List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives

The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution. The Speaker is second in the presidential line of succession, after the Vice President and ahead of the President pro tempore of the Senate.

Unlike some Westminster system parliaments, in which the office of Speaker is considered non-partisan, in the United States, the Speaker of the House is a leadership position and the office-holder actively works to set the majority party's legislative agenda. The Speaker usually does not personally preside over debates, instead delegating the duty to members of the House from the majority party. The Speaker usually does not participate in debate and rarely votes. Aside from duties relating to heading the House and the majority political party, the Speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions, and represents his or her Congressional district.

In the modern era, the Speaker is elected at the beginning of the new Congress by a majority of the Representatives-elect from candidates separately chosen by the majority- and minority-party caucuses. In cases of an unexpected vacancy during a Congress a new Speaker is elected by a majority of the House from candidates previously chosen by the majority and minority parties.^[1] While no rule exists, based on tradition and practice from the earliest days of the nation, to be elected speaker a candidate must receive an absolute majority of all votes cast for individuals, i.e. excluding those who abstain. If no candidate wins such a majority, then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected. There have been 14 instances of Speaker elections requiring multiple ballots.^[1] The Speaker is traditionally the majority party's leader in the chamber, although unlike other House leadership, there is no Constitutional requirement that the speaker be an elected member of the House (every house speaker to date has been an elected member of the House).^[2] The most recent election to occur mid-way through a Congress occurred on October 29, 2015, when it elected Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to the office.

Since the office was created in 1789, 54 individuals, from 23 of the 50 states, have served as Speaker of the House. The number from each state are:

• One: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Washington, and Wisconsin;
• Two: Maine, New Jersey, New York, and South Carolina;
• Three: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas;
• Four: Kentucky and Virginia;
• Eight: Massachusetts.

The longest serving speaker was Sam Rayburn, who served on three separate occasions between 1940 and 1961. Tip O'Neill had the longest uninterrupted tenure as speaker, serving January 4, 1977 – January 3, 1987. Theodore M. Pomeroy had the shortest tenure of any speaker, serving March 3–4, 1869. Six speakers—Henry Clay, Joseph William Martin, Jr., Frederick Muhlenberg, Sam Rayburn, Thomas Brackett Reed, and John W. Taylor—served non-consecutive terms of office. One Speaker, James K. Polk, went on to become the 11th President of the United States. Two, Schuyler Colfax and John Nance Garner, later became Vice President; additionally, Paul Ryan ran unsuccessfully for the office in 2012, prior to election as Speaker. In 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to serve as the House Speaker.

Speakers of the House of Representatives

The House has elected a new Speaker 124 times since 1789.^[1] Of the 54 people who have served as Speaker over the past 227 years, 32 served multiple terms. In some instances, those terms were non-consecutive. While listed multiple times, those with breaks in their time as Speaker been assigned only one index number.

