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Newt Gingrich Really Married His High School Math Teacher?

» 60 comments

As Newt Gingrich has surged to the top of the polls in the Republican nomination race, fresh scrutiny is being drawn to his colorful past. While much has been made about the notorious story about his divorce to his first wife Jackie Battley, where Gingrich had her sign the divorce papers while in the hospital undergoing surgery, though the story has been stretched to apocryphal heights (e.g. it wasn’t her death bed, the divorce was discussed beforehand), less publicized has been how they first met — like how Battley was Gingrich’s high school geometry teacher. Er, what?

According to The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi:

Battley, who is seven years older than Gingrich, had been Gingrich’s high-school math teacher in Columbus, Ga. They began dating after he graduated and were married in 1962, when Gingrich was 19 and a freshman at Emory University in Atlanta.

In a 1998 article, Salon’s Stephen Talbot shared further sordid details of Gingrich’s surreptitious romance:

As a high school student — precocious, lonely, overweight — Newt secretly romanced his geometry teacher, a buxom, matronly woman named Jackie Battley. The furtive romance with his 24-year-old teacher included nighttime sessions in the back of a car in remote areas of Fort Benning, Ga.

Once, Newt and Jackie were so worked up, they got their car caught in a tank trap on the military base and had to call his best friend to rescue them before a daylight exposé, according to the friend’s widow, Linda Tilton. Defying his stepfather, a stern Army colonel, Newt pursued Jackie, married her and promptly had two children.

(h/t WaPo)

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  • Jonathan Cantor

    I think Newt is no longer the “ideas man,” but he has shifted to “the ladies man”.

  • http://www.storminsmorningjava.blogspot.com/ stormin1961

    the Ashton Kutcher of the Republican Party! GO NEWT!

  • Kid Dynamite

    “As a high school student — precocious, lonely, overweight — Newt secretly romanced his geometry teacher, a buxom, matronly woman named Jackie Battley. The furtive romance with his 24-year-old teacher included nighttime sessions in the back of a car in remote areas of Fort Benning, Ga.”

    Herman Cain would totally do Jackie Battley.

  • Kid Dynamite

    “As a high school student — precocious, lonely, overweight — Newt secretly romanced his geometry teacher, a buxom, matronly woman named Jackie Battley. The furtive romance with his 24-year-old teacher included nighttime sessions in the back of a car in remote areas of Fort Benning, Ga.”

    Newt also had a three-year affair with Mrs. Doubtfire.

  • Anonymous

    This guy has no shame.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PKEQSTA4WOBYU5Z7QNSBUR2LXI MASSMURDERMEDIA

    Rep. Dwight Schrute D – PA

  • Anonymous

    Did he drown her in the Chappaquiddick and not tell anyone for a few days? … No… Did he rape her and then settle the allegations out of court for $0.8M? …. No

    Well then he’s definitely not ready for prime time Washington politiking

  • http://gawker.com/5482474/the-mysterious-case-of-toure-praising-raped-slaves-for-seducing-massa Touré’s insane mf cousin Phd

    As Newt Gingrich has surged to the top of the polls in the Republican nomination race, fresh scrutiny is being drawn to his colorful past.

    Funny how the media never bothers themselves with any of that “fresh scrutiny” stuff when it concerns Barack Obama.

  • FunnyTonyMase

    Telling someone about Newt Gingrich’s past sexscapades should be considered an enhanced interrogation technique.  

  • FunnyTonyMase

    Crap, I just clicked on the link to the Salon article mentioning Gengrich having oral sex.

    Does anyone know if it’s safe to pour bleach into your hard drive?  

  • http://twitter.com/WorldDivider Mark Prior

    What upsets me about this whole fiasco is that you have people like Chris Matthews calling out newt’s personal ills while worshiping the Kennedy’s which were monsters in comparison.

  • Anonymous

    Do you really believe that there isn’t a journalist out there who would love to break some scandalous story about Obama?  Do you really think they are that partisan?  That their loyalty to Democrats goes so deep that they wouldn’t love to write some best-selling juicy tell-all? 

  • S R Karenova

    I can’t wait for questions about Newt and his geometry teacher to come up in a debate. Do you approve of teacher student romances candidate Gingrich?

  • Anonymous

    Yes, it’s palpable just as it is with Fox on the right.  Integrity and intellectual honesty are the dodo birds of American media and to a lesser extent American society…

  • http://gawker.com/5482474/the-mysterious-case-of-toure-praising-raped-slaves-for-seducing-massa Touré’s insane mf cousin Phd

    Does the name “Mark Halperin” ring a bell?

  • lazzzlo
  • Anonymous

    A$$hole

  • Anonymous

    You mean like
    Rev Wright?
    A$$hole

  • Anonymous

    Where is the scandal here?  If anything, the older geometry teacher should be exposed by the lame stream media for seducing poor lonely Newt who was only 19 at the time.  Is there any suggestion that Newt was forever emotionally scarred by the incident which led to 18 years of marriage and two children?  Where wre all of these loose teachers when I went to high school?  They were not even there for me in College. 

  • Anonymous

    Question:  “Do you approve of teacher student romances Mr. Gingrich?”

    Answer:    ”Most definitlely.  With tuition costs rising at such a staggering rate, the students should be getting
                      more for their money.”

  • Anonymous

    Hey, if he can seduce the teacher, he can charm world leaders!

  • FunnyTonyMase

    Top 4 Pick Up Lines Used By Newt Gingrich:

    4.  Quit taxin’ the rich.  What you need to be doing is relaxin’ with The Grich.
    3.  I’m thinking about setting up a 2012 Sexploritory Committee
    2.  Let’s drive off to Fort Benning.  I’ll introduce you to my pal Dick Armey. 
    1.  With The Newt, the only contracting you won’t get is contracting an STD.

