acquainted with Newt Gingrich and his combative style, but here is the moment he transformed Congress and all of American politics.” (Steve Kornacki, author of The Red and the Blue)

Today’s hyperpartisan politics can be traced to Republican congressman Newt Gingrich’s 1989 ouster of Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright, according to this meticulously researched account...Zelizer’s witty, well-informed narrative...successfully presents this episode as a foretaste of congressional warfare to come. Political junkies will be thrilled.” (Publishers Weekly)

No Tea Party?

I was looking for a through line. This skipped 20 years leading directly to Trump.

So sad!

The story got one star because of what it tells us, not because of how it was told. I lived through that era, and recognized every step along the way from civilization to dystopia. And it was all Newt Gingrich’s fault. How come only the good guys get shot?