Pro-Administration (2)[lower-alpha 1]      Anti-Administration (1)[lower-alpha 1]      Federalist (2)      Democratic-Republican (6)[lower-alpha 2]   Pro-Adams (1)[lower-alpha 2]      Whig (4)      Democratic (23)      Republican (17)
Speaker			Party		State and district[lower-alpha 3]	Term of service	Congress
1		Frederick Muhlenberg		Pro-Administration	Pennsylvania At-large	April 1, 1789 – March 4, 1791	1st
2		Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.		Pro-Administration	Connecticut At-large	October 24, 1791 – March 4, 1793	2nd
1		Frederick Muhlenberg		Anti-Administration	Pennsylvania At-large	December 2, 1793[lower-alpha 4] – March 4, 1795	3rd
3		Jonathan Dayton		Federalist	New Jersey At-large	December 7, 1795 – March 4, 1797	4th
						May 15, 1797 – March 4, 1799	5th
4		Theodore Sedgwick		Federalist	Massachusetts 1st	December 2, 1799[lower-alpha 5] – March 4, 1801	6th
5		Nathaniel Macon		Democratic-Republican	North Carolina 5th	December 7, 1801 – March 4, 1803	7th
					North Carolina 6th	October 17, 1803 – March 4, 1805	8th
						December 2, 1805[lower-alpha 4] – March 4, 1807	9th
6		Joseph Bradley Varnum		Democratic-Republican	Massachusetts 4th	October 26, 1807 – March 4, 1809	10th
						May 22, 1809[lower-alpha 5] – March 4, 1811	11th
7		Henry Clay		Democratic-Republican	Kentucky 5th	November 4, 1811 – March 4, 1813	12th
					Kentucky 2nd	May 24, 1813 – January 19, 1814[lower-alpha 6]	13th
8		Langdon Cheves		Democratic-Republican	South Carolina 1st	January 19, 1814 – March 4, 1815
7		Henry Clay		Democratic-Republican	Kentucky 2nd	December 4, 1815 – March 4, 1817	14th
						December 1, 1817 – March 4, 1819	15th
						December 6, 1819 – October 28, 1820[lower-alpha 6]	16th
9		John W. Taylor		Democratic-Republican	New York 11th	November 15, 1820[lower-alpha 7] – March 4, 1821
10		Philip Pendleton Barbour		Democratic-Republican	Virginia 11th	December 4, 1821[lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1823	17th
7		Henry Clay		Democratic-Republican	Kentucky 3rd	December 1, 1823 – March 4, 1825	18th
9		John W. Taylor		Pro-Adams	New York 17th	December 5, 1825[lower-alpha 5] – March 4, 1827	19th
11		Andrew Stevenson		Jacksonian (Democratic)	Virginia 9th	December 3, 1827 – March 4, 1829	20th
						December 7, 1829 – March 4, 1831	21st
						December 5, 1831 – March 4, 1833	22nd
					Virginia 11th	December 2, 1833 – June 2, 1834[lower-alpha 6]	23rd
12		John Bell		Whig	Tennessee 7th	June 2, 1834[lower-alpha 9] – March 4, 1835
13		James K. Polk		Democratic	Tennessee 9th	December 7, 1835 – March 4, 1837	24th
						September 4, 1837 – March 4, 1839	25th
14		Robert M. T. Hunter		Whig	Virginia 9th	December 16, 1839[lower-alpha 10] – March 4, 1841	26th
15		John White		Whig	Kentucky 9th	May 31, 1841 – March 4, 1843	27th
16		John Winston Jones		Democratic	Virginia 6th	December 4, 1843 – March 4, 1845	28th
17		John Wesley Davis		Democratic	Indiana 6th	December 1, 1845 – March 4, 1847	29th
18		Robert Charles Winthrop		Whig	Massachusetts 1st	December 6, 1847[lower-alpha 4] – March 4, 1849	30th
19		Howell Cobb		Democratic	Georgia 6th	December 22, 1849[lower-alpha 11] – March 4, 1851	31st
20		Linn Boyd		Democratic	Kentucky 1st	December 1, 1851 – March 4, 1853	32nd
						December 5, 1853 – March 4, 1855	33rd
21		Nathaniel P. Banks		Republican	Massachusetts 7th	February 2, 1856[lower-alpha 12] – March 4, 1857	34th
22		James Lawrence Orr		Democratic	South Carolina 5th	December 7, 1857 – March 4, 1859	35th
23		William Pennington		Republican	New Jersey 5th	February 1, 1860[lower-alpha 13] – March 4, 1861	36th
24		Galusha A. Grow		Republican	Pennsylvania 14th	July 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863	37th
25		Schuyler Colfax		Republican	Indiana 9th	December 7, 1863 – March 4, 1865	38th
						December 4, 1865 – March 4, 1867	39th
						March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869	40th
26		Theodore M. Pomeroy		Republican	New York 24th	March 3-4, 1869
27		James G. Blaine		Republican	Maine 3rd	March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1871	41st
						March 4, 1871 – March 4, 1873	42nd
						March 4, 1873 – March 4, 1875	43rd
28		Michael C. Kerr		Democratic	Indiana 3rd	December 6, 1875 – August 19, 1876[lower-alpha 14]	44th
29		Samuel J. Randall		Democratic	Pennsylvania 3rd	December 4, 1876 – March 4, 1877
						October 15, 1877 – March 4, 1879	45th
						March 18, 1879 – March 4, 1881	46th
30		J. Warren Keifer		Republican	Ohio 8th	December 5, 1881 – March 4, 1883	47th
31		John G. Carlisle		Democratic	Kentucky 6th	December 3, 1883 – March 4, 1885	48th
						December 7, 1885 – March 4, 1887	49th
						December 5, 1887 – March 4, 1889	50th
