Although he never held political office, Dr. Mel Steely was a political giant in the community,” said former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Dr. Steely passed away on Sunday with Speaker Gingrich performing the eulogy at Carrollton Methodist, Wednesday. Steely was a retired professor of history with the University of West Georgia and also served as an administrative aide to Gingrich for 13 years.
“For 49 years we have been friends. He was remarkable in almost every way. He was smart. He was a serious teacher. He was great at politics. He helped shape my career when I was at West Georgia when I was teaching, when I ran for Congress and when I became speaker. I can’t speak too highly of the impact that Mel had,” remarked Gingrich.
Gingrich credits much of his success to Steely when he represented Georgia’s 6th District in Washington:
“Because of Mel’s knowledge, both of history and politics and frankly of people, I would often turn to him and ask him for advice about very specific problems. Sometimes it was personnel problems, sometimes how to handle an issue, sometimes dealing with a crisis of one time or the other. Mel was always thoughtful and he always came up with ideas and suggestions that were very helpful in getting us to the next stage.”
Steely also wrote the biography about Gingrich called “The Gentleman From Georgia.”
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