Clinton was impeached, as I recall (although not removed from office by the Senate), the republican candidate won the White House in 2000, with a majority in congress. To what brink of disaster are you referring?
Yes, Bush won in 2000 by a hair thin margin. The blowback from the impeachment included the formation of Move-On.org which has been a thorn in our sides ever sense.
The Republicans lost seats in the House in 2000, 2004 and 2006.
It is my opinion that Newt wasted the majority he had helped craft on a useless partisan obsession. We never did get the balanced budget, elimination of federal programs, frank discussion of affirmative action, or much else that motivated many of us to work like dogs in the 1990s to deliver the House to Republican control for the fist time in 40 years.
The impeachment is Newt’s monument to his own hubris. It ain’t much to look at, really, is it.