WASHINGTON — When President Bill Clinton’s staff relegated Speaker Newt Gingrich to the back of Air Force One on an international trip, it went down in history as an epic taunt that triggered a government shutdown.

Gingrich was fuming after the long flight from Israel, during which the two never got to discuss their budget impasse, and after which he was made to deplane down the back stairs. His admission that the snub factored into his decision to shut down the government in 1995 earned him a cover of The Daily News, which depicted him as a diaper-clad toddler throwing a tantrum with the blaring headline “CRY BABY.”

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The episode was considered one of the most enduring illustrations of just how ugly government shutdowns can get. Until now.

During the first governm

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