The Contract with America was introduced during the 1994 Congressional election campaign; it was signed by all the Republican members of the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], and all Republican candidates for that body. It laid out the plans of the Republicans in a very specific way; the Contract wasappeared revolutionaryinnovative in its commitment to specific actions. It was the first time that a Congressional election had been run on such a national level. The Contract represented a public relations triumph of [[Newt Gingrich]]. and the American [[conservative]] movement.
== Content of the Contract ==
The Contract's actual text was a list of actions the Republicans promised to take if they were in the majority following the election. TheAlthough the Republican members of Congress subsequently claimed that their promises were merely a conservative wish-list, mademany upvoters understand them to be real promises because of twothe partsuse of the word ''contract''. Unlike politicians, ordinary citizens understand a contract to include enforceable promises. Many Americans felt bitterly betrayed when Congressional Republicans abandoned their promise to adopt [[term limits]] at the first opportunity.
==== The first day of the GOP majority ====
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== Impacts of the Contract ==
Many observers cite the Contract with America as having helped secure a decisive victory for the Republicans in the 1994 elections; others dispute this role. Whatever the role of the Contract, Republicans were elected to a majority, and manysome parts of the Contract were enacted (although many others either did not pass Congress, were [[veto]]ed by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]], or were substantially altered in negotiations with Clinton).