SOURCE: Judis, John B. “Newt's Not-So-Weird Gurus.” New Republic 213, no. 15 (9 October 1995): 16-25.

In the following essay, Judis discusses the influence of the ideas of Alvin and Heidi Toffler on American politician Newt Gingrich, arguing that Gingrich seems to have misinterpreted some of the Tofflers's central ideas.

Before last November, once-bestselling authors Alvin and Heidi Toffler had fallen into relative obscurity. They were interviewed regularly by publications like Information Week and The New Perspectives Quarterly but not by The Washington Post or U.S. News and World Report. Their last book, War and Anti-War, had landed on remainder tables after a year. Like W. Edwards Deming, they were better known in Japan than the United States. But all that changed when Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House. Cast as his mentors—Gingrich has been an acknowledged devotee for over two decades—the Tofflers are being scrutinized for clues...