Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the head of the United States House of Representatives.  The Speaker is elected by the current members of the House. A  with more than half of the votes becomes Speaker.

Duties

 The Speaker has always been a member of the majority party (the party with the most members) but does not have to be an elected member of the House of Representatives(although has always been one). The main roles of the Speaker are to keep the House in order and to assign committee memberships and chairmanships. It is an important and powerful position in government.

Background
Sam Rayburn is the only person to have served as Speaker of the House for more than ten years.

Theodore M. Pomeroy served as Speaker of the House for one day after Speaker Schuyler Colfax resigned to become Vice President of the United States; Pomeroy's term as a Member of Congress ended the next day.

Sam Rayburn, Henry Clay, Thomas Brackett Reed, Joseph William Martin, Jr., Frederick Muhlenberg, John W. Taylor, and Nancy Pelosi are the only Speakers of the House to have ever served in non-consecutive Congresses (another Speaker served in between each tenure).

Order of succession
The Speaker of the House is third in line for president of the United States. If the president dies or steps down, the vice president becomes President. If there is no vice president, the Speaker of the House automatically becomes acting president.

 List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives 
This table includes the congressional district and political affiliation of each Speaker, as well as the number of their Congress and time that they spent in the position: 

 # Speaker Party District Congress Tenure 1 100px Frederick Muhlenberg Pro-Administration  1st April 1, 1789 —March 4, 1791 2 100px Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. Pro-Administration  2nd October 24, 1791 —March 4, 1793 3 100px Frederick Muhlenberg Anti-Administration  3rd December 2, 1793 —March 4, 1795 4 100px Jonathan Dayton Federalist  4th December 7, 1795 —March 4, 1797 5th May 15, 1797 —March 4, 1799 5 100px Theodore Sedgwick Federalist  6th December 2, 1799 —March 4, 1801 6 100px Nathaniel Macon Democratic-Republican  7th December 7, 1801 —March 4, 1803  8th October 17, 1803 —March 4, 1805 9th December 2, 1805 —March 4, 1807 7 100px Joseph Bradley Varnum Democratic-Republican  10th October 26, 1807 —March 4, 1809 11th May 22, 1809 —March 4, 1811 8 100px Henry Clay Democratic-Republican  12th November 4, 1811 —March 4, 1813  13th May 24, 1813 —January 19, 1814 9 100px Langdon Cheves Democratic-Republican  January 19, 1814 —March 4, 1815 10 100px Henry Clay Democratic-Republican  14th December 4, 1815 —March 4, 1817 15th December 1, 1817 —March 4, 1819 16th December 6, 1819 —October 28, 1820 11 100px John W. Taylor Democratic-Republican  November 15, 1820 —March 4, 1821 12 100px Philip Pendleton Barbour Democratic-Republican  17th December 4, 1821 —March 4, 1823 13 100px Henry Clay Democratic-Republican  18th December 1, 1823 —March 4, 1825 14 100px John W. Taylor National Republican  19th December 5, 1825 —March 4, 1827 15 100px Andrew Stevenson Democratic  20th December 3, 1827 —March 4, 1829 21st December 7, 1829 —March 4, 1831 22nd December 5, 1831 —March 4, 1833  23rd December 2, 1833 —June 2, 1834 16 100px John Bell Whig  23rd June 2, 1834 —March 4, 1835 17 100px James Polk Democratic  24th December 7, 1835 —March 4, 1837 25th September 4, 1837 —March 4, 1839 18 100px Robert M. T. Hunter