Mises. The Republican Revolution and party leadership In 1994, Armey, then House Republican Conference Chairman, joined Minority Whip Newt Gingrich in drafting the Contract with America. Republican members credited this election platform with the Republican takeover of Congress (the Republican Revolution). Gingrich became Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and Armey became Gingrich's second-in-command as House Majority Leader. Gingrich delegated to Armey an unprecedented level of authority over scheduling legislation on the House floor, a power traditionally reserved to the Speaker. In 1995, Armey referred to openly gay Congressman Barney Frank as "Barney Fag". Armey said it was a slip of the tongue. Frank did not accept Armey's explanation, saying, "I turned to my own expert, my mother, who reports that in 59 years of marriage, no one ever introduced her as Elsie Fag." Leadership challenges In the summer of 1997, several House Republicans attempted to replace Gingrich as Speaker. The attempted "coup" began on July 9 with a meeting between Republican conference chairman John Boehner of Ohio and Republican leadership chairman Bill Paxon of New York. According to their plan, House Majority Leader Armey, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, Boehner, and Paxon were to present Gingrich with an ultimatum: resign, or be voted out. Under the new plan, Paxon was to replace Gingrich as Speaker. However, Armey balked at the proposal, and told his chief of staff to warn Gingrich about the coup. On July 11, Gingrich met with senior Republican leadership to assess the situation. He explained that under no circumstance would he step down. If he were voted out, there would be a new election for Speaker, which would allow for the possibility that Democrats and dissenting Republicans would vote in Dick Gephardt as Speaker. Paxon resigned his post, feeling that he had not handled the situation correctly. Paxon later considered, then rejected, a challenge to Armey's post as majority leader, and did not run for re-election in 1998. Republicans suffered heavy losses in the 1998 elections, but remained the majority party in the House. Armey had to defeat a challenge for his majority leader post from Steve Largent of Oklahoma, a member of the Republican class of 1994. Although Armey was not popular in the Republican caucus, Largent was thought to be too conservative for some moderate Republicans, and Armey won on the third ballot. Gingrich had already resigned as Speaker in the aftermath