Professor Gingrich

One key to understanding Newt Gingrich is that he is a former college professor. From a CNN interview on February 20, 1995:

BOB FRANKEN: Oftentimes people say that your political speeches are really Professor Newt lecturing to a larger audience.

Rep. NEWT GINGRICH: They are. They are. Very deliberately so. I am the most seriously professorial politician since Woodrow Wilson. I believe the purpose of my speeches is didactic. They're supposed to be educational.

BOB FRANKEN: So you're educating your peers, your political peers?

Rep. NEWT GINGRICH: The citizenry.