Is Nancy Pelosi the Worst-Ever Speaker of the House?

Vice-President Pence & Speaker Pelosi applauding President Trump at the 2019 State of Union address; the president had just said, “we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance & retribution & embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise & the common good.” (Image Credit: NEU)

This morning, the president tweeted that Nancy Pelosi “will go down as the absolute worst Speaker of the House in U.S. history!”

Is this true?

When prominent political figures make sweeping historical claims, those claims deserve serious scrutiny and careful consideration of the evidence.

Pelosi’s performance matters. She occupies the most powerful position in Congress. As Speaker of the House, she leads the chamber the Framers designed to be most immediately responsive to the will of the people.

To reasonably assess Pelosi’s record compared to history’s worst Speakers of the House, we first need to look at the competition.

Andrew Stevenson (1827–34) shared blame with President Andrew Jackson for Indian removal, rampant political corruption, and killing the Second Bank of the US — financial deregulation that led to the Panic of 1837 and mass unemployment.

Linn Boyd of Kentucky & James Orr of South Carolina

Linn Boyd (1851–55) and James Orr (1857–59) both promoted slavery, provoked the North, and helped cause the Civil War. Boyd extended slavery with Kansas-Nebraska Act, sparking violence in Bleeding Kansas…