The Revolution with Steve Kornacki

The lessons of the 1994 Republican victory are not what they seemed in the moment. Steve Kornacki wraps up the series with a panel of experts.

After 15 years in the House, Newt Gingrich’s grand plan succeeds. The GOP sweeps the midterm elections, Democrats are in shock, and Newt becomes Speaker.

Bill Clinton becomes president in 1992 and scandal follows. The Republicans now stand unified against tax hikes, and Gingrich emerges as the heir apparent.

Newt Gingrich expands his power. He takes down a Democratic Speaker of the House and refuses to stand with the Republican president, George H.W. Bush.

Newt Gingrich recruits allies and challenges the House’s staid conventions. With a confrontational style and an assist from C-Span, Republicans begin to rally.

It takes Newt Gingrich three tries to win a seat in Congress. When he arrives in 1979, he declares war. His aim: to end the Permanent Democratic Majority.

To understand the partisanship and bitterness of American politics today, you have to consider what happened in 1994. Steve Kornacki, National Political Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, steps back from the Big Board to tell the origin story of the 1994 Republican “revolution,” the midterm election when the GOP took the House majority for the first time in four decades. It was set in motion by Georgia Congressman Newt Gingrich, who — over the course of 15 years — pushed Republicans in a direction of confrontation and conservatism. Steve talks with Newt’s allies and adversaries about backroom strategy sessions and dramatic battles on the House floor. As yet another midterm threatens to upend the political landscape, Kornacki hears echoes of 1994 everywhere. Follow now and join Steve Kornacki through all six episodes, out October 31st.