Federal Government
Speakers of the House of Representatives
The primary role of the Speaker of the House is to preside over the House of Representatives. The speaker is chosen by majority vote of that body, usually along strictly partisan lines. For many years, the speaker was an extremely powerful figure, especially during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Holders of the office exerted great influence through their power to appoint House members to committees and by their seat on the Rules Committee, where they shaped the House agenda and framed the later debates. Republican Thomas B. Reed of Maine earned the nickname “Czar” Reed during the 1889-1891 session, when he heavy-handedly increased the speaker’s powers. Insurgent Republicans and Democrats joined forces in 1890 to tame Reed. Another powerful speaker, Republican Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, was perhaps the most dictatorial of all. He served in Congress for nearly 50 years, but the height of his influence occurred during the administrations of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. “Uncle Joe,” as he was called, routinely and unilaterally halted much progressive legislation. The “Revolution of 1910” saw Cannon's and subsequent speakers' powers diminish; notably his removal from the Rules Committee and reduced capacity to make committee appointments. During the 1970s, further reform of the office was made under a movement to modify the seniority rules for the House. Today the speaker remains one of the most potent political figures in Washington. He has the power to make appointments to special committees and can doom bills with his authority over scheduling floor debates. The speaker is also responsible for assigning bills to committee and sometimes makes a selection based upon his belief that a particular committee chairman will either promote or kill the bill. The Speaker of the House is third in the presidential succession line, behind the president and vice president. The complete list of speakers below is divided into three time periods:
|
Congress
|
Speaker
|
State
|
Date Elected
|
|
1st
|
Frederick Muhlenberg
|
Pennsylvania
|
April 1, 1789
|
|
2nd
|
Jonathan Trumbull
|
Connecticut
|
October 24, 1791
|
|
3rd
|
Frederick Muhlenberg
|
Pennsylvania
|
December 2, 1793
|
|
4th
|
Jonathan Dayton
|
New Jersey
|
December 7, 1795
|
|
5th
|
Jonathan Dayton
|
New Jersey
|
May 15, 1797
|
|
6th
|
Theodore Sedgwick
|
Massachusetts
|
December 2, 1799
|
|
7th
|
Nathaniel Macon
|
North Carolina
|
December 7, 1801
|
|
8th
|
Nathaniel Macon
|
North Carolina
|
October 17, 1803
|
|
9th
|
Nathaniel Macon
|
North Carolina
|
December 2, 1805
|
|
l0th
|
Joseph B. Varnum
|
Massachusetts
|
October 26, 1807
|
|
11th
|
Joseph B. Varnum
|
Massachusetts
|
May 22, 1809
|
|
12th
|
Henry Clay
|
Kentucky
|
November 4, 1811
|
|
13th
|
Henry Clay
|
Kentucky
|
May 24, 1813
|
|
13th
|
Langdon Cheves
|
South Carolina
|
January 19, 1814
|
|
14th
|
Henry Clay
|
Kentucky
|
December 4, 1815
|
|
15th
|
Henry Clay
|
Kentucky
|
December 1, 1817
|
|
16th