32		Thomas Brackett Reed		Republican	Maine 1st	December 2, 1889 – March 4, 1891	51st
33		Charles Frederick Crisp		Democratic	Georgia 3rd	December 8, 1891 – March 4, 1893	52nd
						August 7, 1893 – March 4, 1895	53rd
32		Thomas Brackett Reed		Republican	Maine 1st	December 2, 1895 – March 4, 1897	54th
						March 15, 1897 – March 4, 1899	55th
34		David B. Henderson		Republican	Iowa 3rd	December 4, 1899 – March 4, 1901	56th
						December 2, 1901 – March 4, 1903	57th
35		Joseph Gurney Cannon		Republican	Illinois 18th	November 9, 1903 – March 4, 1905	58th
						December 4, 1905 – March 4, 1907	59th
						December 2, 1907 – March 4, 1909	60th
						March 15, 1909 – March 4, 1911	61st
36		Champ Clark		Democratic	Missouri 9th	April 4, 1911 – March 4, 1913	62nd
						April 7, 1913 – March 4, 1915	63rd
						December 6, 1915 – March 4, 1917	64th
						April 2, 1917 – March 4, 1919	65th
37		Frederick H. Gillett		Republican	Massachusetts 2nd	May 19, 1919 – March 4, 1921	66th
						April 11, 1921 – March 4, 1923	67th
						December 3, 1923[lower-alpha 15] – March 4, 1925	68th
38		Nicholas Longworth		Republican	Ohio 1st	December 7, 1925 – March 4, 1927	69th
						December 5, 1927 – March 4, 1929	70th
						April 15, 1929 – March 4, 1931	71st
39		John Nance Garner		Democratic	Texas 15th	December 7, 1931 – March 4, 1933	72nd
40		Henry Thomas Rainey		Democratic	Illinois 20th	March 9, 1933 – August 19, 1934[lower-alpha 14]	73rd
41		Joseph W. Byrns, Sr.		Democratic	Tennessee 5th	January 3, 1935 – June 4, 1936[lower-alpha 14]	74th
42		William B. Bankhead		Democratic	Alabama 7th	June 4, 1936 – January 3, 1937
						January 5, 1937 – January 3, 1939	75th
						January 3, 1939 – September 15, 1940[lower-alpha 14]	76th
43		Sam Rayburn		Democratic	Texas 4th	September 16, 1940 – January 3, 1941
						January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	77th
						January 6, 1943 – January 3, 1945	78th
						January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	79th
44		Joseph William Martin, Jr.		Republican	Massachusetts 14th	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	80th
43		Sam Rayburn		Democratic	Texas 4th	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951	81st
						January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953	82nd
44		Joseph William Martin, Jr.		Republican	Massachusetts 14th	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955	83rd
43		Sam Rayburn		Democratic	Texas 4th	January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1957	84th
						January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1959	85th
						January 7, 1959 – January 3, 1961	86th
						January 3, 1961 – November 16, 1961[lower-alpha 14]	87th
45		John William McCormack		Democratic	Massachusetts 12th	January 10, 1962 – January 3, 1963
					Massachusetts 9th	January 9, 1963 – January 3, 1965	88th
						January 4, 1965 – January 3, 1967	89th
						January 10, 1967 – January 3, 1969	90th
						January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1971	91st
46		Carl Albert		Democratic	Oklahoma 3rd	January 21, 1971 – January 3, 1973	92nd
						January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	93rd
						January 14, 1975 – January 3, 1977	94th
47		Tip O'Neill		Democratic	Massachusetts 8th	January 4, 1977 – January 3, 1979	95th
						January 15, 1979 – January 3, 1981	96th
						January 5, 1981 – January 3, 1983	97th
						January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985	98th
						January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1987	99th
48		Jim Wright		Democratic	Texas 12th	January 6, 1987 – January 3, 1989	100th
						January 3, 1989 – June 6, 1989[lower-alpha 6]	101st
49		Tom Foley		Democratic	Washington 5th	June 6, 1989 – January 3, 1991
						January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1993	102nd
						January 5, 1993 – January 3, 1995	103rd
50		Newt Gingrich		Republican	Georgia 6th	January 4, 1995 – January 3, 1997	104th
						January 7, 1997 – January 3, 1999	105th
51		Dennis Hastert		Republican	Illinois 14th	January 6, 1999 – January 3, 2001	106th
						January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2003	107th
						January 7, 2003 – January 3, 2005	108th
						January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007	109th
52		Nancy Pelosi[lower-alpha 16]		Democratic	California 8th	January 4, 2007 – January 3, 2009	110th
						January 6, 2009 – January 3, 2011	111th
53		John Boehner		Republican	Ohio 8th	January 5, 2011 – January 3, 2013	112th
						January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2015	113th
						January 6, 2015 – October 29, 2015[lower-alpha 6]	114th
54		Paul Ryan[lower-alpha 16]		Republican	Wisconsin 1st	October 29, 2015 – incumbent

