Gingrich was born in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, in Pennsylvania on June 17, 1943. His mother, 16-year old Kathleen Daugherty and his father, 19-year old mechanic, Newton Searles McPherson, divorced three days after the arrival of baby Newt.
Daugherty remarried the following year to Robert Bruce Gingrich, a soon- to- be highly decorated Lieutenant-Colonel with the U.S Army, who officially adopted Newt and changed his last name to Gingrich after McPherson relinquished his custodial rights to the toddler.
The new family moved to nearby Hummelstown. Lt. Gingrich, a veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam War, moved several times over the next few years, including to the American army base in Stuttgart, Germany and Orleans, France.
The family returned to the United States in 1960 and stayed at the Fort Benning army post in Georgia. Newt enrolled in the Baker High School and graduated in 1961 before enrolling in Emory University the following year. Two significant events occurred during his high school years. The first was when he ran the successful campaign of his best friend, Jim Tilton, for the office of student body president. That gave him his first taste in politics. The second was when he fell in love with his geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, seven years his senior. He married Battley a year after high school and they were together for 18 years.
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