List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives

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.[1] 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.[2]

This article is part of a series on the
United States House of Representatives
Great Seal of the United States House of Representatives
History of the United States House of Representatives
Members
Current members (by seniority by age non-voting) Former members Hill committees (DCCC NRCC) Congressional districts Speaker of the House (list of speakers list of elections) Party leaders Democratic Caucus Republican Conference
Politics and procedure
Committee of the Whole Closed session (list) Saxbe fix Committees (list) Procedures Origination Clause Quorum call Unanimous consent Salaries Apportionment (Huntington–Hill method) Redistricting Gerrymandering Articles of impeachment Self-executing rule Rules suspension General ticket Plural district
Places
United States Capitol House office buildings (Cannon Ford Longworth Rayburn)

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.[1] If no candidate receives a majority vote, then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected.[3] The Constitution does not require the Speaker to be an incumbent member of the House, although every Speaker thus far has been.[4]

The current speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California, was elected to a fourth (second consecutive) term in office on January 3, 2021, the first day of the 117th Congress. She is the only woman to have served as speaker. Altogether, 54 individuals, from 23 of the 50 states, have served as Speaker of the House. The number from each state are:

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

One speaker, James K. Polk, subsequently served as President of the United States, the only one to serve in both offices, and two speakers, Schuyler Colfax and John Nance Garner, later became Vice president. The longest serving speaker was Sam Rayburn – 17 years, 53 days. Elected 10 times, he led the House three times: from September 1940 to January 1947; January 1949 to January 1953; and January 1955 to November 1961. Tip O'Neill had the longest uninterrupted tenure as speaker – 9 years, 350 days. Elected five times, he led the House from January 1977 to January 1987. Theodore M. Pomeroy had the shortest tenure; elected speaker on March 3, 1869, he served one day.