The founders prescribed in the Constitution that the “House of Representatives
shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers" (Article I, section
II). But that founding document remained silent on so many specifics: the method
for choosing the Speaker, the presiding officer’s duties and powers, not to
mention the Speaker’s role as a partisan. The founders had in mind, of course,
their own experience with presiding officers in colonial legislatures, as well as
the example of the British House of Commons. The Speakership they envisioned resembled
a parliamentary referee who would rule on floor debate but do little else. From
this origin, the office rapidly evolved in complexity and influence, shaped by the
likes of Henry Clay of Kentucky, Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine, Joseph Cannon of Illinois, and Sam Rayburn of Texas. By the 20th century, the
Speakership was the most potent and multifaceted office on Capitol Hill: presiding
officer of the chamber; leader of the majority party; and, additionally, an elected
Representative with responsibilities to a distinct district constituency like the
other 434 voting Members of the House. Speaker John White of Kentucky, who served in the early
1840s, sized up the enormity of the job: “I am sensible of the magnitude and
difficulty of this task, of its arduous duties, of its high responsibilities. Six
years’ service in this body has taught me that this chair is no bed of down,
especially in a time of great political excitement.”
This bibliography is a compilation of scholarly analyses of the House Speakership,
both its development and the individuals who have held the office. While not exhaustive,
it is meant to help researchers and students gain a more sophisticated understanding
of the institutional developments and personalities that have shaped the Office of the Speaker. This bibliography is organized into
two sections:
“Speaker’s Room, House of Representatives,” J. Jarvis Stereoscopic
Views, c. 1865Collection of U.S. House of Representatives