Notes

1. Frederick Muhlenberg served as speaker twice in the 1790s, before political factions became formal parties; initially he identified with the pro–administration faction, but later he aligned himself with the anti–administration faction.
2. John Taylor served as speaker twice in the 1820s; initially he was as a member of the Democratic–Republican Party, and later, when the party began to fracture, he sided with its pro–Adams faction.
3. The district listed is the district the speaker represented at the time they were in office, which might be different from Congress to Congress due to redistricting.
4. Elected on 3rd ballot
5. Elected on 2nd ballot
6. Resigned from office
7. Elected on 22nd ballot
8. Elected on 12th ballot
9. Elected on 10th ballot
10. Elected on 11th ballot
11. Elected on 63rd ballot
12. Elected on 133rd ballot
13. Elected on 44th ballot
14. Died in office
15. Elected on 9th ballot
16. Current member of the House of Representatives

Speakers by time in office

The length of time given below is based on the difference between dates; if counted by number of calendar days all the figures would be one greater. Also, as many speakers were elected multiple times, and to terms that were, in several instances, not consecutive, the length of time given for each speaker measures their cumulative length of incumbency as speaker. Further, time after adjournment of one Congress but before the convening of the next Congress is not counted. For example, Nathaniel Macon was Speaker in both the 8th and 9th Congresses, but the eight-month gap between the two Congresses is not counted toward his service. The exact dates of service for each individual speaker is shown in the Term of service column of the above table.

Official seal of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Sam Rayburn, longest serving speaker of the House,
17 years, 53 days (cumulative)

