Thomas Reed

Thomas Reed (1839-1902), American legislator. Thomas Brackett Reed was born in Portland, Maine, and educated at Bowdoin College. He was a member of the Maine House of Representatives (1868, 1869), of the state Senate (1870), and was attorney general of Maine (1870-72). Reed was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1877-99) as a Republican and was Speaker of the House (1889-91; 1895-99). In 1890 he effected a major change in the procedural rules of the House, whereby all members present are counted in determining a quorum; previously, a quorum consisted only of members voting. This change became known popularly as the Reed rules. In 1896 Reed was a candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency of the U.S.; he was defeated by the Ohio governor William McKinley, who also won the election. Three years later Reed resigned from the House in opposition to the policy of the administration on the Spanish-American War.