Photo Credit: Huffington Post

Representative Paul Ryan has an impressive resume. Ryan has represented the first Congressio- nal District of Wisconsin since 1999. He has served as chairman of the House Budget and Ways & Means Committees, as well as serving as Mitt Romney’s run- ning mate in the 2012 presiden- tial election. But last Thursday, October 29, Ryan assumed his largest, and most challenging role yet: the 54th Speaker of the United States House of Repre- sentatives.

Ryan was the subject of ram- pant speculation and pressure to run for the position after for- mer speaker John Boehner announced he would step down at the end of October. Ryan initially headaches for former Speaker refused, despite ringing endorsements from insiders on Capitol Hill and the conservative media. However this situation changed when the presumed-successor Kevin McCarthy (R-California) dropped out of the running, and no obvious candidates remained; Ryan was forced to reconsider. His hesitancy stemmed from the job detracting from time with his family, as well as the con- cern of taking over a fractured Republican majority plagued by interparty conflict. Ryan publicly stated his condition for running was the unification of the party behind him as Speaker of the House. Of primary concern was a group of 40 Republicans within the House known as the “Free- dom Caucus.” They are hardline conservatives who caused major

Boehner. However Ryan was clearly able to unify behind closed doors as he received a resounding endorsement in the form of 236 of 245 Republican votes, according to Politico. The other nine votes, all from hard- liners, went to Daniel Webster (R-Florida).

The House seems optimistic about Ryan’s leadership due to ei- ther their hope to move on from the divisive atmosphere Boehner oversaw or their dislike of how Boehner punished members of his own party for dissenting and often used Democratic votes to push his agenda. Ryan has a new agenda, a unified House of Rep- resentatives and lots of work to do. The House and the country will be watching closely to see if he can live up to his potential.