EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., recently toured the home of Frederick Muhlenberg, the first Speaker of the US House of Representatives, and reflected on the historic significance of his position.
During a tour of Trappe, Pennsylvania, located about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, leaders of a local historical society took McCarthy around Muhlenberg’s estate — nicknamed “The Speaker’s House” — and the Henry Muhlenberg House owned by Frederick Muhlenberg’s father, a well-known Lutheran minister in the 18th century.
“I wanted to go to the house of the very first speaker of the House of Representatives, Frederick Muhlenberg. You learn from history,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview following the tour. “Think if you were the very first speaker of Congress – building a new nation, how would you create the tradition, the history?”
“And when you study his time of being speaker, there’s something that stands out: I might have a little in common with him. He didn’t win the first ballot. It took him a couple ballots to win there,” he continued. “So, he had the poise, a little bit of grit, that you needed in those days. How did he make sure the Constitution was upheld? How did he make sure the committees were doing the job, that the speaker didn’t absorb all the power?”
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy enters the home of first House Speaker Frederick Muhlenberg in Trappe, Pennsylvania with Lisa Minardi of Historic Trappe. (Caleb Smith, Office of Speaker McCarthy)
McCarthy added that he is especially interested in how Muhlenberg worked with the first US President George Washington in the late 1700s 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 going in,” he said. “But how do you fight and help people come together, uphold the Constitution, but pass the kind of legislation through committees that puts America on a better path, that tomorrow will be better than now?”
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In January, after several unsuccessful votes over four days, McCarthy was elected as the 55th Speaker of the House on the 15th ballot. The tight vote came after a group of Republicans sought a series of concessions — such as securing certain committee assignments, creating a new “weapons” subcommittee, and empowering members has a low ranking to change bills – and for McCarthy to prioritize different conservative priorities.
And McCarthy’s speakership hit another snag last month when House Freedom Caucus Republicans delayed votes on protecting gas stoves, a top GOP priority, in response to the way McCarthy and others pushed leaders on the debt ceiling bill. Rep. said. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., that he and others are fighting against the “era of the imperial speakership.”

McCarthy listens to Minardi while touring the historic site. (Caleb Smith, Office of Speaker McCarthy)
McCarthy reflects broadly on the first six months of his speakership following the Trappe tour, saying he understands the job isn’t easy, but he’s willing to make the right decisions even if they’re not immediately popular.
“Muhlenberg, a lot of people may not know him, but he literally made a decision following George Washington on a Jay Treaty that cost him his political career — a family member literally attacked him for it,” McCarthy told the Fox News Digital. “It was the right decision going forward. But emotionally, where the country was at, they wanted another decision.”
“He took it upon himself to make the tie-breaking vote in which George Washington believed our country was too young to go to war with Britain again,” he continued. “Many times you will learn from history that people who put the country first, make the right decision. It may not make you famous 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 ultimately produce the best results.

McCarthy walks through the garden connected to the site. (Caleb Smith, Office of Speaker McCarthy)
“Democracy, as Abraham Lincoln said, of the people, by the people, for the people, will never disappear from the Earth. There is a reason why: because our power does not rest in government, it is in the people ,” McCarthy added. “I actually embrace the struggle when it comes because I know it’s working. You might not get everything that you want, but you know the struggle, that the people still have the power and you work through it.”
According to Lisa Minardi, the executive director of Historic Trappe which manages a range of historic sites in the area, The Speaker’s House was scheduled 20 years ago to be demolished and replaced by a CVS Pharmacy as part of an expansion plan of the strip mall, but was saved after a group of citizens who wanted to preserve the site came together.
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Today, the house is being renovated as part of a multi-year renovation funded, in large part, 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 focused on replacing the windows and repairing the entire exterior, and plans to 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 was incredibly important in history. He was important at the local level, at the county level, at the state and at the national level.”
“Not just here in our Trappe community, but at all those levels,” he continued. “So, we think we have a good story to tell. We want to, you know, get him on the radar.”
Fox News Digital Production Assistant Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.