NEWT NUKED! GINGRICH CHALLENGED, QUITTING AS SPEAKER : GOP: VOTE SETBACKS PRODUCE AFTERSHOCK.

Byline: Katharine Q. Seelye The New York Times

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who orchestrated the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 and pressed the impeachment inquiry into President Clinton, was driven from office Friday by a party that swiftly turned on him after its unexpected losses in Tuesday's midterm elections.

Catching virtually everyone on Capitol Hill by surprise, Gingrich announced Friday night in two conference calls to other Republicans that he would not seek re-election as speaker and would leave Congress altogether when his term expired in January.

``This will give us a chance to purge some of the poison that is in the system,'' Gingrich said, according to a party aide who heard one of the calls.

Gingrich's decision to resign was a stunning reversal for one of the most combative and personally confrontational politicians in America. He made his name a decade ago by bringing down one Democratic speaker, Jim Wright, and continued his assaultive style through the elections with last-minute commercials reminding voters of the Clinton scandal.

His reflexive pugilistic response was evident even Friday night. In his second conference call, according to several members who listened, Gingrich blamed House conservatives for his downfall. Although it was their revolutionary zeal he harnessed to take control of Congress, they have become his most bitter critics in the last two years of his tumultuous tenure as speaker. On Friday night he called them cannibals who had ``blackmailed'' him into quitting, said those who listened to the call.

Rep. Michael P. Forbes, R-N.Y., said: ``Newt said all those who had marginalized the Republican Party had engaged in cannibalism. He said, `Refer to the clips.' He's blaming others.''

`They're cannibals'

Another Republican, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the conference call this way: ``He started off very statesmanlike, but then you could see the anger building. When someone asked him why he was leaving, he said, `A handful of members have blackmailed the conference.' He said, `They're hateful.' And he said, `They're cannibals.' ''

Gingrich's move set up a scramble for a successor in the powerful post. The speaker, who is second only to the vice president in line for succession to the presidency, controls the legislative agenda, committee assignments and chairmanships in the House of Representatives. Gingrich consolidated the power of the office to a greater extent than other speakers in recent decades.

The 105th Congress is now in adjournment, but Gingrich has said that he would call the House back into session to vote on articles of impeachment, if they are approved by the House Judiciary Committee. He said he would step down at the end of the year, just before the 106th Congress takes office.

Gingrich announced his move just hours after Rep. Robert L. Livingston, R-La. announced he was running for speaker, putting himself forward as a pragmatist and a manager. After the Gingrich calls, Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, announced he was considering his own run. Livingston and Archer are chairmen of the two most powerful committees in the House, Appropriations and Ways and Means, respectively.

Rep. Christopher Cox of California, chairman of the Republican policy committee, also announced his candidacy for speaker Friday night, on CNN's ``Larry King Live.''

In a statement Gingrich said, ``The Republican conference needs to be unified, and it is time for me to move forward.'' He said he hoped his colleagues would pick a successor ``who can both reconcile and discipline, who can work together and communicate effectively.''

Referring to his wife, he told his colleagues he was resigning from Congress because ``Marianne and I are tired. We need time off to get to know each other again.''

He also acknowledged his own knack for bringing negative attention to himself and to his party. ``If I stay,'' he told his colleagues Friday night, ``my controversial nature would overshadow any successes we might have,'' an understatement to those who recalled his suggestion two years ago that he forced a shutdown of the government because he was miffed about having to sit in the back of Air Force One on a trip with Clinton.

According to a Republican who took notes on one of the calls, Gingrich said: ``There is a lot of bitterness amongst some of the members. So long as I am around, I will always be a target in the news media, which would mean we would never be able to get our message out.''

Worthy adversary

Clinton, who was traveling in Arkansas on Friday, said: ``Newt Gingrich has been a worthy adversary leading the Republican Party to a majority in the House and joining me in a great national debate over how best to prepare America for the 21st century. Despite our profound differences, I appreciate those times we were able to work together in the national interest, especially Speaker Gingrich's strong support for America's continuing leadership for freedom, peace and prosperity in the world.''

Many Republicans took the opportunity to portray Gingrich as a visionary. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert of New York said that during the first conference call, ``there was shock and surprise and strong expressions of appreciation for leading us to the promised land.''

His supporters said Gingrich had the votes to win re-election as speaker, a vote to be conducted by secret ballot Nov. 18. Kenneth Duberstein, a former official in the Reagan administration, said, ``I have no doubt he had the votes to be speaker, but I'm not sure he had the votes to govern.'' He said that because of the deep rifts in the party, Gingrich would not have been able to implement his plans.

In an unusually biting reaction, Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, the Democratic leader, said he hoped Gingrich's resignation would clear the fierce partisan air that he had fostered. ``I hope that whoever succeeds Newt Gingrich as speaker will immediately begin the process of repairing the damage that was wrought on this institution over the last four years,'' Gephardt said.

House Republicans predicted that Gingrich's resignation would set off a more wide-ranging and hectic scramble to replace him than had been anticipated. ``There will be a lot of pretenders to the throne who will test the waters,'' said Boehlert, who had supported Gingrich for re-election. ``There won't be any shortage of candidates.''

Archer's name gained currency earlier Friday when conservatives, who were already furious with Gingrich, said they were dissatisfied with Livingston as well.

Archer's actions captured the dizzying pace at which events unfolded - and the appeal of having Gingrich out of the race. His aides said Friday afternoon that Archer was ``reviewing his options'' and that if he decided to run, he would announce his candidacy next week. They faxed a statement at 7:29 Friday night saying that Archer was ``saddened'' by Gingrich's resignation. Eleven minutes later, they faxed a statement from Archer saying he was ``actively considering'' running for speaker.

Livingston has a huge head start. He had been campaigning for speaker anyway on the chance that Gingrich might step aside to run for president. Since Tuesday, he has converted those long-range plans into an extensive and immediate telephone campaign to shore up support. He has contacted not only Republican House members but an array of prominent Republicans across the country, including Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York.

At a news conference outside the Capitol on Friday afternoon, Livingston said he was running.

He cast himself as someone who could make the trains run on time and who would not lose himself in the high-blown revolutionary speechifying that he implied had consumed Gingrich, who has spent much of his time traveling and raising money. ``I'll be more of a stay-at-home type of speaker who wants to get the job done,'' Livingston told reporters.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) NEWT GINGRICH

(2) House Speaker Newt Gingrich, center, leaves his Roswell, Ga., office Friday with his wife, Marianne. Gingrich said he'll resign as speaker.

Alan Mothner/Associated Press