now he tells us
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=3D2937633
Gingrich Admits to Affair While Pursuing Clinton Over Lewinsky In Radio Interview, Gingrich Acknowledges Cheating on First and =
Second Wives
By JAKE TAPPER March 9, 2007 =97 - Setting the stage for his entry into the =
presidential race, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., gave a =
radio interview to be broadcast today with Focus on the Family’s =
James Dobson, in which Gingrich for the first time publicly =
acknowledged cheating on his first and second wives.
“There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing =
things that were wrong. But I was still doing them,” Gingrich said =
during the interview. “I look back on those as periods of weakness =
and periods that I’m not only not proud of, but I would deeply urge =
my children and grandchildren not to follow in my footsteps.”
You can listen to the full interview here.
“I was married very young and had my first daughter when I was very =
young, in fact at the end of my freshman year in college,” he said of =
his first marriage to Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry =
teacher. “And after a period of time, about 18 years, things just =
didn’t work out.”
Gingrich married his second wife, Marianne Ginther, months after he =
divorced Battley in 1981. According to Battley, Gingrich discussed =
divorce terms with her while she was in the hospital recovering from =
cancer surgery.
“There are things in my own life that I have gotten on my knees and =
turned to God and prayed about,” Gingrich said.
Clinton Impeachment Proceedings
Gingrich also acknowledged cheating on Ginther while leading the =
impeachment proceedings against President Clinton for allegations of =
perjury involving the Paula Jones sexual harassment civil case and =
the president’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.
The couple “went through a very difficult time,” Gingrich said. “We =
had a big difference about public life.”
Gingrich argued that the Clinton case was different from his personal =
transgressions.
“The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a =
felony in front of a sitting federal judge,” he said, arguing that =
Clinton had “deliberately committed perjury.”
Because he had been through a divorce, Gingrich said, he knew the =
importance of telling the truth during a deposition.
“The standard is: In a court of law should somebody who’s popular get =
away with perjury?” Gingrich said. “And I drew a line in my mind that =
said, ‘Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and =
even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on =
another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold =
the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that =
you cannot accept felonies and you cannot accept perjury in your =
highest officials.”
It’s worth noting that Gingrich did not limit his comments about =
Clinton and the Democrats to legalistic allegations of perjury.
Constantly espousing family values even while he carried on an =
affair, Gingrich linked his party to wholesome family values and =
Democrats to, well, something else.
During the 1992 Democratic National Convention, Gingrich said, “Woody =
Allen having nonincest with a nondaughter to whom he was a nonfather =
because they were a nonfamily fits the Democratic platform perfectly.”
In 1994, Gingrich linked Democrats to Susan Smith, a woman who had =
murdered her two children in 1991.
“I think that the mother killing the two children in South Carolina =
vividly reminds every American how sick the society is getting and =
how much we need to change things,” he said. “The only way you get =
change is to vote Republican.”
Gingrich divorced Ginther in 2000 and soon married his third wife, =
Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide who was in her 20s when =
she and Gingrich began their affair.
“There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards,” =
Gingrich said. “There’s certainly times when I’ve fallen short of =
God’s standards and my neighbors’ standards. But I think my job is to =
try to do for my country — and on a very personal level for my =
children and for my grandchildren and for their future — to try to =
do everything I can to be a servant in helping this country deal both =
with the domestic challenges to our very identity, and that’s what =
rediscovering God in America is all about, and to foreign challenges =
to our very survival. =85 I hope that people will see me in that context.”
Among the three Republican front-runners — thrice-married former New =
York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; twice-married Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; =
and Gingrich — there are eight current and past wives.
It’s a point underlined by the wife of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt =
Romney, fourth in many polls, who said, “The biggest difference =
between Mitt Romney and the other candidates,” is that her Mormon =
husband “only had one wife.”