Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, an obese Lutheran minister, was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives and the first functioning head of the U.S. Government; he presided over the 65-member House in New York for a month before President George Washington was inaugurated. Sam Rayburn of Texas served longer as Speaker than any other man: 16 years. From Muhlenberg to McCormack. 45 have ruled as Speakers of the House (one lasted just one day). Some were great men, many were toadies and sycophants, a few were colorful despots. Among the outstanding Speakers:
Henry Clay the 34-year-old "Western Star" of Kentucky, was elected Speaker on his first day in the House. That year, 70 of the House's 116 members were new, and Clay appealed to the rookies' thirst for new-blood leadership. Before Clay, the Speaker generally acted as a feeble referee over an undisciplined House mob. A stern taskmaster, Clay brought order and respectability to the House. Members were forbidden to put their feet on their desks, and the hound dog of Virginia's eccentric John Randolph was banished from the chamber on orders of the Speaker. Clay refused to be a mere presiding officer, asserted his rights to appear on the floor as an eloquent member. With the backing of Secretary of State James Monroe, Speaker Clay forced a reluctant President Madison to sign a declaration of war against Britain in 1812. Clay presided for six terms and achieved a lasting prestige for the speakership.
James G. Elaine, a Maine Republican, came to the speakership in 1869, when the House had again fallen into bedlam ways. With nearly 250 members crammed into a tiny chamber, the House was known as the "Bear Garden." When all else failed, Elaine flung himself on a couch behind his desk and suspended business until order was restored. Elaine strengthened the speakership with the ruling that a party was obliged to ratify the candidate chosen by the majority caucus—thus ending the chaos of intraparty and coalition candidacies (under the Constitution, the Speaker need not even be a member of the House).
Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine, the son of a sailor, was a giant of a man (6 ft. 3 in., 275 Ibs.) who ruled the House by brute genius, and raised the speakership to a peak of authority. By refusing to entertain "dilatory motions" (i.e., anything he disliked), Republican Reed won arbitrary power over the calendar of legislation. By counting silent members as present, he frustrated the Democratic minority's parliamentary ploy of preventing a quorum by refusing to vote. The "Reed Rules," many of which are still in use, ended House filibusters for all time. Reed was known as well for his cynical wit as for his autocratic rulings. His definition of a statesman: "A dead politician." His sardonic tribute to Progressive Republican Theodore Roosevelt: "Theodore, if there is one thing for which I admire you, it is your original discovery of the Ten Commandments."