Callista Gingrich

Callista Gingrich
Official portrait, 2017
United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Assumed office
October 23, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byScott Miller
United States Ambassador to the Holy See
In office
December 22, 2017 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byKen Hackett
Succeeded byJoe Donnelly
Personal details
Born
Callista Louise Bisek

(1966-03-04) March 4, 1966 (age 60)
Whitehall, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2000)​
EducationLuther College (BA)
WebsiteGingrich 360
Callista Gingrich's voice
Callista Gingrich speaks on religious freedom and women's rights
Recorded July 25, 2018

Callista Louise Gingrich (née Bisek; born March 4, 1966) is an American politician and businesswoman who has been the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein since 2025. She was the United States Ambassador to the Holy See from December 22, 2017 until January 20, 2017 during the first Donald Trump presidency. She was the President of Gingrich Productions. She is married to former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

Ambassadorship

On May 15, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Gingrich to serve as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See. On October 16, 2017, Gingrich was confirmed by the United States Senate with a 70 to 23 vote. She became ambassador on December 22, 2017.

In December 2024, President-elect Trump nominated her to be United States Ambassador to Switzerland. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 18, 2025 by a 51 to 44 vote.

Personal life

Callista Bisek met Newt Gingrich in 1993 when he was House Minority Whip and she was working in the office of Congressman Steve Gunderson. Callista testified in 1999 as part of Gingrich's divorce proceedings that she and Newt Gingrich began a six-year affair in 1993 while Newt was married to his second wife, Marianne Gingrich. Newt divorced Marianne in December 1999, and on August 18, 2000, Callista and Newt were married in a private ceremony in Alexandria, Virginia.

In 2002, Newt Gingrich, although not a Catholic at the time, asked the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta to officially annul his 19-year marriage to Marianne, on the basis that she had been previously married. Callista, a lifelong Catholic, was instrumental in her husband's conversion to Catholicism in 2009. The Gingriches live in McLean, Virginia.

References

  1. 1 2 "National News Briefs; Gingrich Is Married in Alexandria Ceremony". The New York Times. August 20, 2000. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  2. ↑ Keff Zeleny (May 15, 2017). "Callista Gingrich set to be named ambassador to the Vatican". CNN. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Trump Picks Callista Gingrich for Ambassador to Switzerland". 2024-12-23. Archived from the original on 2024-12-23. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  4. ↑ "PN54-6 - Callista Gingrich, of Florida, to be Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Principality of Liechtenstein, 119th Congress (2025–2026)". www.senate.gov. September 18, 2025. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  5. ↑ Jones, Meg (March 11, 2012). "Callista Gingrich still has ties to Whitehall" Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (m.jsonline.com). Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Gingrich Friend Dates Affair To '93". Chicago Tribune. November 11, 1999. Archived from the original on January 16, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  7. ↑ Barron, James; David Rohde; Adam Nagourney (May 4, 2000). "PUBLIC LIVES". The New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (May 12, 2002). "Newt Gingrich Requests Annulment in Atlanta". The Free Lance-Star. p. D4. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  9. ↑ Sullivan, Amy (August 24, 2009). "Why Newt Gingrich Converted to Catholicism". Time. Archived from the original on October 24, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
  10. ↑ Levy, Ariel (January 23, 2012). "The Good Wife". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 28, 2012.

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