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 person with more than half of the votes becomes Speaker.

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Seal of the Speaker
Incumbent Mike Johnson since October 25, 2023
Style	Mister or Madam Speaker (Informal and within the House) The Honorable (Formal)
Appointer	Elected by the U.S. House of Representatives
Inaugural holder	Frederick Muhlenberg April 1, 1789
Formation	U.S. Constitution March 4, 1789
Succession	Second
Website	Speaker of the House

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 (this has not happened yet). The job of the Speaker is 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 (i.e. another Speaker served in between each tenure).

Order of succession

The Speaker of the House is third in line for the Presidency of the United States. If the President of the United States dies or steps down, the Vice President of the United States 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

It includes the congressional district and political affiliation of each speaker as well as the number of their Congress and time they spent in the position.

#	Speaker	Party	District	Congress	Tenure
1	Frederick Muhlenberg	Pro-Administration	Pennsylvania-AL	1st	April 1, 1789 — March 4, 1791
2	Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.	Pro-Administration	Connecticut-4th	2nd	October 24, 1791 — March 4, 1793
3	Frederick Muhlenberg	Anti-Administration	Pennsylvania-AL	3rd	December 2, 1793 — March 4, 1795
4	Jonathan Dayton	Federalist	New Jersey-AL	4th	December 7, 1795 — March 4, 1797
				5th	May 15, 1797 — March 4, 1799
5	Theodore Sedgwick	Federalist	Massachusetts-1	6th	December 2, 1799 — March 4, 1801
6	Nathaniel Macon	Democratic-Republican	North Carolina-5	7th	December 7, 1801 — March 4, 1803
			North Carolina-6	8th	October 17, 1803 — March 4, 1805
				9th	December 2, 1805 — March 4, 1807
7	Joseph Bradley Varnum	Democratic-Republican	Massachusetts-4	10th	October 26, 1807 — March 4, 1809
				11th	May 22, 1809 — March 4, 1811
8	Henry Clay	Democratic-Republican	Kentucky-3	12th	November 4, 1811 — March 4, 1813
			Kentucky-2	13th	May 24, 1813 — January 19, 1814
9	Langdon Cheves	Democratic-Republican	South Carolina-1		January 19, 1814 — March 4, 1815
10	Henry Clay	Democratic-Republican	Kentucky-2	14th	December 4, 1815 — March 4, 1817
				15th	December 1, 1817 — March 4, 1819
				16th	December 6, 1819 — October 28, 1820
11	John W. Taylor	Democratic-Republican	New York-11		November 15, 1820 — March 4, 1821
12	Philip Pendleton Barbour	Democratic-Republican	Virginia-11	17th	December 4, 1821 — March 4, 1823
13	Henry Clay	Democratic-Republican	Kentucky-3	18th	December 1, 1823 — March 4, 1825
14	John W. Taylor	National Republican	New York-17	19th	December 5, 1825 — March 4, 1827
15	Andrew Stevenson	Democratic	Virginia-9	20th	December 3, 1827 — March 4, 1829
				21st	December 7, 1829 — March 4, 1831
				22nd	December 5, 1831 — March 4, 1833
			Virginia-11	23rd	December 2, 1833 — June 2, 1834
16	John Bell	Whig	Tennessee-7	23rd	June 2, 1834 — March 4, 1835
17	James Polk	Democratic	Tennessee-9	24th	December 7, 1835 — March 4, 1837
				25th	September 4, 1837 — March 4, 1839
18	Robert M. T. Hunter	Whig	Virginia-9	26th	December 16, 1839 — March 4, 1841
19	John White	Whig	Kentucky-9	27th	May 31, 1841 — March 4, 1843
20	John Winston Jones	Democratic	Virginia-6	28th	December 4, 1843 — March 4, 1845
21	John Wesley Davis	Democratic	Indiana-6	29th	December 1, 1845 — March 4, 1847
22	Robert Charles Winthrop	Whig	Massachusetts-1	30th	December 6, 1847 — March 4, 1849
23	Howell Cobb	Democratic	Georgia-6	31st	December 22, 1849 — March 4, 1851
24	Linn Boyd	Democratic	Kentucky-1	32nd	December 1, 1851 — March 4, 1853
				33rd	December 5, 1853 — March 4, 1855
25	Nathaniel Prentice Banks	American/Republican*	Massachusetts-7	34th	February 2, 1856 — March 4, 1857
26	James Lawrence Orr	Democratic	South Carolina-5	35th	December 7, 1857 — March 4, 1859
27	William Pennington	Republican	New Jersey-5	36th	February 1, 1860 — March 4, 1861
28	Galusha A. Grow	Republican	Pennsylvania-14	37th	July 4, 1861 — March 4, 1863
29	Schuyler Colfax	Republican	Indiana-9	38th	December 7, 1863 — March 4, 1865
