Newt Gingrich On Donald Trump's Short VP List

Newt Gingrich, who led the Republican Party to retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives after 40 years of Democrat domination, is being vetted as a possible running mate for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Gingrich and Christie, both of whom have endorsed Trump, have received vetting papers, according to the Associated Press. More than six other candidates are under consideration, according to multiple media reports relying on anonymous sourcing because those close to Trump are not authorized to speak about the topic on the record.

"It's not a surprise that Newt is on the short list for Trump's VP selection," said Charlie Harper, publisher of the political blog Georgia Pol. "He was one of the earliest establishment Republicans to publicly suggest Trump was on his way to the nomination when most of us were still saying it couldn't happen."

Harper said Trump appears to be a candidate who values loyalty.

"Newt's counsel, confidant, and Georgia Republican National Committeeman Randy Evans told the Cobb GOP Convention, which was held back when Ted Cruz and John Kasich were still campaigning, that Trump was the likely nominee, and delegates needed to understand that.," Harper said. "Gingrich and his allies have been helping pave the way for a Trump nomination."

Born in Harrisburg, PA, Gingrich's family moved to Georgia in 1960. He earned several degrees, including one from Emory University, and became an assistant professor of history at West Georgia College in 1970. He left the college in 1978 and was elected to Congress in 1979 from Georgia's 6th congressional district, a district that included many of metro Atlanta's most heavily populated areas, including the GOP stronghold of Cobb County.

In 1994, he engineered a strategy called the Contract With America, which led the Republican Party to retake control of the U.S. House after more than 40 years of Democratic control. The contract said that if Republicans regained a majority in the House, they promised to bring 10 policies -- ranging from welfare reform and term limits to tougher crime laws -- to a vote during the first 100 days of the new Congress.

Voters responded, and swept the GOP into power on Capitol Hill, with Gingrich becoming the 50th Speaker of the House.

Gingrich was TIME Magazine's Man of the Year in 1995; the magazine said Gingrich had changed the nation's center of political gravity.

Gingrich and then-President Bill Clinton were the key players in a government shutdown in 1995 and 1996, and Gingrich's national image was tarnished as a result of the conflict.

More than 80 ethics charges were filed against Gingrich by Democrats during his term as speaker. All were dropped except for one that said Gingrich improperly claimed tax-exempt status for a college course that was run for political purposes. The House officially reprimanded Gingrich in 1997, the first time in U.S. history that a sitting House Speaker was disciplined for an ethics violation.

Gingrich resigned as House Speaker in 1999, and has been in the private sector and public policy arenas ever since. He did seek the GOP presidential nomination himself in 2012.

Launching the vetting process with less than three weeks away from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland where Trump is expected to announce his running mate is cutting it close by most campaign standards. However, Trump said that politicians "generally speaking, are pretty well vetted" because they are under constant public scrutiny.

"For the most part they've been vetted over the last 20 years," said Trump. "In other words, you people have gone to every dinner that they've ever attended, one way or another," he said, speaking of the media.

However, many prominent Republicans have already ruled out running with Trump, including former primary rival Marco Rubio, the Florida senator now seeking re-election.

"I have never sought, will not seek and do not want to be considered for vice president," Rubio wrote on Facebook in May.

Last week, when Trump was asked about the lack of names being discussed as possible running mates, he struck a defensive tone.

"I will tell you one thing, I'm getting calls from a lot of people and they want it," Trump told CNN, adding, "The only people who say they don't want it are the people that were never asked, OK?"

Image: Gage Skidmore Wikipedia Commons