Customer Reviews

The House: The History of the House of Representatives

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A few months ago, I read The Most Exclusive Club, Lewis Gould's history of the modern U.S. Senate. When I saw that a book about the House of Representatives was coming out, I knew that it would be a good companion piece to Gould's book. Then I saw it was by Robert Remini, the fabulous biographer of Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster and knew that this book was a must-read. And though Remini has expanded beyond the Jacksonian era he has specialized in, he has still written a great book.

Naturally enough, Remini starts at the beginning of the House in 1789. In the early going, the institution was trying to define itself and its role in the government. With travel to the capital so difficult (first in New York, then Philadelphia and finally Washington), it wasn't surprising that most Congressmen served only a couple terms. Although there were big names in the first Congresses (such as James Madison), few stood out for their actual work in the institution. That would come with the next generation in the early 1800s: Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John Calhoun would thrust the House into greater prominence. Clay in particular is something of a star, transforming the Speakership into a position of power.

In the tug of war between Congress and the Presidency, first one side would have the advantage, then the other, but in the antebellum era, the legislative branch probably had the edge overall. Unfortunately, as regional differences grew greater, the level of debate got lower and sometimes even descended into violence. Nonetheless, Remini has even less good to say about the post-Civil War House, which was ineffective and filled with corruption. In the 20th century, probably the greatest single development was the rise of the perpetual politician; Congressmen (and eventually Congresswomen) began serving for decades instead of just a few sessions. As a result, seniority came to be a big issue, and the South (where representatives were rarely ousted) came to dominate committees and clog up legislation, particularly on civil rights. Eventually, some of this would be cleaned up, but new issues would rise as Congress entered the present era, as the members became constant campaigners and more media-savvy.

Essentially, within 500 pages, we get a history of the United States from the perspective of the House of Representatives. In addition, in appendices, we get lists of all the Speakers and Congressional leaders as well as sergeants-at-arms and other positions as well as other miscellaneous information. Overall, Remini retains objectivity, even with more recent politics. For example, while he is critical of Newt Gingrich for making reducing civility in the House, this is not a criticism of Gingrich's politics but rather his behavior. Remini has plenty of good and bad to say about both Republicans and Democrats. This is one reason that his book is better than Gould's decent but sometimes slanted book; another reason is that Remini is just a better writer. This is a great book by a great writer and highly recommended for those who enjoy reading American history.

This is a disappointing book by an accomplished historian which perhaps reflects its origin as a book sponsored by or written for the House and Congress. On the plus side, it is a well-written, interesting and easy to read narrative history. But substantively it is pretty thin and derivative on what the title announces as its main subject, the history of the U.S. House.

Most of the book is given to what one might call external House affairs, positioning the House as a participant in the general history of the country, particularly its political history. About half delivers a textbook version of U.S. political history from the House viewpoint (campaigns, the sequence of presidents, the sequence of congressional party control, changing national political issues, key legislative acts, and the like). About another quarter is given to bits of history of Washington, D.C. and its government buildings, particularly, of course, the Capitol and congressional buildings.

This leaves about one-quarter, maybe a third, for the history of the House itself as an institution of government. And much of this fraction is devoted to entertaining re-tellings of notable stories - famous members, famous feuds, famous incidents, etc. - that serve to illustrate but throw little light on the cultural past of the House.

Not much space is left, then, for what one would expect the book mainly to be about: a history of the institution of the U.S. House, its constitutional origins and development, the evolution of its internal organization and institutional structures, its changing internal culture and affairs, the history of its committees and their practices, changing legislative procedures, relations with the Senate and the courts, expenditures, budget practices, etc. These topics are covered, of course, but thinly, almost incidentally in many places, though with a little more attention in the second half of the book (post-civil war). In a one-volume treatment of the subject, more space should have been given to these aspects of House history -- which also can be interestingly related -- and less to a re-telling of textbook political and Washington D.C. history.

There are appendices useful for references purposes: lists of House leaders, for example, along with (oddly in a history book) short essays on a selected few contemporary practices and procedures, with a little bit about their history (e.g., electronic voting, counting presidential ballots, the office of the Whip, etc.). Absent are historical appendices on many useful topics (perhaps because they might seem critical or reflect badly on the House in some quarters): staffing, member discipline, member expulsions, salaries, expenditures, appropriation and budget practices, court cases, etc.

There is an index, but it is inadequate (heavy on member names and the like, but incomplete, spotty, or entirely absent on many subjects that are in fact covered, here and there, in the book (legislative procedures, staffing, member salaries, member discipline, committee arrangements, etc.). This limits the book's utility as a reference source: one has to plow through page by page to be sure to ferret out what information may be included on a subject.

There are endnotes, also thin. There is no bibliography or bibliographic essay, which would have been very helpful from such a source.

Long regarded as "the people's House," the House of Representatives has enjoyed a special position in American history. Devised as the most democratic of the institutions outlined in the Constitution, it has defined innumerable aspects of the country's development, as well as witnessing the struggles over the key issues in our nation's past. In chronicling over two centuries of its existence, the distinguished historian Robert Remini has undertaken no small challenge - to recount the people and events of a part of government often overshadowed by more distinguished bodies and positions withing our governing system.

After a brief history of legislative assemblies in America from colonial times to the drafting of the Constitution, Remini begins his narrative with the first session of the House in March 1789. He recounts its early decades as it established the procedures by which it operated while debating many of the key issues of the times. This is one of the stronger parts of the book, perhaps in no small part because it addresses the era the author has spent the bulk of his academic career studying. Here he deftly weaves his account of events in the House with national developments, showing how the House responded to events and how they, in turn, shaped them. He is particularly good in his coverage of Henry Clay, whom Remini considers to have been perhaps the greatest speaker ever - and about whom he wrote an excellent biography over a decade ago. Such familiarity serves him well here.

