Dean of the United States House of Representatives

The **Dean of the United States House of Representatives** is the representative that has been in office the longest. The current Dean is Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky. He has served in the House since January 3, 1981. The Dean is a symbolic job whose only customary duty is to swear in a Speaker of the House when he or she is elected. The Dean comes forward on the House Floor to administer (give) the oath to the Speaker-elect. The new Speaker then administers the oath to the other members. The Dean does not preside over the election of the Speaker, unlike the Father of the House in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the Dean of the Canadian House of Commons.

Because of other privileges associated with seniority, the Dean is usually given some of the most desirable office space. The Dean is generally either chair or ranking minority member of an influential committee. Unlike the office of President pro tem, the Dean of the House of Representatives is not an official position.

## List of Deans of the House

Years as Dean are followed by name, party, state, and start of service in Congress.

All the members of the First Congress had equal seniority (as defined for the purpose of this article). But Muhlenberg as the Speaker was the first member to be sworn in. Muhlenberg, Hartley and Thatcher were among the 13 members who attended the initial meeting of the House on March 4, 1789.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries some state delegations to the House were often not elected until after the term had begun. To avoid confusion, this fact is ignored in the list below.

|Term as Dean|Dean|Party|State|Seniority date|Speaker(s)|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|March 1789- March 1797 || |Frederick Muhlenberg || |Federalist || Pennsylvania || March 4, 1789 (also Speaker 1789–91 and 1793–95) || Frederick Muhlenberg (PA-PA) – 1789 Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (PA-CT) – 1791 Frederick Muhlenberg (AA-PA) – 1793 Jonathan Dayton (F-NJ) – 1795||||||
|rowspan=2|March 1797- December 1800 || |Thomas Hartley || |Federalist || Pennsylvania || rowspan=2 | March 4, 1789 || rowspan=2 | Jonathan Dayton (F-NJ) – 1797 Theodore Sedgwick (F-MA) – 1799|||||
|George Thatcher|Federalist|Massachusetts||||
|December 1800– March 1801 || |George Thatcher || |Federalist || Massachusetts || March 4, 1789 ||||||||
|rowspan=3|March 1801– March 1803 || |Andrew Gregg || |Democratic-Republican || Pennsylvania || rowspan=3 | March 4, 1791 || rowspan=3 | Nathaniel Macon (DR-NC) – 1801|||||
|William B. Grove|Federalist|North Carolina||||
|Nathaniel Macon|Democratic-Republican|North Carolina||||
|rowspan=2|March 1803– March 1807 || |Andrew Gregg || |Democratic-Republican || Pennsylvania || rowspan=2 | March 4, 1791 || rowspan=2 | Nathaniel Macon (DR-NC) – 1803, 1805|||||
|Nathaniel Macon|Democratic-Republican|North Carolina||||
|March 1807– December 1815 || |Nathaniel Macon || |Democratic-Republican || North Carolina || March 4, 1791 (also Speaker 1801–1807) || Joseph Bradley Varnum (DR-MA) – 1807, 1809 Henry Clay (DR-KY) – 1811, 1813 Langdon Cheves (DR-SC) – 1814||||||
|December 1815– April 1816 || |Richard Stanford || |Democratic-Republican || North Carolina || March 4, 1797 || Henry Clay (DR-KY) – 1815||||||
|April 1816– March 1817 || |John Davenport || |Federalist || Connecticut || March 4, 1799 ||||||||
|March 1817– March 1830 || |Thomas Newton, Jr. || |Democratic-Republican; Adams || Virginia || March 4, 1801 || Henry Clay (DR-KY) – 1817, 1819 John W. Taylor (DR-NY) – 1820 Philip Pendleton Barbour (DR-VA) – 1821 Henry Clay (DR-KY) – 1823 John W. Taylor (NR-NY) – 1825 Andrew Stevenson (D-VA) – 1827, 1829||||||