|
Henry Clay
|
Kentucky
|
December 6, 1819
|
|
16th
|
John W. Taylor
|
New York
|
Nov. 15, 1820
|
|
17th
|
Philip P. Barbour
|
Virginia
|
December 4, 1821
|
|
18th
|
Henry Clay
|
Kentucky
|
December 1, 1823
|
|
19th
|
John W. Taylor
|
New York
|
December 5, 1825
|
|
20th
|
Andrew Stevenson
|
Virginia
|
December 3, 1827
|
|
21st
|
Andrew Stevenson
|
Virginia
|
December 7, 1829
|
|
22nd
|
Andrew Stevenson
|
Virginia
|
December 5, 1831
|
|
23rd
|
Andrew Stevenson
|
Virginia
|
December 2, 1833
|
|
23rd
|
John Bell
|
Tennessee
|
June 2, 1834
|
|
24th
|
James K. Polk
|
Tennessee
|
December 7, 1835
|
|
25th
|
James K. Polk
|
Tennessee
|
September 4, 1837
|
|
26th
|
Robert M.T. Hunter
|
Virginia
|
December 16, 1839
|
|
27th
|
John White
|
Kentucky
|
May 31, 1841
|
|
28th
|
John W. Jones
|
Virginia
|
December 4, 1843
|
|
29th
|
John W. Davis
|
Indiana
|
December 1, 1845
|
|
30th
|
Robert C. Winthrop
|
Massachusetts
|
December 6, 1847
|
|
31st
|
Howell Cobb
|
Georgia
|
December 22, 1849
|
|
32nd
|
Linn Boyd
|
Kentucky
|
December 1, 1851
|
|
Congress
|
Speaker
|
State
|
Date Elected
|
|
33rd
|
Linn Boyd
|
Kentucky
|
December 5, 1853
|
|
34th
|
Nathaniel P. Banks
|
Massachusetts
|
February 2, 1856
|
|
35th
|
James L. Orr
|
South Carolina
|
December 7, 1857
|
|
36th
|
William Pennington
|
New Jersey
|
February 1, 1860
|
|
37th
|
Galusha A. Grow
|
Pennsylvania
|
July 4, 1861
|
|
38th
|
Schuyler Colfax
|
Indiana
|
December 7, 1863
|
|
39th
|
Schuyler Colfax
|
Indiana
|
December 4, 1865
|
|
40th
|
Schuyler Colfax
|
Indiana
|
March 4, 1867
|
|
40th
|
Theodore M. Pomeroy
|
New York
|
March 3, 1869
|
|
41st
|
James G. Blaine
|
Maine
|
March 4, 1869
|
|
42nd
|
James G. Blaine
|
Maine
|
March 4, 1871
|
|
43rd
|
James G. Blaine
|
Maine
|
December 1, 1873
|
|
44th
|
Michael C. Kerr
|
Indiana
|
December 6, 1875
|
|
44th
|
Samuel J. Randall
|
Pennsylvania
|
December 4, 1876
|
|
45th
|
Samuel J. Randall
|
Pennsylvania
|
October 15, 1877
|
|
46th
|
Samuel J. Randall
|
Pennsylvania
|
March 18, 1879
|
|
47th
|
J. Warren Keifer
|
Ohio
|
December 5, 1881
|
|
48th
|
John G. Carlisle
|
Kentucky
|
December 3, 1883
|
|
49th
|
John G. Carlisle
|
Kentucky
|
December 7, 1885
|
|
50th
|
John G. Carlisle
|
Kentucky
|
December 5, 1887
|
|
51st
|
Thomas B. Reed
|
Maine
|
December 2, 1889
|
|
52nd
|
Charles F. Crisp
|
Georgia
|
December 8, 1891
|
|
53rd
|
Charles F. Crisp
|
Georgia
|
August 7, 1893
|
|
54th
|
Thomas B. Reed
|
Maine
|
December 2, 1895
|
|
55th
|
Thomas B. Reed
|
Maine
|
March 15, 1897
|
|
56th
|
David B. Henderson
|
Iowa
|
December 4, 1899
|
|
57th
|
David B. Henderson
|
Iowa
|
December 2, 1901
|
|
58th
|
Joseph G. Cannon
|
Illinois
|
November 9, 1903
|
|
59th
|
Joseph G. Cannon
|
Illinois
|
December 4, 1905
|
|
60th
|
Joseph G. Cannon
|
Illinois
|
December 2, 1907
|
|
61st
|
Joseph G. Cannon
|
Illinois
|
March 15, 1909
|
|
62nd
|
James Beauchamp Clark
|
Missouri
|
April 4, 1911
|
|
63rd
|
James Beauchamp Clark
|
Missouri
|
April 7, 1913
|
|
64th
|
James Beauchamp Clark
|
Missouri
|
December 6, 1915
|
|
65th
|
James Beauchamp Clark
|
Missouri
|
