Was he conservative enough? I moved to Illinois in 2001, so I didn’t hear many of his views.
Newt led the rebellion against Michel. He was everything Newt couldn’t take.
He was the quintessential establishment permanent minority Republican, I believe he toppled Previous GOP Leader John Rhodes from the left, though it may have been more of a “time for a change” thing (DJ?). FR would have been all over him like spray tan on Boehner.
But he was a good man, great American, World War 2 vet and does deserve a lot of credit for getting stuff passed under Reagan. He would have been a hell of a better Speaker than damn Tip O’Niell and wouldn’t have embarrassed the great state of Illinois like Dennis “don’t drop the soap” Hastert did.
RIP