Tip O'Neill, longest uninterrupted tenure of office,
9 years, 350 days

Theodore M. Pomeroy, shortest tenure of office, 1 day

Rank	Speaker	Time in office	TE	OS
1	Rayburn, SamSam Rayburn	17 years, 53 days	10	43
2	Clay, HenryHenry Clay	10 years, 196 days	6	7
3	O'Neill, TipTip O'Neill	9 years, 350 days	5	47
4	McCormack, John WilliamJohn William McCormack	8 years, 344 days	5	45
5	Hastert, DennisDennis Hastert	7 years, 359 days	4	51
6	Clark, ChampChamp Clark	6 years, 357 days	4	36
7	Albert, CarlCarl Albert	5 years, 337 days	3	46
8	Cannon, Joseph GurneyJoseph Gurney Cannon	5 years, 285 days	4	35
9	Foley, TomTom Foley	5 years, 209 days	3	49
10	Blaine, James G.James G. Blaine	5 years, 93 days	3	27
11	Gillett, Frederick H.Frederick H. Gillett	4 years, 341 days	3	37
12	Boehner, JohnJohn Boehner	4 years, 297 days	3	53
13	Colfax, SchuylerSchuyler Colfax	4 years, 176 days	3	25
14	Brackett Reed, ThomasThomas Brackett Reed	4 years, 172 days	3	32
15	Longworth, NicholasNicholas Longworth	4 years, 133 days	3	38
16	Bankhead, William B.William B. Bankhead	4 years, 102 days	3	42
17	Stevenson, AndrewAndrew Stevenson	4 years, 83 days	4	11
18	Martin, Jr., Joseph WilliamJoseph William Martin, Jr.	4 years	2	44
19	Pelosi, NancyNancy Pelosi	3 years, 363 days	2	52
20	Gingrich, NewtNewt Gingrich	3 years, 361 days	2	50
21	Macon, NathanielNathaniel Macon	3 years, 317 days	3	5
22	Carlisle, John G.John G. Carlisle	3 years, 267 days	3	31
23	Randall, Samuel J.Samuel J. Randall	3 years, 215 days	3	29
24	Muhlenberg, FrederickFrederick Muhlenberg	3 years, 64 days	2	1
25	Varnum, Joseph BradleyJoseph Bradley Varnum	3 years, 49 days	2	6
26	Dayton, JonathanJonathan Dayton	3 years, 14 days	2	3
27	Crisp, Charles FrederickCharles Frederick Crisp	2 years, 295 days	2	33
28	Polk, James K.James K. Polk	2 years, 268 days	2	13
29 (tie)	Boyd, LinnLinn Boyd	2 years, 182 days	2	20
	Henderson, David B.David B. Henderson	2 years, 182 days	2	34
31	Wright, JimJim Wright	2 years, 151 days	2	48
32	White, JohnJohn White	1 year, 277 days	1	15
33	Grow, Galusha A.Galusha A. Grow	1 year, 243 days	1	24
34	Taylor, John W.John W. Taylor	1 year, 198 days	2	9
35	Rainey, Henry ThomasHenry Thomas Rainey	1 year, 163 days	1	40
36	Byrns, Sr., Joseph W.Joseph W. Byrns, Sr.	1 year, 153 days	1	41
37	Trumbull, Jr., JonathanJonathan Trumbull, Jr.	1 year, 131 days	1	2
38	Davis, John WesleyJohn Wesley Davis	1 year, 93 days	1	17
39	Sedgwick, TheodoreTheodore Sedgwick	1 year, 92 days	1	4
40 (tie)	Pendleton Barbour, PhilipPhilip Pendleton Barbour	1 year, 90 days	1	10
	Jones, John WinstonJohn Winston Jones	1 year, 90 days	1	16
42	Keifer, J. WarrenJ. Warren Keifer	1 year, 89 days	1	30
43	Winthrop, Robert CharlesRobert Charles Winthrop	1 year, 88 days	1	18
44 (tie)	Orr, James LawrenceJames Lawrence Orr	1 year, 87 days	1	22
	Garner, John NanceJohn Nance Garner	1 year, 87 days	1	39
46	Hunter, Robert M. T.Robert M. T. Hunter	1 year, 78 days	1	14
47	Cobb, HowellHowell Cobb	1 year, 72 days	1	19
48	Cheves, LangdonLangdon Cheves	1 year, 44 days	1	8
49	Ryan, PaulPaul Ryan	1 year, 37 days	1	54
50	Pennington, WilliamWilliam Pennington	1 year, 31 days	1	23
51	Banks, Nathaniel P.Nathaniel P. Banks	1 year, 30 days	1	21
52	Bell, JohnJohn Bell	275 days	1	12
53	Kerr, Michael C.Michael C. Kerr	257 days	1	28
54	Pomeroy, Theodore M.Theodore M. Pomeroy	1 day	1	26

Living former speakers

Since the resignation of John Boehner on October 29, 2015 there are four living former speakers. The most recent former speaker to die was Jim Wright (1987-1989) on May 6, 2015. The most recently serving former speaker to die was Tom Foley (1989-1995) on October 18, 2013.

Speaker	Years as Speaker	Current age
Newt Gingrich	1995 – 1999	June 17, 1943
Dennis Hastert	1999 – 2007	January 2, 1942
Nancy Pelosi	2007 – 2011	March 26, 1940
John Boehner	2011 – 2015	November 17, 1949

See also

• Speaker (politics), for a general description of the title and a list of current national legislature speakers worldwide

References

1. "Speaker Elections Decided by Multiple Ballots". history.house.gov. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
2. "Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved August 10, 2012.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States House of Representatives document "List of Speakers of the House".

External links

• "Speaker of the House of Representatives". Official Website, Information about role as party leader, powers as presiding officer.
• House Document 108-204 - The Cannon Centenary Conference: The Changing Nature of the Speakership, History, nature and role of the Speakership