Glory, Grief, and the Gavel

Glory, Grief, and the Gavel is a gripping, first-person account of one of the most dramatic power struggles in modern American politics: the fight to elect the 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

While presidential elections hinge on tens of millions of votes, the speakership—the third-highest office in the nation and second in line to the presidency—requires just 218. In January 2023, securing those votes became a historic test of loyalty, ambition, ideology, and endurance, playing out under the glare of national and international scrutiny.

Written by longtime congressional aide John Leganski, Glory, Grief, and the Gavel pulls readers behind the closed doors of Capitol Hill and into the “rooms where it happened.” From unreported strategy sessions and whispered negotiations to late-night floor fights and near-physical confrontations, Leganski offers an unfiltered look at how power is actually brokered in Washington.

Covering a decade of internal conflict within the Republican Party that set the stage for the most contentious Speaker election in over a century, Leganski illuminates how factional warfare, personal rivalries, and institutional breakdowns reshaped the House itself. The narrative builds toward five extraordinary days in January, when the speakership hung in the balance through multiple failed ballots, public defections, and escalating pressure unseen in generations.

Glory, Grief, and the Gavel is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Congress, leadership under siege, and the fragile mechanics of American democracy at a moment of profound division.