Dean of the United States House of Representatives | |
---|---|
since March 18, 2022 | |
United States House of Representatives | |
Member of | United States House of Representatives |
Seat | Kentucky's 5th |
First holder | Frederick Muhlenberg March 4, 1789 |
The dean of the United States House of Representatives is the longest continuously serving member of the House. The current dean is Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, who has served in the House since 1981. The dean is a symbolic post, whose only customary duty is to swear in a speaker of the House after they are elected.[1] This responsibility was first recorded in 1819 but has not been observed continuously – at times, the speaker-elect was the current dean or the speaker-elect preferred to be sworn in by a member of their own party when the dean belonged to another party. The dean comes forward on the House Floor to administer the oath to the speaker-elect, before the new speaker then administers the oath to the other members.[2]
While deans perform the swearing-in ceremony for the newly elected speaker, they do not preside over the election of a speaker, as do the Father of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the dean of the Canadian House of Commons (that duty falls to the previous House's Clerk).
Because of other privileges associated with seniority, the dean is usually allotted some of the most desirable office space, and is generally either chair or ranking minority member of an influential committee.
It is unclear when the position first achieved concrete recognition, though the seniority system and increasing lengths of service emerged in the early 20th century. As late as 1924, Frederick H. Gillett was dean, and also speaker, before becoming a senator. Modern deans move into their positions so late in their careers that a move to the Senate is highly unlikely. When Ed Markey broke Gillett's record for time in the House before moving to the Senate in 2013 he was still decades junior to the sitting dean.
The deanship can change hands unexpectedly. In the 1952 election, Adolph J. Sabath became the first Representative elected to a 24th term, breaking the record of 23 terms first set by former Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon, whose service had been non-consecutive, whereas Sabath's was not. North Carolina's Robert L. Doughton had not contested that election as he was retiring at the age of 89 years and two months, a House age record broken in 1998 by Sidney R. Yates, and again by Ralph Hall in 2012. However, Sabath died before the new term began and Doughton was dean for the old term's final months before Speaker Sam Rayburn became dean in the new Congress.
List of deans of the House
[edit]Years as dean are followed by name, party, state, and start of service in Congress.
All the members of the First Congress had equal seniority (as defined for the purpose of this article), but Muhlenberg, as the speaker, was the first member to be sworn in. Muhlenberg, Hartley and Thatcher were among the 13 members who attended the initial meeting of the House on March 4, 1789.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, some state delegations to the House were often not elected until after the term had begun. To avoid confusion, this fact is ignored in the list below.
Became dean | End date | Dean | Party | State | Seniority from | Speaker(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 4, 1789 | March 4, 1797 | ![]() |
Frederick Muhlenberg[A] | Federalist | PA | March 4, 1789 | Frederick Muhlenberg (1789–1791) |
Jonathan Trumbull Jr. (1791–1793) | |||||||
Frederick Muhlenberg (1793–1795) | |||||||
Jonathan Dayton (1795–1799) | |||||||
March 4, 1797 | December 21, 1800 | ![]() |
Thomas Hartley[B][C] | Federalist | PA | ||
Theodore Sedgwick (1799–1801) | |||||||
