You could make the argument that he was an effective leader - but he wasn’t.
He was great at getting a majority in the House - but he was not great at leading it. We lost seats while he was Speaker.
If he was so good of a Speaker, then why was he pushed out? That type of thing normally doesn’t happen to people who are doing a good job - in politics or in business.
Newt Gringrich allied himself with Ronald Reagan to build the Reagan Coalition, the Religious Right, and the Republican majority (together the Reagan Revolution) which directly led the downfall of the Soviet Union, the Contract with America, government reforms, less government, tax cuts, a balanced budget, and the great, long-standing Reagan economy.
Under a Republican president, they [the Republican Congress] added over $3 trillion to the federal deficit, shunned conservative policy in favor of Beltway influence-peddling, and so damaged the GOP brand that we...lost the majority Gingrich had worked years to forge,..How much should I really care that Newt’s fabulous colleagues think his reemergence would be a disaster for Republicans? Lest these characters forget,...2010 was not a merit promotion; they [the Republicans] were the only alternative in town.