Everything about Joseph Gurney Cannon totally explained
» For other people named Joseph Cannon see Joseph Cannon (disambiguation)
Joseph Gurney Cannon (
May 7,
1836 –
November 12,
1926) was a
United States politician from
Illinois and leader of the
Republican Party. Cannon served as
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from
1903 to
1911, and historians generally consider him to be the most dominant Speaker in United States history, with such control over the
House that he could often control debate. Cannon is the second longest-serving Republican Speaker in history, having been surpassed by fellow Illinoisan
Dennis Hastert, who passed him on
June 1,
2006. He was also the first Congressman to
surpass 40 years of service (non-consecutive), ending his career with 48 years of cumulative congressional service, a record that held until the 1960s.
Early life
He was born in Guilford,
Guilford County, North Carolina and in 1840 moved with his parents to Annapolis, Indiana, about 30 miles north of
Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the elder of two sons of Horace Cannon, a country doctor. Horace Cannon drowned when Joseph was ten years old as he tried to reach a sick patient by crossing Sugar Creek. Young Cannon took charge of the family farm. Gulielma (Hollingsworth) was his mother; his brother William would become a successful banker and realtor.
Asked by Terre Haute politician and lawyer
John Palmer Usher, future
Secretary of the Interior under
President Abraham Lincoln, to testify in a slander case, Cannon became fascinated with the law. Eventually, he asked Usher if he could study law under him and moved to Terre Haute. At age 19 he traveled to
Cincinnati, Ohio to attend a semester of law school at the
University of Cincinnati law school.
He was admitted to the bar in 1858 and commenced practice in
Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1858, but was disappointed when Usher refused to offer him a place in his office. That year he relocated to
Tuscola, Illinois. His choice of a new hometown was somewhat involuntary, taking place whilst he was travelling from
Shelbyville, Illinois, to Chicago to find more clients for his law firm. During the trip, he ran out of money. He boarded a Chicago-bound train in
Mattoon, Illinois; after the train had started, he was asked for his ticket. Because Cannon didn't have a ticket, he was removed from the train in Tuscola. There, he became
State's attorney for the twenty-seventh judicial district of Illinois, holding the position from March 1861 to December 1868. In 1876 moved to
Danville, Illinois, where he resided the rest of his life. He and his wife Mary P. Reed, whom he married in 1862, had two daughters.
Political career
He became a follower of
Abraham Lincoln during the
Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. After Lincoln was elected
President in
1860, Cannon received an appointment as a regional prosecutor.
Cannon, a member of the
Republican Party, was elected as to the
United States House of Representatives from
Illinois to the Forty-second and to the eight succeeding Congresses (
March 4,
1873–
March 4,
1891), and was the chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the
Post Office Department (Forty-seventh Congress), Committee on Appropriations (Fifty-first Congress).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in
1890 to the
Fifty-second Congress, but was elected to the
Fifty-third and to the nine succeeding Congresses that sat between 1893 and 1913.
He attempted to gain the Speakership four times before succeeding. His antic speaking style, diminutive stature and pugnacious manner were his trademarks. The newspapers frequently lampooned him as a colorful rube.
"Uncle Joe", as he was known, often clashed with fellow Republican
Theodore Roosevelt, who Cannon remarked had "no more use for the
Constitution than a tomcat has for a marriage license".
Joseph was chairman to the
Committee on Appropriations (
Fifty-fourth through
Fifty-seventh Congresses), Committee on Rules (
Fifty-eighth through
Sixty-first Congresses), and Speaker of the House of Representatives (Fifty-eighth through Sixty-first Congresses). He received fifty-eight votes for the
presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention at
Chicago in
1908.
In 1910 an Insurgent revolt flared in the House as both
Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans stripped the Speaker of some of his powers, such as heading the
House Rules Committee and ability to appoint members of other House committees.
Cannon was defeated in 1912 but returned in 1914 and was re-elected through 1922. He was a critic of President
Woodrow Wilson and US entry into
World War I. He was also an outspoken critic of Wilson's
League of Nations.
Cannon retired in 1922; he was featured on the cover of the first issue of
Time magazine on the last day of his term in office.
Born a
Quaker, he became a
Methodist after leaving Congress.
Joseph Cannon died in his residence in Danville,
Vermilion County, Illinois. He had a weakened heart and also suffered from the general effects of old age. Cannon expired at noon on November 12, 1926 while in a deep sleep. He was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery.
Legacy
- Cannon brought a federal Veterans Administration Hospital to Danville; it continues to serve military veterans.
The first building of offices for congressmen outside of the United States Capitol building was named after Cannon.
Cannon was the first person to be featured on the cover of Time magazine, appearing in its first issue (1923).
Cannon signed the 16th Amendment
which established Congress' right to impose a Federal income tax.Further Information
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