Speaker of the United States House of Representatives by Minority Whip Newt Gingrich. Speaker Gingrich would regularly clash with Democratic President Bill Clinton, leading to the United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996, in which Clinton was largely seen to have prevailed. Gingrich's hold on the leadership was weakened significantly by that and several other controversies, and he faced a caucus revolt in 1997. After the Republicans lost House seats in 1998 (although retaining a majority) he did not stand for a third term as Speaker. His successor, Dennis Hastert, had been chosen as a compromise candidate, since the other Republicans in the leadership were more
Women in the United States House of Representatives Shirley Chisholm entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1969 as the first African American woman in either chamber of Congress. U.S. Representative Yvonne Brathwaite Burke became the first member of the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate to give birth while in office and first person to be granted maternity leave by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1973, with the birth of her daughter Autumn. The gym of the U.S. House of Representatives (with the exception of its swimming pool) first opened to women in 1985, the gym having previously been male-only. The swimming