Monitor; All the News of the World: Newt Gingrich's resignation

Judgements on the departure of the Speaker of the US Congress

The Oregonian

US

HIS LEADERSHIP style caused many of his lieutenants to chafe, but it kept a lid on their animosities. Now the lid is off. Gingrich's decision is not the best thing that could have happened to the country right now. It diminishes the prospect of a rational conclusion to the House's impeachment inquiry.

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De Volkskrant

Netherlands

REPUBLICANS WILL have to look for new leadership outside of Congress, and that increases the chance for the Bush brothers to steer their party back to the political middle. But that could be preceded by an interim with many bloody heads.

Neue Zuercher Zeitung

Switzerland

HIS RESIGNATION shows that not every politician clings on to office regardless of the consequences. Gingrich was more than just a speaker: he largely shaped Republican politics after the Reagan-Bush era. But his four years as Speaker brought anything but a series of successes for the Republicans. The rebel wasn't always a prudent king.

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The Spectator

UK

GINGRICH is the loser of the '98 election. Stunned to find someone in Washington going down even faster than Monica, President Clinton generously saluted the Speaker as a "worthy adversary". Alas, the Democrats' House Leader, Dick Gephardt, cruising past Newt's bullet-riddled body in the gutter, couldn't resist reversing back over it: "I hope that whoever succeeds Newt as Speaker will immediately begin the process of repairing the damage that was inflicted over the last four years."