|March 1830– March 1833 || |William McCoy || |Jacksonian || Virginia || March 4, 1811 || Andrew Stevenson (D-VA) – 1831||||||
|March 1833– February 1842 || |Lewis Williams || |National Republican; Whig; Democratic || North Carolina || March 4, 1815 || Andrew Stevenson (D-VA) – 1833 John Bell (W-TN) – 1834 James K. Polk (D-TN) – 1835, 1837 Robert M. T. Hunter (W-VA) – 1839 John White (W-KY) – 1841||||||
|rowspan=2|February 1842– March 1843 || |Horace Everett || |Whig || Vermont || rowspan=2 | March 4, 1829 || rowspan=2 ||||||
|Dixon H. Lewis|Democratic|Alabama||||
|March 1843– April 1844 || |Dixon H. Lewis || |Democratic || Alabama || March 4, 1829 || John Winston Jones (D-VA) – 1843||||||
|rowspan=2|April 1844– February 1848 || |John Quincy Adams || |Whig || Massachusetts || rowspan=2 | March 4, 1831 || rowspan=2 | John Wesley Davis (D-IN) – 1845 Robert Charles Winthrop (W-MA) – 1847|||||
|James I. McKay|Democratic|North Carolina||||
|February 1848– March 1849 || |James I. McKay || |Democratic || North Carolina || March 4, 1831 |||||||
|March 1849– March 1855 || |Linn Boyd || |Democratic || Kentucky || March 4, 1839 (also Speaker from 1851) || Howell Cobb (D-GA) – 1849 Linn Boyd (D-KY) – 1851, 1853||||||
|March 1855– March 1859 || |Joshua Reed Giddings || |Republican || Ohio || May 5, 1842 || Nathaniel Prentice Banks (A-MA) – 1856 James Lawrence Orr (D-SC) – 1857||||||
|March 1859– March 1863 || |John S. Phelps || |Democratic || Missouri || March 4, 1845 || William Pennington (R-NJ) – 1860 Galusha A. Grow (R-PA) – 1861||||||
|March 1863– March 1869 || |Elihu B. Washburne || |Republican || Illinois || March 4, 1853 || Schuyler Colfax (R-IN) – 1863, 1865, 1867 Theodore Medad Pomeroy (R-NY) – 1869||||||
|March 1869– March 1875 || |Henry L. Dawes || |Republican || Massachusetts || March 4, 1857 || James G. Blaine (R-ME) – 1869, 1871, 1873 Joseph H. Rainey (R-SC) – 1874 James G. Blaine (R-ME) – 1874||||||
|March 1875– January 1890 || |William D. Kelley || |Republican || Pennsylvania || March 4, 1861 || Michael C. Kerr (D-IN) – 1875 Samuel J. Randall (D-PA) – 1876, 1877, 1879 J. Warren Keifer (R-OH) – 1881 John Griffin Carlisle (D-KY) – 1883, 1885, 1887 Thomas Brackett Reed (R-ME) – 1889||||||
|January 1890– April 1890 || |Samuel J. Randall || |Democratic || Pennsylvania || March 4, 1863 ||||||||
|rowspan=4|April 1890– March 1891 || |Joseph G. Cannon || |Republican || Illinois || rowspan=4 | March 4, 1873 || rowspan=4 ||||||
|Roger Q. Mills|Democratic|Texas||||
|James H. Blount|Democratic|Georgia||||
|Richard P. Bland|Democratic|Missouri||||
|rowspan=3|March 1891– March 1892 || |Roger Q. Mills || |Democratic || Texas || rowspan=3 | March 4, 1873 || rowspan=3 | Charles Frederick Crisp (D-GA) – 1891|||||
|James H. Blount|Democratic|Georgia||||
|Richard P. Bland|Democratic|Missouri||||
|rowspan=2|March 1892– March 1893 || |James H. Blount || |Democratic || Georgia || rowspan=2 | March 4, 1873 || rowspan=2 ||||||
|Richard P. Bland|Democratic|Missouri||||
|March 1893– March 1895 || |Richard P. Bland || |Democratic || Missouri || March 4, 1873 || Charles Frederick Crisp (D-GA) – 1893||||||
|March 1895– March 1897 || |David B. Culberson || |Democratic || Texas || March 4, 1875 || Thomas Brackett Reed (R-ME) – 1895||||||
|March 1897– September 1899 || |Thomas Brackett Reed || |Republican || Maine || March 4, 1877 (also Speaker 1889–1891 and 1895–1899) || Thomas Brackett Reed (R-ME) – 1897||||||
|September 1899– March 1912 || |Henry H. Bingham || |Republican || Pennsylvania || March 4, 1879 || David B. Henderson (R-IA) – 1899, 1901 Joseph Gurney Cannon (R-IL) – 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909 Champ Clark (D-MO) – 1911||||||
