The Speaker of the House is second in line of succession for the presidency after the vice president. He's also the top officer of the entire House of Representatives.Matt Wasniewski, the House Historian, said the Speaker’s role is crucial."The Speaker also over the decades has become the chief administrator of the House side of the Capitol.The Speaker makes final decisions pretty much on everything on our (House) side," said Wasniewski.Catholic University professor Matthew Green said part of the Speaker’s job is representing the House with the Senate, the President and the public."And then on top of that, he is the top leader of his party, which is usually how we get him selected.So he's responsible ultimately for helping the party get its legislation enacted, helping with recruiting candidates to run for office, raising money for people to run for office in his party. So he has a lot of responsibilities,” said Green.Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania became the first House Speaker on April 1, 1789.At the beginning, speakers played more of a parliamentary role than a political one. But time has changed."They were, sort of, supposed to keep out of politics or partisan conflict.But gradually in the 19th century, as parties got stronger, Speakers took on more role as party leader.
众议院议长是排在副总统之后的总统第二位继承人。他还是整个众议院的最高官员。众议院历史学家Matt Wasniewski表示，议长的作用非常关键。“数十年来，议长成为国会大厦众议院的行政长官。议长对众议院的所有事宜作出最后决定。”美国天主教大学教授Matthew Green表示，议长的部分工作是面对参议院，总统和公众时代表众议院。“除此之外，他还是自己所在党派的最高领导人，这也是他通常被选举的方式。所以他最终担负着帮助所在党派通过立法，帮助招募总统候选人，为自己党派总统候选人筹集资金的责任。所以，议长担负着许多责任。”1789年4月1日，来自比宾西法尼亚州的Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg成为首任众议院议长。最初，议长在议会方面的作用超过在政治方面的作用。但是时代发生了变化。“他们似乎应该立足于政治或党派冲突之外。但是在19世纪，随着党派逐渐变强，议长们在党派领导人方面发挥了更大的作用。
