As Kevin McCarthy pulled a drape off his smiling portrait at the Capitol on Tuesday, it wasn’t the only blast from the past.

Crowded into Statuary Hall for the unveiling were members past and present, ranging from fierce loyalists to rivals to erstwhile friends. Even a Democrat sang the former speaker’s praises, pointing to a bygone era in Congress.

“As the politics of the House became more toxic and confrontational, I found Kevin to be someone who still believed we could work together,” said Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., who served in Democratic leadership. “Some I know might dispute that assertion, perhaps on both sides of the aisle, but I saw it. I lived it.”

Others nodded to the potential awkwardness of the event. The California Republican held the gavel for just nine months. Now his portrait joins a collection of much longer-serving speakers. 

“The measure of a speakership isn’t about how long you’ve been there; it’s about the impact,” insisted former Rep. Garret Graves, a key ally who helped McCarthy try to wrangle a divided Republican conference in 2023.

“Excellence is the capacity to take pain,” said former Rep. Patrick McHenry, another loyalist and McCarthy’s temporary pick to oversee the House while members scrambled to agree on his replacement. “Everyone in this room got to witness Kevin McCarthy’s legendary tolerance for pain.”

Several others lined up to share memories from McCarthy’s brief tenure and the fight that ultimately cost him his job.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who has faced his own share of intraparty strife, called his predecessor a “big brother figure” ready to cheerfully offer advice.

“Getting hundreds of unruly colleagues together to row in the same direction can take a small miracle every day, and he pulled it off,” the current speaker said.

He pulled it off until he didn’t. Eight of his fellow Republicans voted to oust McCarthy in October 2023 through a process known as the motion to vacate — which had not previously been used since Joseph Cannon survived an attempt at removal in 1910. 

The event Tuesday afternoon was a reminder of a time that now seems squarely in the past. Most of McCarthy’s detractors are no longer around. Reps. Ken Buck, Matt Rosendale and Bob Good are no longer in Congress. McCarthy’s longtime foe and chief antagonist, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, resigned in November 2024. And Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., will also be departing the House at the end of their terms. 

As much as McCarthy’s ouster was historic, so was his ascent. 

A small but vocal group of Republican holdouts gave McCarthy a list of demands to secure their votes for him. After days of negotiations and 15 rounds of voting, McCarthy was elected as the House’s 55th speaker — only after agreeing to lower the threshold to kick-start the process that would ultimately lead to his removal.

Less than nine months later, his speakership was over when his detractors made good on their threat after McCarthy struck a deal with Democrats on a stopgap funding measure. 

“I knew what they were going to do to me,” McCarthy said after unveiling his portrait. 

Tuesday also served as a partial reunion for the “Young Guns” — the name given to McCarthy, former Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor and former Speaker Paul Ryan, once seen as three rising stars in the Republican party. Cantor, who was in attendance on Tuesday, recalled that period of time. 

“You, me and Paul Ryan created a little thing called Young Guns. That thing has lasted all the way until the last term. More than 200 people have been able to be elected through that, and you were leader of it, you led us here. You led us everywhere. You deserve a lot more credit than you have been given for making this place work,” Cantor said.

For all the eulogies of his speakership, there were also laughs. 

“Some leaders want followers who will stand in their shadow. Actually, it’s a bad joke because I sincerely mean this. But when I said it out loud, I realized at my height, I was always in Kevin’s shadow,” McHenry said. 

McHenry wasn’t the only one who took the chance to poke fun at McCarthy.

“May the Lord bless Kevin McCarthy and keep him. May he bless this portrait that it might hang with the same resolve Kevin showed through 15 ballots. May it hang straight. May the lighting always be flattering, and may future generations gaze upon it and say, ‘Wow, he had great hair,” said Rep. French Hill, R-Ark. “And from this day forward, may there be no motion to remove it, no call to vacate its place on the wall, and may this be one position Kevin never has to count the votes to keep.”