|March 1912– March 1913 || |John Dalzell || |Republican || Pennsylvania || March 4, 1887 ||||||||
|March 1913– December 1914 || |Sereno E. Payne || |Republican || New York || March 4, 1889 || Champ Clark (D-MO) – 1913||||||
|December 1914– April 1918 || |William A. Jones || |Democratic || Virginia || March 4, 1891 || Champ Clark (D-MO) – 1915, 1917||||||
|rowspan=2|April 1918– March 1919 || |Henry Allen Cooper || |Republican || Wisconsin || rowspan=2 | March 4, 1893 || rowspan=2 ||||||
|Frederick H. Gillett|Republican|Massachusetts||||
|March 1919– March 1925 || |Frederick H. Gillett || |Republican || Massachusetts || March 4, 1893 (also Speaker) || Frederick H. Gillett (R-MA) – 1919, 1921, 1923||||||
|March 1925– May 1928 || |Thomas S. Butler || |Republican || Pennsylvania || March 4, 1897 || Nicholas Longworth (R-OH) – 1925, 1927||||||
|May 1928– March 1933 || |Gilbert N. Haugen || |Republican || Iowa || March 4, 1899 || Nicholas Longworth (R-OH) – 1929 John Nance Garner (D-TX) – 1931||||||
|March 1933– April 1934 || |Edward W. Pou || |Democratic || North Carolina || March 4, 1901 || Henry T. Rainey (D-IL) – 1933||||||
|April 1934– November 1952 || |Adolph Joachim Sabath || |Democratic || Illinois || March 4, 1907 || Joseph W. Byrns (D-TN) – 1935 William B. Bankhead (D-AL) – 1936, 1937, 1939 Sam Rayburn (D-TX) – 1940, 1941, 1943, 1945 Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (R-MA) – 1947 Sam Rayburn (D-TX) – 1949, 1951||||||
|November 1952– January 1953 || |Robert L. Doughton || |Democratic || North Carolina || March 4, 1911 ||||||||
|January 1953– November 1961 || |Sam Rayburn || |Democratic || Texas || March 4, 1913 (also Speaker from 1955) || Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (R-MA) – 1953 Sam Rayburn (D-TX) – 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961||||||
|November 1961– January 1965 || |Carl Vinson || |Democratic || Georgia || November 3, 1914 || John W. McCormack (D-MA) – 1962, 1963||||||
|January 1965– January 1973 || |Emanuel Celler||  |Democratic || New York || March 4, 1923 || John W. McCormack (D-MA) – 1965, 1967, 1969 Carl Albert (D-OK) – 1971||||||
|January 1973– March 1976 || |Wright Patman || |Democratic || Texas || March 4, 1929 || Carl Albert (D-OK) – 1973, 1975||||||
|March 1976– January 1979 || |George H. Mahon || |Democratic || Texas || January 3, 1935 || Tip O'Neill (D-MA) – 1977||||||
|January 1979– January 1995 || |Jamie L. Whitten || |Democratic || Mississippi || November 4, 1941 || Tip O'Neill (D-MA) – 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985 Jim Wright (D-TX) – 1987, 1989 Tom Foley (D-WA) – 1989, 1991, 1993||||||
|January 1995– January 2015 || |John Dingell || |Democratic || Michigan || December 13, 1955 || Newt Gingrich (R-GA) – 1995, 1997 Dennis Hastert (R-IL) – 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) – 2007, 2009 John Boehner (R-OH) – 2011, 2013||||||
|January 2015– December 2017 || |John Conyers || |Democratic || Michigan || January 3, 1965 || John Boehner (R-OH) – 2015 Paul Ryan (R-WI) – 2015, 2017||||||
|December 2017– March 2022 ||  |Don Young || |Republican || Alaska || March 6, 1973 || Paul Ryan (R-WI) – 2017 Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) – 2019, 2021||||||
|March 2022– Present ||  |Hal Rogers || |Republican || Kentucky || January 3, 1981 || Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) – 2021 Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) – 2023 Mike Johnson (R-LA) – 2023||||||

- Hartley, Stanford, Williams, Kelley, Randall, Bingham, Payne, Jones, Cooper, Butler, Pou, Sabath, Rayburn, Patman and Young died in office.
- Vinson, Whitten, and Dingell entered the House to fill unexpired terms.
- Dingell served as Dean for longer than any other person—exactly 20 years.