  • Anonymous

    Seems to me that Newt’s  past sexcapades should be listed on his resume under “Other Notable Achievements”!

  • Anonymous

    If it upsets you that much, mail a bottle of bleach to Salon.  You need your hard drive to learn all about what Newt was doing with his “hard drive” for the past 50 years!

  • Anonymous

    The one who wrote this?:
    “The Sherrod story is a reminder — much like the 2004 assault on John
    Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — that the old media are
    often swayed by controversies pushed by the conservative new media. In
    many quarters of the old media, there is concern about not appearing
    liberally biased, so stories emanating from the right are given more
    weight and less scrutiny. Additionally, the conservative new media,
    particularly Fox News Channel and talk radio, are commercially
    successful, so the implicit logic followed by old-media decisionmakers
    is that if something is gaining currency in those precincts, it is a
    phenomenon that must be given attention. Most dangerously, conservative
    new media will often produce content that is so provocative and
    incendiary that the old media find it irresistible.”

  • http://gawker.com/5482474/the-mysterious-case-of-toure-praising-raped-slaves-for-seducing-massa Touré’s insane mf cousin Phd

    Actually I’m talking about the guy who was disappeared by MSNBC for a lengthy period of time because he dared to point out that Obama acted like a d*ck after he was begged to give his honest opinion.

    I think that sorry episode demonstrates what happens to the scant few media people who dare utter anything negative about Obama.

  • http://gawker.com/5482474/the-mysterious-case-of-toure-praising-raped-slaves-for-seducing-massa Touré’s insane mf cousin Phd

    He sure is.

  • Anonymous

    Seriously?  You think it was simply the fact that he was critical of Obama?  And had nothing to do with the fact that he called the POTUS a d*ck?  Ooooh, please.

  • Anonymous

    Oh a conservative who thinks charm was a good thing. Can u see how America’s darling Obama has a 100% approval rating in any country around the world. 

  • Anonymous

    I wish I would not have read the details of the story. I will be have this scar for life.

  • Anonymous

    Sacred cows much Widdle?

    No person, and especially no family should be above the law in a Nation that portends to be as great as this one.

    Talk about your 1%, is their anything more 1% than the Kennedys?  How many innocent women……  I’m sure we don’t know.

  • Anonymous

    Newt’s surge in the polls means it’s time to go into overdrive to tear him down by Mediaite and the other left-wing propaganda sites.

  • Anonymous

    I’m wondering who is worst Cain or Gingrich.  It’s a toss-up.  

  • Anonymous

    You miss the point!  President Obama never seduced his teachers (at least none that we know of).  There is charm and then there is the ability to seduce. 

  • Anonymous

    Worst what?  President, or in bed?

  • Liberal Chaos

    That’s not very nice. What if I said you had a three year affair with Mr. Backfire? HOW YA LIKE ME NOW, KID BUTTSMOKE?

  • Anonymous

    He’s a smoooooth operator….

  • Jason_in_Vegas

    Yes, and Obama married a wookie. Moving on…….

  • Jason_in_Vegas

    Again, you’re a moonbat.. stop pretending to be a “centrist”.  You and that other idiot, “exGOP” aren’t fooling anyone.

  • Anonymous

    By the way, that’s the Mark Halperin I quoted above.

  • Sean68

    worse

  • Myflyings12
  • Anonymous

    Just another Newtron Bomb.  Last night he said we need to return to traditional religion.  Does this mean I have to sacrifice a bull today?

    http://brettcottrell.blogspot.com/2011/11/newts-traditional-relgion.html

  • http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

    You lack Grace.

  • http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

    Do as the holy Newt does and feed the bull to others.

  • Silica

    The Commander in Chief’s wife is a Wookie from the planet Wook.  Why not point that out?

  • Anonymous

    Yawn

  • Cecelia

    “Once, Newt and Jackie were so worked up, they got their car caught in a
    tank trap on the military base and had to call his best friend to rescue
    them before a daylight exposé,”

    My lord!  Is Mr. Crugnate some sort of 30-something year old virgin or what?!

  • Texan

    busted

  • Anonymous

    And respect.

  • Anonymous

    Nice.
    My favorite.
    And yes PERFECT.

  • Anonymous

    I am replying to your comment from middle of the road.

  • dugbru

    Grace who???

  • Anonymous

    This was back when you only had to graduate from high school to teach and all the classes were held in one room.  It was a different time and people were old at 40.  What sounds odd or maybe even wrong by our standards was just normal for our forefathers.

  • Anonymous

    Obama married a chick that looks like a dude.  I’ll bet she kicks his butt every other night.

  • Anonymous

    Have you looked at that femalish thing to the left of Newt’s hand?
    I’d go with Obama any time over that hot mess.

  • galaxyvet

    Where have you been- head in a can? Obama’s approval rating in foreign countries is the worst of any president in recorded history! He is an absolute disaster for this country! Can you imagine what the US would look like if we suffered through 4 more years of his America bashing!

  • Anonymous

    Obama’s approval rating is way higher than G. W. Bush’s in foreign countries unless you live under a rock that’s a fact. That’s not the point. I was being sarcastic. too bad  your CPU (Brain) isn’t fast enough to process that.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7PVJDNFMKMPHRL3YCIZVJUUQKU Thyt

    -design of clothing, you can take full advantage of a variety of props, according to the principle of morphological changes and characteristics of the clothing store in re-shaping the portfolio and, through innovative forms of design, to attract customers to the eye, Ralph Lauren stimulate the desire to buy.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Rudy-Johnson/100002203331287 Rudy Johnson

    Believe what you will about the politics of the Kennedy’s, but don’t forget that 3 gave their lives while serving their country. That would make them patriots.

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