Remini's account weakens as he approaches the twentieth century, however. The balance between his coverage of the House and that of broader historical events breaks down, as he often recounts the broader history while slighting his main subject. His coverage of the early twentieth century is the weakest part of the text, as he fails to engage as well as he did in the earlier chapters. It is only when he moves beyond the Second World War and can draw upon the proliferation of autobiographies and the interviews he has conducted with congressmen past and present that the narrative comes to life once more, capturing the personalities and the drama of legislative events such as civil rights and the turmoil of the Watergate hearings.

While an informative book and an enjoyable read in most respects, Remini's effort doesn't entirely measure up to his subject. His is a narrative examination covering a wide swath of history, which forces him to give most topics only cursory coverage of subjects (such as the ideas and models that went into defining the House in the Constitution) that warrant considerably greater attention. Moreover, at times it seems the his purpose is conflicted, as he seems unable to decide whether his work should be a history of the House of Representatives or one of its impact upon American history, and his attempt to write a book that is both ends up accomplishing neither as well as one might hope. The end product is a good overview for those seeking an introduction to the history of the House, but one that falls short of embodying the greatness of this colorful institution.

As one would expect from a talented and productive historian such as Robert Remini, this is a breezy, insightful account of the House of Representatives from 1789 to the recent past. Remini breaks new ground in writing the history of the House of Representatives. He manages to cover the foundation of the House from the British two house system through the endless debate in the Continental Congress and Articles of Confederation years. The text is very readable as Remini moves forward from 1789 to the present, covering major aspects of the history of the House of Representatives. Not surprisingly for a scholar of Jacksonian America, he is at his best in discussing the antebellum era of Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and others. Also fascinating, is his recounting of recent events made possible through a large number of interviews.

Remini remarked that he had never tried to write an institutional history before, and that he approached this work with some trepidation. The work had been mandated by the House of Representatives, asking the Librarian of Congress to oversee the effort. Remini was not the first choice to write this history, but David McCullough chose not to take on the task. Remini approached his assignment with relish, and the result reflects that enthusiasm. He includes in this work many fascinating stories of the "People's House," as he originally wanted to title the book. The flaws in this work, and there are certainly a few of importance, result it seems to me from two basic issues. First, the work suffers from the restrictive schedule imposed by the House of Representatives to complete it. Second, as a scholar of the antebellum period of American history Remini has a tremendous mastery of the material of that era. He is weakest in background in the first half of the twentieth century and the book reflects this lack of in-depth knowledge. His story recovers in the period since World War II because he could draw on oral histories with many members and former members of the House of Representatives.

Clearly this is a major work about the House of Representatives, a body that has needed an official history for years. It will be useful as an accessible overview and synthesis of the subject more than as an in-depth, analytical, thesis driven historical monograph. Many such specialized studies on individual eras and themes exist, and this work helps provide connective tissue between them. The Society for History in the Federal Government just awarded Remini's "The House" its George Pendleton Prize given for an outstanding major publication on the federal government's history produced by or for a federal history program. This book certainly deserves that honor.

The House provides an accessible summary of the political history of the United States through the lens of the House of Representatives. It covers the key controversies of Presidential power, state vs. federal and legislative battles between parties. It does an excellent job of looking at how the role of the Speaker has changed and focusing on the two most powerful speakers Henry Clay and Sam Rayburn. It is very easy to read and quick for those with a good background in US history who can focus on the complexities of the house. I agree with many of the other reviewers that for those who have a major interest in US history will find this lacking in substance as the author could have gone into much greater detail. Overall though it provides a decent summary and can be used as a jumping point for finding what other areas in US political history one wishes to read further into.

I really don't understand the lukewarm reception this book has received. Remini has done an outstanding job of giving a broad history of the House of Representatives from its inception to the present. The book is well-written, and engaging. Highly recommend.

I have a few books by Remini but this is the first of his I've read. I can draw a lot of his biases through reading this book.

He starts well, but as other reviewers have noted, he seems less interested in super-important issues on his subject (such as the federal government's role in national education, nationwide infrastructure and state v. federal sovereignty) and more interested in the characters in the house. He speaks very well of Henry Clay and gives great profiles of many other Speakers, but more and more he pits the House against nationwide issues of civil rights. After constant doses of this, I groaned at Remini's labeling of biased Americans as "bigoted rednecks" (Remini is one of those whose social blinders only recognize bigotry when it's expressed or felt by a white person). While not to make too much of this, one might dislike the bigotry (whether redneck or otherwise) but permit a person to have his own opinions. After all, thousands of bigoted rednecks were bayonetted by the British in the Revolution and by the Japanese in WWII in defense of America, whatever their opinions might have been. Back to the subject: I feel that Remini ought to have focused more on issues touching the House as a whole rather than provide so many biographies or profiles of its major players. I also felt that the earliest history he covered was most interesting, but then it became an endless play-by-play, issue succeesing issue, Speaker succeeding Speaker cycle of tedious opinions.

Regrettably, I didn't do enough research before buying this book. It is a dry, factual account of House history that leaves you feeling like you didn't learn much about the real history of the institution. In my opinion, it paints an excessively flattering and superficial portrait - probably because it was sponsored by the House's 1999 History of the House Awareness and Preservation Act. The book might be useful for your kid's school report, but if you're looking for something that goes any deeper than that or is even remotely engaging, please look elsewhere.