March 4, 1801 | ![]() |
George Thatcher | Federalist | MA | |||
March 4, 1801 | March 4, 1803 | William B. Grove[C] | Federalist | NC | March 4, 1791 | Nathaniel Macon (1801–1807) | |
March 4, 1807 | ![]() |
Andrew Gregg[C] | Democratic-Republican | PA | |||
December 13, 1815 | ![]() |
Nathaniel Macon[D] | Democratic-Republican | NC | Joseph Bradley Varnum (1807–1811) | ||
Henry Clay (1811–1814) | |||||||
Langdon Cheves (1814–1815) | |||||||
December 13, 1815 | April 9, 1816 | Richard Stanford[B] | Democratic-Republican | NC | March 4, 1797 | Henry Clay (1815–1820) | |
April 9, 1816 | March 4, 1817 | ![]() |
John Davenport | Federalist | CT | March 4, 1799 | |
March 4, 1817 | March 4, 1830 | ![]() |
Thomas Newton Jr. | Democratic-Republican (1817–1825) |
VA | March 4, 1801 | |
John Taylor (1820–1821) | |||||||
Philip P. Barbour (1821–1823) | |||||||
Henry Clay (1823–1825) | |||||||
National Republican (1825–1830) |
John Taylor (1825–1827) | ||||||
Andrew Stevenson (1827–1834) | |||||||
March 4, 1830 | March 4, 1833 | William McCoy | Jacksonian | VA | March 4, 1811 | ||
March 4, 1833 | February 23, 1842 | ![]() |
Lewis Williams[B] | National Republican (1833–1837) |
NC | March 4, 1815 | |
John Bell (1834–1835) | |||||||
James K. Polk (1835–1839) | |||||||
Whig (1837–1842) |
Robert M. T. Hunter (1839–1841) | ||||||
John White (1841–1843) | |||||||
February 23, 1842 | March 4, 1843 | ![]() |
Horace Everett[C] | Whig | VT | March 4, 1829 | John Winston Jones (1843–1845) |
April 22, 1844 | ![]() |
Dixon H. Lewis | Democratic | AL | |||
April 22, 1844 | February 23, 1848 | ![]() |
John Quincy Adams[C] | Whig | MA | March 4, 1831 | John Wesley Davis (1845–1847) |
Robert Charles Winthrop (1847–1849) | |||||||
March 4, 1849 | ![]() |
James I. McKay | Democratic | NC | |||
March 4, 1849 | March 4, 1855 | ![]() |
Linn Boyd[E] | Democratic | KY | March 4, 1839 | Howell Cobb (1849–1851) |
Linn Boyd (1851–1856) | |||||||
March 4, 1855 | March 4, 1859 | ![]() |
Joshua Reed Giddings | Republican | OH | May 5, 1842 | Nathaniel P. Banks (1856–1857) |
James Lawrence Orr (1857–1860) | |||||||
March 4, 1859 | March 4, 1863 | ![]() |
John S. Phelps | Democratic | MO | March 4, 1845 | William Pennington (1860–1861) |
Galusha A. Grow (1861–1863) | |||||||
March 4, 1863 | March 4, 1869 | ![]() |
Elihu B. Washburne | Republican | IL | March 4, 1853 | Schuyler Colfax (1863–1869) |
Theodore M. Pomeroy (1869) | |||||||
March 4, 1869 | March 4, 1875 | ![]() |
Henry L. Dawes | Republican | MA | March 4, 1857 | James G. Blaine (1869–1875) |
March 4, 1875 | January 9, 1890 | ![]() |
William D. Kelley[B] | Republican | PA | March 4, 1861 | Michael C. Kerr (1875–1876) |
Samuel J. Randall (1876–1881) | |||||||
J. Warren Keifer (1881–1883) | |||||||
John G. Carlisle (1883–1889) | |||||||
Thomas Brackett Reed (1889–1891) | |||||||
January 9, 1890 | April 13, 1890 | ![]() |
Samuel J. Randall[B] | Democratic | PA | March 4, 1863 | |
April 13, 1890 | March 4, 1891 | ![]() |
Joseph G. Cannon[C] | Republican | IL | March 4, 1873 | Charles Frederick Crisp (1891–1895) |
March 1892 | ![]() |
Roger Q. Mills[C] | Democratic | TX | |||
March 4, 1893 | ![]() |
James H. Blount[C] | Democratic | GA | |||
March 4, 1895 | ![]() |
Richard P. Bland | Democratic | MO | |||
March 4, 1895 | March 4, 1897 | ![]() |
David B. Culberson | Democratic | TX | March 4, 1875 | Thomas Brackett Reed (1895–1899) |
March 4, 1897 | September 4, 1899 | ![]() |
Thomas Brackett Reed[F][C] | Republican | ME | March 4, 1877 | |
March 6, 1900 | ![]() |
Alfred C. Harmer[B] | Republican | PA | David B. Henderson (1899–1903) | ||
March 6, 1900 | March 22, 1912 | ![]() |
Henry H. Bingham[B] | Republican | PA | March 4, 1879 | |
Joseph G. Cannon (1903–1911) | |||||||
Champ Clark (1911–1919) | |||||||
March 22, 1912 | March 4, 1913 | ![]() |
