The speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House, and is simultaneously the body's presiding officer, the de facto leader of the body's majority party, and the institution's administrative head. Speakers also perform various administrative and procedural functions, all in addition to representing their own congressional district. Given these several roles and responsibilities, the Speaker usually does not personally preside over debates. That duty is instead delegated to members of the House from the majority party. Neither does the speaker regularly participate in floor debates. Additionally, the speaker is second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president and ahead of the president pro tempore of the Senate.
The US Capital building, in which the congress meets
The House elects a new speaker by roll call vote when it first convenes after a general election for its two-year term, or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. A majority of votes cast (as opposed to a majority of the full membership of the House) is necessary to elect a speaker. If no candidate receives a majority vote, then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected.
List of Speakers of the House[]
(Since 1858)
| Name | Party | District | Term of office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Lawrence Orr | Democrat | South Carolina 5 | December 7, 1857 | March 4, 1859 |
| William Pennington | Republican | New Jersey 5 | February 1, 1860 | March 4, 1861 |
| Galusha A. Grow | Republican | Pennsylvania 14 | July 4, 1861 | March 4, 1863 |
| Schuyler Colfax | Republican | Indiana 9 | December 7, 1863 – | March 4, 1865 |
| Clement Vallandigham | Democrat | Ohio 3 | December 4, 1865 | March 3, 1869 |
| William E. Niblack | Democrat | Indiana 1 | March 4, 1869 | March 4, 1875 |
| Michael C. Kerr | Democrat | Indiana 3 | December 6, 1875 | August 19, 1876D |
| Samuel J. Randall | Democrat | Pennsylvania 3 | December 4, 1876 | March 4, 1879 |
| William H. Wadsworth | Unionist | Kentucky 9 | December 1, 1879 | March 4, 1881 |
| John G. Carlisle | Democrat | Kentucky 6 | December 5, 1881 | March 4, 1889 |
| Thomas Brackett Reed | Unionist | Maine 1 | December 2, 1889 | March 4, 1891 |
| William S. Holman | Democrat | Indiana 4 | December 8, 1891 | March 4, 1893 |
| Thomas Brackett Reed | Unionist | Maine 1 | December 4, 1893 | March 4, 1899 |
| David B. Henderson | Unionist | Iowa 3 | December 4, 1899 | March 3, 1903 |
| Joseph Gurney Cannon | Unionist | Illinois 18 | November 9, 1903 | March 4, 1911 |
| James Robert Mann | Unionist | Illinois 2 | April 4, 1911 | March 4, 1919 |
| Frederick H. Gillett | Unionist | Massachusetts 2 | May 19, 1919 | March 4, 1925 |
| Albert Henry Vestal | Unionist | Indiana 8 | December 7, 1925 | March 4, 1931 |
| Paul John Kvale | Progressive | Minnesota 7 | December 7, 1931 | January 3, 1937 |
| Gerald J. Boileau | Progressive | Wisconsin 7 | January 5, 1937 | January 3, 1943 |
| Joseph W. Martin Jr. | Unionist | Massachusetts 14 | January 6, 1943 | January 3, 1951 |
| Vito Marcantonio | Progressive | New York 18 | January 4, 1951 | August 9, 1954D |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. | Progressive | New York 20 | August 11, 1954 | January 3, 1955 |
| Joseph W. Martin Jr. | Unionist | Massachusetts 14 | January 3, 1955 | January 3, 1959 |
| Charles A. Halleck | Unionist | Indiana 2 | January 3, 1959 | January 3, 1963 |
| John W. McCormack | Progressive | Massachusetts 9 | January 9, 1963 | January 3, 1971 |
| Tip O'Neill | Progressive | Massachusetts 8 | January 21, 1971 | January 3, 1973 |
| Gerald Ford | Unionist | Michigan 5 | January 3, 1973 | January 3, 1975 |
| Tip O'Neill | Progressive | Massachusetts 8 | January 14, 1975 | January 3, 1983 |
| Leo Ryan | Progressive | California 11 | January 9, 1983 | January 3, 1987 |
| Robert H. Michel | Unionist | Illinois 18 | January 6, 1987 | January 3, 1995 |
| Dick Cheney | Unionist | Wyoming at-large | January 4, 1995 | January 3, 1997 |
| David Bonior | Progressive | Michigan 10 | January 7, 1997 | January 3, 2003 |
| Dick Cheney | Unionist | Wyoming at-large | January 7, 2003 | January 3, 2009 |
| John Boehner | Unionist | Ohio 8 | January 6, 2009 | January 3, 2011 |
| Nancy Pelosi | Progressive | California 8 | January 5, 2011 | October 29, 2019 |
| Brendan Boyle | Progressive | Pennsylvania 2 | October 29, 2019 | Current |
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