page_title: Joseph Gurney Cannon
section_title: Post-Speaker
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Gurney Cannon / Political career / Post-Speaker
caption_attribution_description: Postcard depicting Joseph G. Cannon's residence in Danville Illinois circa 1913
context_page_description: Joseph Gurney Cannon was a United States politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911, and many consider him to be the most dominant Speaker in United States history, with such control over the House that he could often control debate.
  Cannon is the second-longest continuously serving Republican Speaker in history, having been surpassed by fellow Illinoisan Dennis Hastert, who passed him on June 1, 2006. Cannon is also the second longest serving Republican Representative only surpassed by Alaska congressman Don Young, as well as first member of Congress, of either party, ever to surpass 40 years of service.
  Cannon's congressional career spanned 46 years of cumulative service—a record that was not broken until 1959. He is the longest serving member ever of the House of Representatives in Illinois, although the longest continuous service belongs to Adolph J. Sabath. He served in the House under more presidents than anyone else: 11, a record he shares with John Dingell and Jamie Whitten.
context_section_description: Cannon was defeated in 1912 but returned in 1914 and was re-elected each congressional election until 1920.  He was a critic of President Woodrow Wilson and U.S. entry into World War I. He was also an outspoken critic of Wilson's League of Nations.
  Cannon declined to run in the 1922 congressional election, and retired at the end of his last term in 1923; he was featured on the cover of the first issue of Time magazine on the last day of his last term in office.
caption: Cannon's residence in Danville, Illinois, circa 1913
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