Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who is elected by the majority party to lead the House. The speaker presides over debate, appoints members of select and conference committees, establishes the legislative agenda, maintains order within the House, and administers the oath of office to House members. The individual in this office is second in the line of presidential succession, following the vice president.

The table provides a complete list of speakers of the House of Representatives.

Speakers of the United States House of Representatives
no. name party or faction state Congress term of service
1 Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg Pro-Administration Pennsylvania 1st 1789–91
2 Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. Federalist Connecticut 2nd 1791–93
3 Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg Anti-Administration Pennsylvania 3rd 1793–95
4 Jonathan Dayton Federalist New Jersey 4th and 5th 1795–99
5 Theodore Sedgwick Federalist Massachusetts 6th 1799–1801
6 Nathaniel Macon Democratic-Republican North Carolina 7th, 8th, and 9th 1801–07
7 Joseph Bradley Varnum Democratic-Republican Massachusetts 10th and 11th 1807–11
8 Henry Clay Democratic-Republican Kentucky 12th and 13th 1811–14
9 Langdon Cheves Republican South Carolina 13th 1814–15
10 Henry Clay Democratic-Republican Kentucky 14th, 15th, and 16th 1815–20
11 John W. Taylor Republican New York 16th 1820–21
12 Philip P. Barbour Republican Virginia 17th 1821–23
13 Henry Clay Democratic-Republican Kentucky 18th 1823–25
14 John W. Taylor Republican New York 19th 1825–27
15 Andrew Stevenson Jacksonian Virginia 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd 1827–34
16 John Bell Democratic Tennessee 23rd 1834–35
17 James K. Polk Jacksonian/Democratic Tennessee 24th and 25th 1835–39
18 Robert M.T. Hunter Democratic Virginia 26th 1839–41
19 John White Whig Kentucky 27th 1841–43
20 John Winston Jones Democratic Virginia 28th 1843–45
21 John Wesley Davis Democratic Indiana 29th 1845–47
22 Robert Charles Winthrop Whig Massachusetts 30th 1847–49
23 Howell Cobb Democratic Georgia 31st 1849–51
24 Linn Boyd Democratic Kentucky 32nd and 33rd 1851–55
25 Nathaniel P. Banks American Massachusetts 34th 1855–57
26 James Lawrence Orr Democratic South Carolina 35th 1857–59
27 William Pennington Republican New Jersey 36th 1859–61
28 Galusha A. Grow Republican Pennsylvania 37th 1861–63
29 Schuyler Colfax Republican Indiana 38th, 39th, and 40th 1863–69
30 Theodore Medad Pomeroy Republican New York 40th 1869
31 James G. Blaine Republican Maine 41st, 42nd, and 43rd 1869–75
32 Michael Crawford Kerr Democratic Indiana 44th 1875–76
33 Samuel J. Randall Democratic Pennsylvania 44th, 45th, and 46th 1876–81
34 Joseph Warren Keifer Republican Ohio 47th 1881–83
35 John G. Carlisle Democratic Kentucky 48th, 49th, and 50th 1883–89
36 Thomas B. Reed Republican Maine 51st 1889–91
37 Charles Frederick Crisp Democratic Georgia 52nd and 53rd 1891–95
38 Thomas B. Reed Republican Maine 54th and 55th 1895–99
39 David B. Henderson Republican Iowa 56th and 57th 1899–1903
40 Joseph Gurney Cannon Republican Illinois 58th, 59th, 60th, and 61st 1903–11
41 Champ Clark Democratic Missouri 62nd, 63rd, 64th, and 65th 1911–19
42 Frederick Gillett Republican Massachusetts 66th, 67th, and 68th 1919–25
43 Nicholas Longworth Republican Ohio 69th, 70th, and 71st 1925–31
44 John Nance Garner Democratic Texas 72nd 1931–33
45 Henry T. Rainey Democratic Illinois 73rd 1933–35
46 Joseph Wellington Byrns Democratic Tennessee 74th 1935–36
47 William Brockman Bankhead Democratic Alabama 74th, 75th, and 76th 1936–40
48 Sam Rayburn Democratic Texas 76th, 77th, 78th, and 79th 1940–47
49 Joseph William Martin, Jr. Republican Massachusetts 80th 1947–49
50 Sam Rayburn Democratic Texas 81st and 82nd 1949–53
51 Joseph William Martin, Jr. Republican Massachusetts 83rd 1953–55
52 Sam Rayburn Democratic Texas 84th, 85th, 86th, and 87th 1955–61
53 John W. McCormack Democratic Massachusetts 87th, 88th, 89th, 90th, and 91st 1962–71
54 Carl Albert Democratic Oklahoma 92nd, 93rd, and 94th 1971–77
55 Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Democratic Massachusetts 95th, 96th, 97th, 98th, and 99th 1977–87
56 James C. Wright, Jr. Democratic Texas 100th and 101st 1987–89
57 Thomas S. Foley Democratic Washington 101st, 102nd, 103rd 1989–95
58 Newt Gingrich Republican Georgia 104th and 105th 1995–99
59 Dennis Hastert Republican Illinois 106th, 107th, 108th, and 109th 1999–2007
60 Nancy Pelosi Democratic California 110th and 111th 2007–2011
61 John Boehner Republican Ohio 112th, 113th, and 114th 2011–15
62 Paul Ryan Republican Wisconsin 114th and 115th 2015–19
63 Nancy Pelosi Democratic California 116th and 117th 2019–23
64 Kevin McCarthy Republican California 118th 2023
65 Mike Johnson Republican Louisiana 118th 2023–
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
Citation Information
Article Title: Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 05 September 2022
URL: https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Speaker-of-the-US-House-of-Representatives
Access Date: November 23, 2024