April 2, 1917
|
|
66th
|
Frederick H. Gillett
|
Massachusetts
|
May 19, 1919
|
|
67th
|
Frederick H. Gillett
|
Massachusetts
|
April 11, 1921
|
|
68th
|
Frederick H. Gillett
|
Massachusetts
|
December 3, 1923
|
|
69th
|
Nicholas Longworth
|
Ohio
|
December 7, 1925
|
|
70th
|
Nicholas Longworth
|
Ohio
|
December 5, 1927
|
|
71st
|
Nicholas Longworth
|
Ohio
|
April 15, 1929
|
|
72nd
|
John N. Garner
|
Texas
|
December 7, 1931
|
|
Congress
|
Speaker
|
State
|
Date Elected
|
|
73rd
|
Henry T. Rainey
|
Illinois
|
March 9, 1933
|
|
74th
|
Joseph W. Byrns
|
Tennessee
|
January 3, 1935
|
|
74th
|
William B. Bankhead
|
Alabama
|
June 4, 1936
|
|
75th
|
William B. Bankhead
|
Alabama
|
January 5, 1937
|
|
76th
|
William B. Bankhead
|
Alabama
|
January 3, 1939
|
|
76th
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
Sept. 16, 1940
|
|
77th
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 3, 1941
|
|
78th
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 6, 1943
|
|
79th
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 3, 1945
|
|
80th
|
Joseph W. Martin, Jr.
|
Massachusetts
|
January 3, 1947
|
|
81st
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 3, 1949
|
|
82nd
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 3, 1951
|
|
83rd
|
Joseph W. Martin, Jr.
|
Massachusetts
|
January 3, 1953
|
|
84th
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 5, 1955
|
|
85th
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 3, 1957
|
|
86th
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 7, 1959
|
|
87th
|
Sam Rayburn
|
Texas
|
January 3, 1961
|
|
88th
|
John W. McCormack
|
Massachusetts
|
January 9, 1963
|
|
89th
|
John W. McCormack
|
Massachusetts
|
January 4, 1965
|
|
90th
|
John W. McCormack
|
Massachusetts
|
January 10, 1967
|
|
91st
|
John W. McCormack
|
Massachusetts
|
January 3, 1969
|
|
92nd
|
Carl B. Albert
|
Oklahoma
|
January 21, 1971
|
|
93rd
|
Carl B. Albert
|
Oklahoma
|
January 3, 1973
|
|
94th
|
Carl B. Albert
|
Oklahoma
|
January 14, 1975
|
|
95th
|
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
|
Massachusetts
|
January 4, 1977
|
|
96th
|
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
|
Massachusetts
|
January 15, 1979
|
|
97th
|
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
|
Massachusetts
|
January 5, 1981
|
|
98th
|
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
|
Massachusetts
|
January 3, 1983
|
|
99th
|
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
|
Massachusetts
|
January 3, 1985
|
|
100th
|
James C. Wright, Jr.
|
Texas
|
January 6, 1987
|
|
101st
|
James C. Wright, Jr.
|
Texas
|
January 3, 1989
|
|
101st
|
Thomas S. Foley
|
Washington
|
June 6, 1989
|
|
102nd
|
Thomas S. Foley
|
Washington
|
January 3, 1991
|
|
103rd
|
Thomas S. Foley
|
Washington
|
January 5, 1993
|
|
104th
|
Newt Gingrich
|
Georgia
|
January 4, 1995
|
|
105th
|
Newt Gingrich
|
Georgia
|
January 7, 1997
|
|
106th
|
J. Dennis Hastert
|
Illinois
|
January 6, 1999
|
|
107th
|
J. Dennis Hastert
|
Illinois
|
January 3, 2001
|
|
108th
|
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