Newt and Marianne

Normally, discretion requires that we look away from the intimate affairs of other people.

But once a woman decides to dispense with discretion in order to hurt an ex-husband, we all will want to take a close look at her own conduct and character. 

How credible is Marianne Gingrich? Who was really at fault for her failed marriage to the former House Speaker.

Yesterday, in National Review Online, Robert Costa shares this Associated Press story from 1999.

Newt and Marianne Gingrich were married in 1981. From 1987 to 1993, at the initiative of Marianne Gingrich, they were separated.

The AP reports: “Documents related to the divorce filed Friday in Cobb County Superior Court include a separation agreement  signed by the couple and notarized in December 1987. There is no indication it was ever filed.

“Browning said Marianne Gingrich called her husband on his birthday in June 1987 to tell him she was leaving him. Gingrich, he said, came back to Georgia to find his home emptied out.

“Browning said the pair maintained separate residences for six years before reconciling in late 1993 or early 1994.”

The Browning in question here is Newt Gingrich’s divorce attorney.

Browning also reports that Marianne Gingrich called her husband on his birthday in 1987 to announce that she was leaving. When he returned home he discovered that she had cleaned out the house, leaving only a television and a guest bed.

Apparently, the Gingrich marriage had long been troubled. There are many ways for couples to separate. Marianne Gingrich chose a way that was designed to inflict psychological pain.

We do not know the whole story of New Gingrich's second marriage, but, it looks to be considerably more complicated than the story of a wife scorned.