Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door (private) caucus.

The Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives acts as the leader of the party that has a majority control of the seats in the house (currently at least 218 of the 435 seats). The Majority Leader works with the Speaker of the House and the Majority Whip to coordinate ideas and supporting votes for legislation.

The role of the majority leader has been defined by history and tradition. This officer is charged with scheduling legislation for floor consideration; planning the daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas; consulting with Members to gauge party sentiment; and, in general, working to advance the goals of the majority party.

The office of Majority Leader was created in 1899 by Speaker David B. Henderson for Sereno Payne. Henderson saw a need for a party leader on the House floor separate from the Speaker, as the role of Speaker had become more nationally prominent and the size of the House had grown from 105 at the beginning of the century to 356. In addition to distributing the responsibility of running the House, the existence of the Majority Leader allows the Speaker to criticize his or her own party when he considers it politically necessary.

The majority party floor leader had been the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful committee in the House, as it generates the Bills of Revenue specified in the Constitution as the House's unique power.^[1]

The Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives serves as floor leader of the opposition party, and is the minority counterpart to the Majority Leader. Generally, the minority leader is on the ballot for Speaker of the House during the convening of the Congress. The minority leader usually meets with the Majority Leader and the Speaker to discuss agreements on controversial issues.

[edit] List of Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives

(Names in Bold indicate Majority Leaders)

Congress(es)	Dates	Democratic Leader	District	Republican Leader	District
56th-57th	1899-1903	James Richardson	Tennessee-5	Sereno E. Payne	New York
58th-60th	1903-1908	John Sharp Williams	Mississippi-8
60th-61st	1908-1911	Champ Clark	Missouri-9
62nd-63rd	1911-1915	Oscar W. Underwood	Alabama	James Mann	Illinois-2
64th-65th	1915-1919	Claude Kitchin	North Carolina-2	James Mann	Illinois-2
66th	1919-1921	Champ Clark	Missouri-9	Frank W. Mondell	Wyoming
67th	1921-1923	Claude Kitchin	North Carolina-2	Frank W. Mondell	Wyoming
68th	1923-1925	Finis Garrett	Tennessee-9	Nicholas Longworth	Ohio
69th-70th	1925-1929	Finis Garrett	Tennessee-9	John Q. Tilson	Connecticut
71st	1929-1931	John Nance Garner	Texas-15	John Q. Tilson	Connecticut
72nd	1931-1933	Henry T. Rainey	Illinois-20	Bertrand Snell	New York-31
73rd	1933-1935	Joseph W. Byrns	Tennessee
74th	1935-1937	William B. Bankhead	Alabama-6
75th	1937-1939	Sam Rayburn	Texas-4
76th	1939-1941	Sam Rayburn	Texas-4	Joseph Martin	Massachusetts-14
77th-79th	1941-1947	John W. McCormack	Massachusetts-12	Joseph Martin	Massachusetts-14
80th	1947-1949	Sam Rayburn	Texas-4	Charles A. Halleck	Indiana-2
81st-82nd	1949-1953	John W. McCormack	Massachusetts-12	Joseph Martin	Massachusetts-14
83rd	1953-1955	Sam Rayburn	Texas-4	Charles A. Halleck	Indiana-2
84th-85th	1955-1959	John W. McCormack	Massachusetts-12	Joseph Martin	Massachusetts-14
86th	1959-1961	John W. McCormack	Massachusetts-12	Charles Halleck	Indiana-2
87th-88th	1961-1965	Carl Albert	Oklahoma-3	Charles Halleck	Indiana-2
89th-91st	1965-1971	Carl Albert	Oklahoma-3	Gerald Ford	Michigan-5
92nd	1971-1973	Hale Boggs	Louisiana-2	Gerald Ford	Michigan-5
93rd-94th	1973-1977	Tip O'Neill	Massachusetts-8	John Rhodes	Arizona-1
95th-96th	1977-1981	Jim Wright	Texas-12	John Rhodes	Arizona-1
97th-99th	1981-1987	Jim Wright	Texas-12	Robert Michel	Illinois-18
100th	1987-1989	Tom Foley	Washington-5
101st-103rd	1989-1995	Dick Gephardt	Missouri-3
104th-107th	1995-2003	Dick Gephardt	Missouri-3	Dick Armey	Texas-26
108th-109th	2003-2005	Nancy Pelosi	California-8	Tom DeLay	Texas-22
109th	2005-2006			Roy Blunt (acting)	Missouri-7
109th	2006-present			John Boehner	Ohio-8
110th	2007–	Steny Hoyer	Maryland-5	John Boehner	Ohio-8

[edit] External links

A Brief History of Congressional Leadership, via thegreenpapers.com

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Categories: Leaders of the United States Congress | Majority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives | United States House of Representatives