Gavel of former House Speaker John Boehner, via Flickr.
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
OCT. 6, 2023 | Who is considered the worst Speaker of the House of Representatives ever? We certainly are no expert, but in the face of the ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker, we got to wondering about other speakers in our nation’s history.
But first, let’s look a little more at why McCarthy was canned as the 118th Speaker. Sure, it was because a Florida Congressman called the question, but remember, there were only eight Republicans who voted to deny him continuing as speaker. And 216 people voted to remove him, meaning that 208 Democrats voted to oust him from the speakership with the help of those few Republicans. That happens because every representative, both Democrat and Republican, votes on who is to be the Speaker. Usually, the party that controls the House, now the Republicans, automatically determines who is the Speaker.
So why were the Democrats so united? We suspect for one reason: it was McCarthy who allowed the impeachment against President Joe Biden to proceed, against what is seen as scant, if any, evidence. Why should the Democrats want to see McCaarthy continue to have power and be allowed to propagate such a farce? So McCarthy is gone. Now we have Republican Patrick McHenry of North Carolina as the speaker pro tem, with little power except to call for the election of a new speaker.
Republicans in the last few years have had several speakers who did not shine while in office. And over the years, so have Democrats.
Washington observers remember President Obama had to work with two of the worst speakers of the House: John Boehner of Ohio and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Both had anti-Democratic approaches to legislating, trying to pass legislation by appealing only to their party.
You may also remember another recent Republican speaker, Dennis Hastert of Ohio. He eventually went to prison as a serial child molester. But in his role as speaker, he allowed President George H.W. Bush to go to war and then initiate the long-term occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan without declarations. This rubber-stamped the administration’s anti-Constitutional assaults on civil liberties. One pundit thought his worst action was his failure to serve the American people who most needed a Congress to counter the malignant neglect of the Bush-Cheney administration.
Republicans will tell you that Nancy Pelosi was a terrible Speaker. Essentially, that means that she countered what the Republicans proposed with effective tactics over and over. And she kept the Democrats united against Republican measures.
Some historians will tell you that a Georgian, Howell Cobb, was a terrible speaker, using his office to promote slavery.
Another notable speaker includes another Georgian, Newt Gingrich, who was good at what he did, but is questioned on whether it was good for the USA.
The longest serving speaker: Sam Rayburn, of Texas, who was 17 years in that office. Henry Clay of Kentucky was next, with 10 years, followed by Tip O’Neill of Massachusetts with nine years. Kevin McCarthy ranks as the third shortest time as speaker, 270 days. One guy, Theodore Pomeroy of New York, was speaker only one day in 1869.
Let’s end with some thoughts from Sam Rayburn, the longest serving Speaker, who had great wisdom in his leadership.
“You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too.”
“Too many critics mistake the deliberations of the Congress for its decisions.”
“Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good action; try to use ordinary situations.”
And one which explains a lot about how government works:
“When you get too big a majority, you’re immediately in trouble.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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