John Dalzell | Republican | PA | March 4, 1887 | |
March 4, 1913 | December 10, 1914 | ![]() |
Sereno E. Payne[B] | Republican | NY | March 4, 1889 | |
December 10, 1914 | April 17, 1918 | ![]() |
William Jones[B] | Democratic | VA | March 4, 1891 | |
April 17, 1918 | March 4, 1919 | ![]() |
Henry Allen Cooper[B][C] | Republican | WI | March 4, 1893 | Frederick H. Gillett (1919–1925) |
March 4, 1925 | ![]() |
Frederick H. Gillett[G] | Republican | MA | |||
March 4, 1925 | May 26, 1928 | ![]() |
Thomas S. Butler[B] | Republican | PA | March 4, 1897 | Nicholas Longworth (1925–1931) |
May 26, 1928 | March 4, 1933 | ![]() |
Gilbert N. Haugen | Republican | IA | March 4, 1899 | |
John Nance Garner (1931–1933) | |||||||
March 4, 1933 | April 1, 1934 | ![]() |
Edward W. Pou[B] | Democratic | NC | March 4, 1901 | Henry T. Rainey (1933–1935) |
April 1, 1934 | November 6, 1952 | ![]() |
Adolph Sabath[B] | Democratic | IL | March 4, 1907 | Jo Byrns (1935–1936) |
William B. Bankhead (1936–1940) | |||||||
Sam Rayburn (1940–1947) | |||||||
Joseph W. Martin Jr. (1947–1949) | |||||||
Sam Rayburn (1949–1953) | |||||||
November 6, 1952 | January 3, 1953 | ![]() |
Robert L. Doughton | Democratic | NC | March 4, 1911 | |
January 3, 1953 | November 16, 1961 | ![]() |
Sam Rayburn[H][B] | Democratic | TX | March 4, 1913 | Joseph W. Martin Jr. (1953–1955) |
Sam Rayburn (1955–1961) | |||||||
November 16, 1961 | January 3, 1965 | ![]() |
Carl Vinson | Democratic | GA | November 3, 1914 | John W. McCormack (1962–1971) |
January 3, 1965 | January 3, 1973 | ![]() |
Emanuel Celler | Democratic | NY | March 4, 1923 | |
Carl Albert (1971–1977) | |||||||
January 3, 1973 | March 7, 1976 | ![]() |
Wright Patman[B] | Democratic | TX | March 4, 1929 | |
March 7, 1976 | January 3, 1979 | ![]() |
George H. Mahon | Democratic | TX | January 3, 1935 | Tip O'Neill (1977–1987) |
January 3, 1979 | January 3, 1995 | ![]() |
Jamie Whitten | Democratic | MS | November 4, 1941 | |
Jim Wright (1987–1989) | |||||||
Tom Foley (1989–1995) | |||||||
January 3, 1995 | January 3, 2015 | ![]() |
John Dingell[I] | Democratic | MI | December 13, 1955 | Newt Gingrich (1995–1999) |
Dennis Hastert (1999–2007) | |||||||
Nancy Pelosi (2007–2011) | |||||||
John Boehner (2011–2015) | |||||||
January 3, 2015 | December 5, 2017 | ![]() |
John Conyers[J] | Democratic | MI | January 3, 1965 | |
Paul Ryan (2015–2019) | |||||||
December 5, 2017 | March 18, 2022 | ![]() |
Don Young[B] | Republican | AK | March 6, 1973 | |
Nancy Pelosi (2019–2023) | |||||||
March 18, 2022 | Incumbent | ![]() |
Hal Rogers | Republican | KY | January 3, 1981 | |
Kevin McCarthy (2023) | |||||||
Mike Johnson (2023–present) |
See also
[edit]- Dean of the United States Senate
- Father of the House, the international equivalent in many countries; originally coined in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
- List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service
References
[edit]- ^ "List at House official site that records the Dean (originally called "Father") and who swore in the Speaker for each Congress". Archived from the original on February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ^ "Oath of Office - US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". History.house.gov. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Served as Speaker 1789–1791 and 1793–1795.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Died in office.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Never held sole deanship due to tie.
- ^ Served as Speaker 1801–1807.
- ^ Previously served in House 1835–1837; Served as Speaker 1851–1855.
- ^ Served as Speaker 1889–1891 and 1895–1899.
- ^ Served as Speaker 1919–1925.
- ^ Served as Speaker 1955–1961.
- ^ Longest serving House member ever and held the longest deanship.
- ^ Resigned.