Joseph Cannon

Joseph Cannon (1836-1926), American lawyer and politician. Joseph Gurney Cannon was born in New Garden, North Carolina, and educated at the Cincinnati Law School. In 1858 he moved to Illinois and was admitted to the Illinois bar. Cannon was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1873 and served 23 terms in Congress, failing to be reelected for the two terms beginning in 1891 and 1913. From 1903 until 1911 he was Speaker of the House. Cannon was noted for his strong partisan leadership as speaker and his conservative political views. He was opposed to the so-called progressive reforms advocated by such political leaders as President Woodrow Wilson, and he was an outspoken opponent of the League of Nations. Cannon's opponents in Congress felt that he had arbitrary power over legislative procedure in the House, and in 1910 they passed a resolution reducing the powers of the office of Speaker.