Joseph G. Cannon

Uncle Joe, the iron Speaker whose absolute control provoked the 1910 revolt that broke his power.

Overview

Cannon represented Illinois from 1873 to 1923 and held the speakership from 1903 to 1911, combining the chair, the Rules Committee, and committee assignments under personal control to an unmatched degree. Conservatives and progressives alike chafed, and in March 1910 a Republican revolt led by George Norris stripped the Speaker from the Rules Committee, the celebrated revolt against Cannon. He had earlier shepherded the Roosevelt administration's legislation, then fought Senate progressives over tariff and conservation. Defeated in 1912, he returned in 1914 to serve four more terms as a backbencher, beloved as a character of the old House.