The History of the Speaker of the House

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2023

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last week, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California became the Speaker of the House, after 15 rounds of voting. It was the first time since 1923 that a Speaker was not elected on the first ballot. In this episode, we are joined by scholars Matthew Green, author of The Speaker of the House: A Study of Leadership, and Josh Chafetz, author of Congress’s Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers, to discuss the role and the history of this powerful constitutional office. They also discuss some of the most notable Speakers throughout history, from Henry Clay to Joe Cannon to Nancy Pelosi, and how their legacies helped shaped the House and Congress as we know it. Host Jeffrey Rosen moderates. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution
0:06.2	Center and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:10.8	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit charted by Congress to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:20.0	At the beginning of January, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California became the Speaker of the House of Representatives after 15 rounds of voting.
0:29.0	It was the first time a speaker wasn't elected in the first ballot since 1923. In this episode, we're joined by two great scholars,
0:37.5	Matthew Green and Josh Chavitz, who can tell us
0:40.3	about the role and the history of this important constitutional office.
0:45.0	Matthew Green is professor and chair of the politics department at Catholic University.
0:49.0	He is the author of the Speaker of the House, a study of leadership.
0:53.2	His most recent book is Newt Gingrich, the rise and fall
0:56.4	of a party entrepreneur.
0:58.1	Matthew, thank you so much for joining
0:59.5	and welcome to We The People.
1:00.6	Thanks.
1:01.3	Pleasure to be here.
1:02.4	And Josh Chaffetz is professor of law at Georgetown University
1:05.4	Law Center. He is the author of Congress's Constitution, legislative authority, and the separation
1:11.0	of powers. Josh, thank you so much for joining and welcome back.
1:15.0	Thanks so much for having me back.
1:16.6	The Constitution in Article 1, Section 2 says,
1:20.2	the House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
1:27.0	Matthew Green, what did the founders intend the Speaker to do in those spare words?
	...

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