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Paul D. Ryan, a son and grandson of Midwestern lawyers, ascended rapidly in American politics as a man with big plans: to overhaul the tax code, slash federal spending and rewrite the social contracts for Medicare and Social Security. Mr. Ryan, 45, who was elected in a celebratory Capitol Hill pageant on Thursday as the 54th speaker of the House, the youngest to grip the gavel since the late 1860s, now confronts a fundamental question: Will his new post provide a platform to pursue his bold visions for a renewed America, or will those big ideas weigh him down in an era defined by confrontation and small-bore compromises? (Herszenhorn and Huetteman, 10/29)

Mr. Ryan’s plan to listen to ideas from the rank and file doesn’t mean he takes the gavel without his own policy views, developed through a career that began with odd jobs like mowing lawns and waiting tables and led to chairmanships of two powerful House committees. The most ambitious plans in Mr. Ryan’s idea chest are based on a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps philosophy that inflames Democrats as much as it energizes Republicans. In closed-door meetings with House Republicans, Mr. Ryan has said he wants to overhaul the tax code, replace President Barack Obama’s health law, and rewrite federal poverty programs—and in the process draw a contrast with Democrats heading into the 2016 presidential election. (Hughes, 10/29)

His budget plan, which came to be known as the Ryan budget, called for deep cuts in spending and an overhaul of Medicare. As a head of the tax panel, Mr. Ryan had slated 2016 as the year to roll out his big tax ideas. It remains to be seen if he can use the speaker’s gavel to implement his ideas. His predecessor, Ohio Republican John Boehner, had aimed high in 2011 when he came close to reaching a broad budget deal with President Barack Obama, only to end his tenure with incremental changes that left big fiscal fights unsettled. (McKinnon and Hughes, 10/29)

Still, there’s no doubt that Ryan was the White House’s favored choice for speaker after John Boehner resigned and No. 2 Republican Kevin McCarthy withdrew from the race to succeed him. Aides say the president views Ryan as a policy wonk driven more by legislative results than appeasing GOP hardliners. ... Despite these areas of common interest, the most notable exchanges between Obama and Ryan have come when they’ve been at odds. During a televised health care summit in 2010, Ryan derided the president’s health care legislation as rife with “gimmicks and smoke and mirrors” techniques to shade the real cost. His detail-rich, six-minute commentary was praised by Republicans as among the most effective arguments against the “Obamacare” bill. (Pace, 10/29)