Joseph Gurney Cannon (May 7, 1836 – November 12, 1926) was an American politician from Illinois and a leader of the Republican Party. Cannon represented parts of Illinois in the United States House of Representatives for twenty-three non-consecutive terms between 1873 and 1923; upon his retirement, he was the longest serving member of the United States Congress ever. From 1903 to 1911, he presided as Speaker of the House, becoming one of the most powerful speakers in United States history.
As the Speaker during most of the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, Cannon was an obstacle to the progressive policies advanced by Roosevelt and later abandoned by Taft. A revolt against Cannon's authority as Speaker, led by George W. Norris, was a contributing factor to the Republican Party split in the elections of 1910 and 1912 and led to significant reforms to the House rules.
The Cannon House Office Building, the oldest congressional office building, was named for him in 1962.
Cannon was born in Guilford County, North Carolina. on May 7, 1836. He was the elder of two sons of Horace Franklin Cannon, a country doctor, and Gulielma Cannon (née Hollingsworth).
The Cannon family were Quakers and, like most members of their faith, opposed to slavery. Abhorring the practice and fearing war, the Cannons were among the many Quakers who left the South for the Western frontier. In 1840, his family moved west with other North Carolina Quakers, settling about 30 miles north of Terre Haute along the Wabash River. Their new settlement became Annapolis, Indiana. Horace Cannon drowned on August 7, 1851, as he tried to reach a sick patient by crossing a creek. Joe Cannon, aged fifteen, became head of the family and took charge of the family farm. He worked as a clerk in a country store to save money and, after five years, the family were able to pay their mortgage.
Cannon became fascinated by the law when asked to testify in a slander case on behalf of a friend represented by John Palmer Usher. He studied under Usher at his Terre Haute office and used the remainder of his savings to enroll in law school at the University of Cincinnati. In 1858, he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Terre Haute, Indiana, but was disappointed when Usher refused to offer him a place in his office. He relocated to Shelbyville, Illinois but failed to attract clients, and from there moved on to Tuscola, county seat of the newly organized Coles County. His choice of a new hometown was involuntary; while travelling from Shelbyville to Chicago to find more clients, he ran out of money. He boarded a Chicago-bound train in Mattoon but was removed from the train in Tuscola after failing to show a ticket.
While building his law practice, Cannon became a follower of Abraham Lincoln during the Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858. He launched his first campaign for the office of state's attorney for Coles County in 1860 but was defeated. However, he was elected in 1861 as state's attorney for the twenty-seventh judicial district, after the Republican legislature reformed the state judicial system. Cannon remained in that position until 1872, when he was elected to the U.S. House.
In 1872, Cannon ran for the U.S. House as an anti-reform candidate supportive of President Ulysses S. Grant. He later recalled it as "a reform year, the beginning of a decade of 'reform' which shook up the virtues as well as the vices of the people. Nothing was right and nobody was safe from the reformers." Despite this, Cannon was elected to represent Illinois's 14th district, which included nearby Danville, in the 43rd Congress.
Initially, Cannon focused on purely local issues. He secured an appointment to the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, from which he promoted a bill to provide that postage on newspapers and magazines should be prepaid by publishers, rather than by the subscribers after arrival. Despite opposition from the publishing industry, the measure passed both houses of Congress and became law. His maiden speech in the House was a defense of this bill and the free mailing of seed. Upon a remark by William Walter Phelps that Cannon "must have oats in his pocket," the freshman Representative exclaimed, "Yes! I have oats in my pocket and hayseed in my hair, and the Western people generally are affected the same way. And we expect that the seed, being good, will yield a good crop." The incident gained Cannon an instant national reputation as an advocate for farmers, though he would frequently bemoan that the press treated him as a caricature, rather than giving serious consideration to his legislative proposals.
In 1889, Cannon stood as a candidate for Speaker of the House, but finished a poor third behind Thomas Brackett Reed and William McKinley. Instead, Cannon was named (alongside Reed and McKinley) to the powerful Committee on Rules. As his career progressed, Cannon had gained a reputation for partisan loyalty which was made evident in the 51st Congress. For example, he led opposition within the Republican Party to the Lodge Federal Elections Bill, but after the party caucus approved the bill by one vote, Cannon aided Speaker Reed in passing the bill on an expedited process by a party-line vote. Likewise, when Reed introduced dramatic reforms to the House Rules, Cannon vigorously pressed the issue both in committee and in the whole House. As a consequence of his efforts, Cannon was among the many House Republicans unseated in the 1890 elections.
Cannon was out of office for only one term; he was elected again in 1892. After Reed's abrupt retirement in 1899, Cannon stood again for the Speakership but was defeated by David B. Henderson of Iowa. Cannon finally became Speaker in 1903, at the start of the 58th Congress. From 1895 until he became Speaker, Cannon chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee.
Speaker of the House (1903–1911)
At the time Cannon was elevated to Speaker, the President was Theodore Roosevelt, a fellow Republican. Roosevelt immediately took steps to consult Cannon on legislative matters and the two met several times a week at Roosevelt's request. However, unlike Roosevelt, Cannon opposed most of the progressive reform efforts of the day, including conservation, women's suffrage, the labor movement, and especially reductions in the overall tariff rate. Cannon also came to personally oppose Roosevelt's demanding, autocratic personality, once asserting that Roosevelt had "no more use for the Constitution than a tomcat has for a marriage license." On another occasion, he said, "That fellow at the other end of the Avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil."
At the time of Cannon's election, the Speaker of the House concurrently held the chair of the Rules Committee, which determined under what rules and restrictions bills could be debated, amended, and voted on, and, in some cases, whether they would be allowed on the floor at all. As such, Cannon effectively controlled every aspect of the House's agenda: bills reached the floor of the House only if Cannon approved of them, and then in whatever form he determined – with Cannon himself deciding whether and to what extent the measures could be debated and amended. Cannon also reserved to himself the right to appoint not only the chairs of the various House committees, but also all of the committees' members, and (despite the seniority system that had begun to develop) used that power to appoint his allies and proteges to leadership positions while punishing those who opposed his legislation.
Cannon wielded the Speaker's authority with unprecedented severity. While his predecessor Thomas Brackett Reed was noted for his dramatic expansion of the Speaker's authority, Cannon distinguished himself by the manner in which he wielded that authority. According to historian Booth Mooney, "The deadly rapier wielded by Reed gave way to a bludgeon, which at first he used only to knock down Democrats." Though Reed had been lampooned as a "Czar," press treatment of "Uncle Joe" Cannon was far more critical during his first term as Speaker. Cannon was criticized by the Democratic press for the arbitrary exercise of his considerable power; on one voice vote, he ruled, "The ayes make the most noise, but the nays have it." On another occasion, Representative Cordell Hull attempted to offer an income tax amendment to a tariff bill, and Cannon simply ignored him. When one Representative was asked by a constituent for a copy of the House Rules, the Representative simply sent back a picture of Speaker Cannon. When confronted with criticisms directly, Cannon would respond that the power he exercised was granted by the whole House, which reserved the authority to amend the Rules or vote him out as Speaker.