				39th	December 4, 1865 — March 4, 1867
				40th	March 4, 1867 — March 3, 1869
30	Theodore Medad Pomeroy	Republican	New York-24		March 3, 1869 — March 4, 1869
31	James G. Blaine	Republican	Maine-3	41st	March 4, 1869 — March 4, 1871
				42nd	March 4, 1871 — March 4, 1873
				43rd	March 4, 1873 — May 13, 1874
31.1 [1] [2]	Joseph H. Rainey	Republican	South Carolina-1		May 13, 1874
31	James G. Blaine	Republican	Maine-3		May 14, 1874 — March 4, 1875
32	Michael C. Kerr	Democratic	Indiana-3	44th	December 6, 1875 — August 19, 1876
33	Samuel J. Randall	Democratic	Pennsylvania-3		December 4, 1876 — March 4, 1877
				45th	October 15, 1877 — March 4, 1879
				46th	March 18, 1879 — March 4, 1881
34	J. Warren Keifer	Republican	Ohio-8	47th	December 5, 1881 — March 4, 1883
35	John Griffin Carlisle	Democratic	Kentucky-6	48th	December 3, 1883 — March 4, 1885
				49th	December 7, 1885 — March 4, 1887
				50th	December 5, 1887 — March 4, 1889
36	Thomas Brackett Reed	Republican	Maine-1	51st	December 2, 1889 — March 4, 1891
37	Charles Frederick Crisp	Democratic	Georgia-3	52nd	December 8, 1891 — March 4, 1893
				53rd	August 7, 1893 — March 4, 1895
38	Thomas Brackett Reed	Republican	Maine-1	54th	December 2, 1895 — March 4, 1897
				55th	March 15, 1897 — March 4, 1899
39	David B. Henderson	Republican	Iowa-3	56th	December 4, 1899 — March 4, 1901
				57th	December 2, 1901 — March 4, 1903
40	Joseph Gurney Cannon	Republican	Illinois-18	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	Champ Clark	Democratic	Missouri-9	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	Frederick Gillett	Republican	Massachusetts-2	66th	May 19, 1919 — March 4, 1921
				67th	April 11, 1921 — March 4, 1923
				68th	December 3, 1923 — March 4, 1925
43	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	John Nance Garner	Democratic	Texas-15	72nd	December 7, 1931 — March 4, 1933
45	Henry T. Rainey	Democratic	Illinois-20	73rd	March 9, 1933 — August 19, 1934
46	Joseph Wellington Byrns	Democratic	Tennessee-5	74th	January 3, 1935 — June 4, 1936
47	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	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	Joseph W. Martin, Jr.	Republican	Massachusetts-14	80th	January 3, 1947 — January 3, 1949
50	Sam Rayburn	Democratic	Texas-4	81st	January 3, 1949 — January 3, 1951
				82nd	January 3, 1951 — January 3, 1953
51	Joseph W. Martin, Jr.	Republican	Massachusetts-14	83rd	January 3, 1953 — January 3, 1955
52	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	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	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	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	Jim Wright	Democratic	Texas-12	100th	January 6, 1987 — January 3, 1989
				101st	January 3, 1989 — June 6, 1989
57	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	Newt Gingrich	Republican	Georgia-6	104th	January 4, 1995 — January 3, 1997
				105th	January 7, 1997 — January 3, 1999
59	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	Nancy Pelosi	Democratic	California-8	110th	January 4, 2007 — January 3, 2009
				111th	January 6, 2009 — January 3, 2011
61	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	Paul Ryan	Republican	Wisconsin-1	114th	October 29, 2015 — January 3, 2017
				115th	January 3, 2017 — January 3, 2019
63	Nancy Pelosi	Democratic	California-12[3]	116th	January 3, 2019 — January 3, 2021
				117th	January 3, 2021 — January 3, 2023
64	Kevin McCarthy	Republican	California-32	118th	January 7, 2023 — October 3, 2023
65	Mike Johnson	Republican	Louisiana-4	118th	October 25, 2023 — Present

List of living former speakers

Speaker	Years in office	Date of birth (and age)
	1995–1999	(1943-06-17) June 17, 1943 (age 81)
	1999–2007	(1942-01-02) January 2, 1942 (age 83)
	2011–2015	(1949-11-17) November 17, 1949 (age 75)
	2015–2019	(1970-01-29) January 29, 1970 (age 55)
	2007–2011, 2019–2023	(1940-03-26) March 26, 1940 (age 84)
	2023	(1965-01-26) January 26, 1965 (age 60)

References

1. 11.Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (13 May 1872): 3383.
2. 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.
3. Pelosi, Nancy. "Nancy Pelosi". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2020-01-18.