Whig  26th December 16, 1839 —March 4, 1841 19 100px John White Whig  27th May 31, 1841 —March 4, 1843 20 100px John Winston Jones Democratic  28th December 4, 1843 —March 4, 1845 21 100px John Wesley Davis Democratic  29th December 1, 1845 —March 4, 1847 22 100px Robert Charles Winthrop Whig  30th December 6, 1847 —March 4, 1849 23 100px Howell Cobb Democratic  31st December 22, 1849 —March 4, 1851 24 100px Linn Boyd Democratic  32nd December 1, 1851 —March 4, 1853 33rd December 5, 1853 —March 4, 1855 25 100px Nathaniel Prentice Banks American/Republican*  34th February 2, 1856 —March 4, 1857 26 100px James Lawrence Orr Democratic  35th December 7, 1857 —March 4, 1859 27 100px William Pennington Republican  36th February 1, 1860 —March 4, 1861 28 100px Galusha A. Grow Republican  37th July 4, 1861 —March 4, 1863 29 100px Schuyler Colfax Republican  38th December 7, 1863 —March 4, 1865 39th December 4, 1865 —March 4, 1867 40th March 4, 1867 —March 3, 1869 30 100px Theodore Medad Pomeroy Republican  March 3, 1869 —March 4, 1869 31 100px James G. Blaine Republican  41st March 4, 1869 —March 4, 1871 42nd March 4, 1871 —March 4, 187343rd March 4, 1873 —May 13, 1874 31.1 11.Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (13 May 1872): 3383. 12.The date Joseph Rainey was Speaker pro tempore is not known. Most sources claim Representative Rainey presided over the House during an Indian appropriations debate in May 1874. See, for example, an early secondary work, Samuel Denny Smith, The Negro in Congress: 1870–1901 (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, Inc., 1940): 47–48. Most subsequent sources cite Smith. Yet the New York Herald published an article reporting that Rainey served as Speaker pro tempore on April 29; see “A Liberated Slave in the Speaker’s Chair,” 30 April 1874, New York Herald: 9. Similar accounts exist in the Baltimore Sun, the Charleston News and Courier, and the African-American newspaper The New National Era, though these reports cite April 29 and April 30. There is no mention of Rainey’s presiding in the Congressional Record or the House Journal for either date: Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (29–30 April 1874): 3457–3476, 3490–3507; House Journal, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (29–30 April 1874): 877–885. 100px Joseph H. Rainey Republican  May 13, 1874  31 100px James G. Blaine Republican  May 14, 1874 —March 4, 1875 32 100px Michael C. Kerr Democratic  44th December 6, 1875 —August 19, 1876 33 100px Samuel J. Randall Democratic  December 4, 1876 —March 4, 1877 45th October 15, 1877 —March 4, 1879 46th March 18, 1879 —March 4, 1881 34 100px J. Warren Keifer Republican  47th December 5, 1881 —March 4, 1883 35 100px John Griffin Carlisle Democratic  48th December 3, 1883 —March 4, 1885 49th December 7, 1885 —March 4, 1887 50th December 5, 1887 —March 4, 1889 36 100px Thomas Brackett Reed Republican  51st December 2, 1889 —March 4, 1891 37 100px Charles Frederick Crisp Democratic  52nd December 8, 1891 —March 4, 1893 53rd August 7, 1893 —March 4, 1895 38 100px Thomas Brackett Reed Republican  54th December 2, 1895 —March 4, 1897 55th March 15, 1897 —March 4, 1899 39 100px David B. Henderson Republican  56th December 4, 1899 —March 4, 1901 57th December 2, 1901 —March 4, 1903 40 100px Joseph Gurney Cannon Republican  58th November 9, 1903 —March 4, 1905 59th December 4, 1905 —March 4, 1907 60th December 2, 1907 —March 4, 1909 61st March 15, 1909 —March 4, 1911 41 100px Champ Clark Democratic  62nd April 4, 