Global Courant
EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., recently toured the home of Frederick Muhlenberg, the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and reflected on the historic significance of his position.
While touring in Trappe, Pennsylvania, located about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, leaders of a local historical society took McCarthy around Muhlenberg’s property—dubbed “The Speaker’s House”—and the Henry Muhlenberg House owned by the father. of Frederick Muhlenberg, a well-known 18th century Lutheran minister.
“I wanted to go to the home of the very first Speaker of the House of Representatives, Frederick Muhlenberg. You learn from history,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital in an exclusive post-tour interview. “Think if you were going to be the very first speaker of Congress – setting up a new nation, how did you create the tradition, the history?”
“And if you study his time as a speaker, there’s something that stands out: I might have a little bit in common with him. He didn’t win on the first ballot. It took him a few ballots to win there,” he continued. . “So he had some fortitude, some guts, which you needed in those days. How did he make sure the constitution was enforced? How did he make sure committees did the work, that the speaker didn’t take all the power? “
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy enters the home of first-ever House Speaker Frederick Muhlenberg in Trappe, Pennsylvania with Historic Trappe’s Lisa Minardi. (Caleb Smith, Speaker McCarthy’s office)
McCarthy added that he was particularly interested in how Muhlenberg was able to work with the first US president George Washington in the late 18th century as they laid the foundations of the federal government for years to come.
“Being Speaker of the House is not an easy job — you know that when you go in,” he said. “But how do you argue and help people get together, uphold the Constitution, but pass the kind of legislation through committees that puts America on a better track, that will be better tomorrow than today?”
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In January, after multiple failed votes over the course of four days, McCarthy was elected the 55th-ever Speaker of the House on the 15th ballot. The tight vote came after a group of Republicans demanded a series of concessions — such as securing certain committee assignments, creating a new “armaments” subcommittee, and giving power to lower-ranking members to amend bills — and for McCarthy to prioritize to various conservative priorities.
And McCarthy’s speakership hit another snag last month when Republicans from the House Freedom Caucus postponed votes on protecting gas stoves, a key GOP priority, in response to how McCarthy and other leaders pushed the debt-ceiling bill. . Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said he and others are fighting back against the “era of imperial speakership.”
McCarthy listens to Minardi during the tour of the historic site. (Caleb Smith, Speaker McCarthy’s office)
McCarthy reflected broadly on the first six months of his post-Trappe speakership, saying he understood the job isn’t easy, but he’s willing to make the right decisions, even if they aren’t immediately popular.
“Muhlenberg, a lot of people may not know him, but he literally made a decision emulating George Washington on a Jay treaty that cost him his political career — literally got attacked by a family member,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “It was the right decision for the future. But emotionally, where the country was, they wanted a different decision.”
“He took the leadership to cast that casting vote where George Washington believed our nation was too young to go to war with Britain again,” he continued. “You can learn so many times in history that people who put country first made the right decision. It may not make you popular right now, but history will be very kind when they look back on you.”
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The current speaker said that reflecting on history reminds him that democracy will not be “smooth” but will yield the best results in the end.
McCarthy walks through the garden connected to the grounds. (Caleb Smith, Speaker McCarthy’s office)
“Democracy, as Abraham Lincoln put it, of the people, by the people, for the people, will not disappear from the face of the earth. There is a reason for that: because our power is not with the government, but with the people,” added McCarthy to it. . “I embrace the struggle when it comes because I know it works. You may not get everything you want, but you know the struggle, that the people are still in power and you work through it.”
According to Lisa Minardi, the executive director of Historic Trappe, which manages a series of historic sites in the area, The Speaker’s House was slated to be demolished 20 years ago and replaced with a CVS dispensary as part of a comic book expansion plan, but was rescued after a group of citizens who wanted to preserve the site united.
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Today, the house is being renovated as part of a multi-year renovation funded largely by individual donors. The largest project was the restoration of the roof of the house, which was successfully completed in 2017. The organization is now focusing on replacing windows and refurbishing the entire exterior, and plans to soon shift its focus to the interior.
“There is only one first speaker of the House,” Minardi told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Frederick Muhlenberg is just incredibly important historically. He’s important on a local level, on a county level, on a state and national level.”
“Not just here in our community of Trappe, but on all those levels,” she continued. “So we think we have a great story to tell. We want to get him on the radar.”
Fox News Digital Production Assistant Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
Thomas Catenacci is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
