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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. Until Dennis Hastert passed him on June 1, 2006, he was the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history.
Early life
He was born in Guilford, Guilford County, North Carolina, moved with his parents to Bloomingdale, Indiana, in 1840, about 30 miles north of Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the oldest of two sons of Horace Cannon, a country doctor, who drowned when Joseph was ten years old trying to reach a sick patient by crossing Sugar Creek. Young Cannon took charge of the family farm.
Asked by Terre Haute lawyer John Palmer Usher 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.
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. In 1859 he relocated to Tuscola, Illinois and became State's attorney for the twenty-seventh judicial district of Illinois from March 1861 to December 1868. He eventually moved to Danville, Illinois, where he resided the rest of his life.
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 3, 1891), and was the chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Forty-seventh Congress), Committee on Appropriations (Fifty-first Congress).
He moved to Danville, Illinois, in 1878, and was unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress, but was elected to the Fifty-third and to the nine succeeding Congresses 1893 to 1913.
He attempted to gain the Speakership four times before succeeding. His antic speaking style, diminutive stature and pugnacious manner were his trade marks. 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, Illinois 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 reelected 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.
Joseph Cannon died in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois, with an interment in Spring Hill Cemetery.
Legacy
Joseph Gurney 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.
Trivia
Cannon appears on a 31p (£0.31) commemorative stamp from the Isle of Man Post Office, as part of a series honoring Manx-Americans.
References
- Roger, Scott William. "Uncle Joe Cannon: The Brakeman of the House of Representatives,
- His autobiography, Uncle Joe Cannon, (1927)
1836 births | 1926 deaths | Speakers of the United States House of Representatives | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois | People from Danville, Illinois | Prosecutors
"Joseph Gurney Cannon"