1911 —March 4, 1913 63rd April 7, 1913 —March 4, 1915 64th December 6, 1915 —March 4, 1917 65th April 2, 1917 —March 4, 1919 42 100px Frederick Gillett Republican  66th May 19, 1919 —March 4, 1921 67th April 11, 1921 —March 4, 1923 68th December 3, 1923 —March 4, 1925 43 100px Nicholas Longworth Republican Ohio-1 69th December 7, 1925 —March 4, 1927 70th December 5, 1927 —March 4, 1929 71st April 15, 1929 —March 4, 1931 44 100px John Nance Garner Democratic  72nd December 7, 1931 —March 4, 1933 45 100px Henry T. Rainey Democratic  73rd March 9, 1933 —August 19, 1934 46 100px Joseph Wellington Byrns Democratic  74th January 3, 1935 —June 4, 1936 47 100px William B. Bankhead Democratic Alabama-7 June 4, 1936 —January 3, 1937 75th January 5, 1937 —January 3, 1939 76th January 3, 1939 —September 15, 1940 48 100px Sam Rayburn Democratic Texas-4 September 16, 1940 —January 3, 1941 77th January 3, 1941 —January 3, 1943 78th January 6, 1943 —January 3, 1945 79th January 3, 1945 —January 3, 1947 49 100px Joseph W. Martin, Jr.Republican Massachusetts-14 80th January 3, 1947 —January 3, 1949 50 100px Sam Rayburn Democratic Texas-4 81st January 3, 1949 —January 3, 1951 82nd January 3, 1951 —January 3, 1953 51 100px Joseph W. Martin, Jr.Republican Massachusetts-14 83rd January 3, 1953 —January 3, 1955 52 100px Sam Rayburn Democratic Texas-4 84th January 3, 1955 —January 3, 1957 85th January 3, 1957 —January 3, 1959 86th January 7, 1959 —January 3, 1961 87th January 3, 1961 —November 16, 1961 53 100px John W. McCormack Democratic Massachusetts-12 January 10, 1962 —January 3, 1963 Massachusetts-9 88th January 9, 1963 —January 3, 1965 89th January 4, 1965 —January 3, 1967 90th January 10, 1967 —January 3, 1969 91st January 3, 1969 —January 3, 1971 54 100px Carl Albert Democratic Oklahoma-3 92nd January 21, 1971 —January 3, 1973 93rd January 3, 1973 —January 3, 1975 94th January 14, 1975 —January 3, 1977 55 100px Tip O'Neill Democratic Massachusetts-8 95th January 4, 1977 —January 3, 1979 96th January 15, 1979 —January 3, 1981 97th January 5, 1981 —January 3, 1983 98th January 3, 1983 —January 3, 1985 99th January 3, 1985 —January 3, 1987 56 100px Jim Wright Democratic Texas-12 100th January 6, 1987 —January 3, 1989 101st January 3, 1989 —June 6, 1989 57 100px Tom Foley Democratic Washington-5 June 6, 1989 —January 3, 1991 102nd January 3, 1991 —January 3, 1993 103rd January 5, 1993 —January 3, 1995 58 100px Newt Gingrich Republican Georgia-6 104th January 4, 1995 —January 3, 1997 105th January 7, 1997 —January 3, 1999 59 100px Dennis Hastert Republican Illinois-14 106th January 6, 1999 —January 3, 2001 107th January 3, 2001 —January 3, 2003 108th January 7, 2003 —January 3, 2005 109th January 3, 2005 —January 3, 2007 60 100px Nancy Pelosi Democratic California-8 110th January 4, 2007 —January 3, 2009 111th January 6, 2009 —January 3, 2011 61 100px John Boehner Republican Ohio-8 112th January 5, 2011 —January 3, 2013 113th January 3, 2013 —January 3, 2015 114th January 6, 2015 —October 29, 2015 62 100px Paul Ryan Republican Wisconsin-1 114th October 29, 2015 —January 3, 2017 115th January 3, 2017 —January 3, 201963 100px Nancy Pelosi Democratic California-12 116th January 3, 2019 —January 3, 2021 117th January 3, 2021 —January 3, 2023 64 100px Kevin McCarthy Republican California-32 118th January 7, 2023 —October 3, 202365 100px Mike Johnson Republican Louisiana-4 118th October 25, 2023 —January 3, 2025 119th January 3, 2025 —Present

References


Category:1789 establishments in the United States