Gingrich Meets Quietly With K-School Dean

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) paid an ultra low-profile visit to Harvard yesterday.

Gingrich met privately with Joseph S. Nye, Dean of the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), concerning their membership on a national security study committee, according to Mike S. Shields, Gingrich's personal spokesperson.

Nye's office declined to comment on what the two men discussed at their morning meeting, saying only that it was unrelated to KSG business.

Gingrich helped to create the "U.S. Commission on National Security--21st Century" when he was speaker. The first section of the group's three-part report, titled "New World Coming," was published Sept. 15.

"Newt is a tremendous visionary thinker, and now that he's out of office he has time to serve on this committee that he helped to create," Shields said.

The committee, chaired by former senators Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) and Gary Hart (D-Co.), is charged with forecasting national security issues that the U.S. will face over the next 20 years as the nation becomes increasingly reliant on technology, Shields said.

According to Shields, the study committee will try to answer the question, "What can we do now to protect ourselves 20 years from now?"

Gingrich and President Clinton created the panel to advise the next president on the future of national security.

On the study group's Web page, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen calls the report "the most comprehensive review of the national security environment, processes, and organizations [in 50 years]."

Gingrich's visit caused a stir at the KSG--even among people used to rubbing elbows with newsmakers. The KSG was abuzz as people compared their sightings of the former speaker.

"I just saw him walking by," one forum employee said. "I had no idea he was here."

By day's end yesterday, Gingrich had moved on to New York City to appear on a Fox News Channel television show.

Gingrich resigned as speaker a year ago in the wake of embarrassing election results resulting in the Republican party losing a number of seats in the House.

He became a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank focusing on health care issues.

While withdrawing from the public eye, Gingrich is still working behind-the-scenes to influence policy.

He founded a political action committee, Friends of Newt Gingrich, that is gathering support for Republican candidates in next year's elections.