ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyzes the early speakership, 1789 to 1869. It analyzes leadership in the post-Civil War nineteenth-century House and presents the development of party government and strong centralized leadership embodied in the imposing physical presence of Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed. The book focuses on Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon as "brakeman" of the House, increasingly out of touch with the changing context of the times and able only to delay but not stop change. It also focuses on John Nance Garner—party whip, Ways and Means Committee leader, and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1931 to 1933. The book analyzes the leadership of Speaker Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn, emphasizing especially a neglected aspect of that role: his detailed legislative work on specific issues.