Speaker
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the presiding officer of a representative assembly. The office originated in England. The early and weak House of Commons was wont to elect some one to speak for that body to the king. He gradually became the presiding officer. In the nature of the case, the speaker is elected by the members from their own number. Although the members of the British House of Commons serve without pay, their speaker receives $25,000 a year. He is a member of the king's privy council . On his retirement he is raised to the peerage, with a seat in the House of Lords , with a pension of $20,000 a year. The American speaker serves for two years, that is to say, during the life of the Congress. His compensation is $12,000 per year and mileage, with an allowance for clerk hire. His position is one of great power and influence, both in the appointment of committees and in the shaping of legislation. The speaker of the House of Representatives in the various states is selected in a similar manner. The first American speaker was F. A. Muhlenburg of Pennsylvania. Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, speaker of the Fifty-ninth Congress, was the thirty-fourth man to occupy the chair. Henry Clay served three separate terms, in all ten years. Many a speaker has desired the presidency, but James K. Polk is the only one who has held both offices. Schuyler Colfax is the only speaker who served as vice-president and presided over both the House and the Senate. See Blaine ; Reed ; Clay ; Congress SPEAKERS OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 1789-91. F. A. Muhlenburg, Pennsylvania. 1791-93. Jonathan Trumbull, Connecticut. 1793-95. F. A. Muhlenburg, Pennsylvania. 1795-99. Jonathan Dayton, New Jersey . 1799-1801. Theo. Sedgwick, Massachusetts. 1801-07. Nathaniel Macon, North Carolina . 1807-11. Joseph B. Varnum, Massachusetts. 1811-14. Henry Clay, Kentucky. 1814-15. Langdon Cheves, South Carolina . 1815-20. Henry Clay, Kentucky. 1820-21. John W. Taylor, New York. 1821-23. Philip P. Barbour, Virginia. 1823-25. Henry Clay, Kentucky. 1825-27. John W. Taylor, New York. 1827-34. Andrew Stevenson, Virginia. 1834-35. John Bell, Tennessee. 1835-39. James K. Polk, Tennessee. 1839-41. R. M. T. Hunter, Virginia. 1841-43. John White, Kentucky. 1843-45. John W. Jones, Virginia. 1845-47. John W. Davis, Indiana. 1847-49. Robert C. Winthrop, Massachusetts. 1849-51. Howell Cobb, Georgia. 1851-55. Linn Boyd, Kentucky. 1855-57. Nathaniel P. Banks, Massachusetts. 1857-59. James L. Orr, South Carolina. 1859-61. Wm. Pennington, New Jersey. 1861-63. Galusha A. Grow, Pennsylvania. 1863-69. Schuyler Colfax, Indiana. 1869-75. James G. Blaine, Maine. 1875-76. Michael C. Kerr, Indiana. 1876-81. Samuel J. Randall, Pennsylvania. 1881-83. John W. Keifer, Ohio. 1883-89. John G. Carlisle, Kentucky. 1889-91. Thomas B. Reed, Maine. 1891-95. Charles F. Crisp, Georgia. 1895-99. Thomas B. Reed, Maine. 1899-1903. David B. Henderson, Iowa. 1903-Joseph G. Cannon, Illinois.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's wrote in 1910 that the American Speaker's position was "one of great power and influence, both in the appointment of committees and in the shaping of legislation" — and that year the House revolted against Joseph G. Cannon, the very man named in the entry, stripping him of the chairmanship of the Rules Committee and of his power to name committees. Those powers passed to party caucuses and leaderships, though Speakers from Sam Rayburn to Nancy Pelosi (in 2007 the first woman in the chair) rebuilt much of the influence by other means; the Speaker also became second in line to the presidency under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, and the salary is now $223,500. Polk is still the only Speaker to become president. On the British side the entry's remark that Commons members "serve without pay" ended in 1911, when MPs were voted £400 a year, and the automatic peerage for a retiring Speaker has become a custom rather than a rule — John Bercow, who left the chair in 2019, was not given one.
Written for this edition, 2026.