Western roots -- Congress in the 1960s -- The 1970s: prelude to House leadership -- In the leadership: the Reagan years -- Majority leader -- Into the Maelstrom: the speakership -- A new democratic speaker with an established Republican president -- War without and war within -- Congress on the defensive: the "house bank" and other "scandals" -- The end of "gridlock" -- Unified government: looking for a majority -- Legislating a presidential agenda -- Unseating a Speaker: the 1994 reelection race -- What lies ahead, what's left behind.