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96-690: The 80-acre cemetery had more than 35,000 burials by 2019, including several prominent Kansans. Among them is Charles Curtis , 31st vice president of the United States under Herbert Hoover, the only person of Native descent to ever serve in the Executive Branch. Also buried in Topeka Cemetery are many city and state founders such as Cyrus K. Holliday , first chairman of the Topeka Town Association and founder of

192-454: A "rule" that prevents the minority leader or a designee from offering a motion to recommit with instructions. In addition, the minority leader has a number of other institutional functions. For instance, the minority leader is sometimes statutorily authorized to appoint individuals to certain federal entities; they and the majority leader each name three Members to serve as Private Calendar objectors; they are consulted with respect to reconvening

288-609: A Kaw interpreter, galloped 60 miles (97 km) to Topeka to seek assistance from the governor. Riding with Jim was the eight-year-old Charles Curtis, then nicknamed "Indian Charley." Curtis re-enrolled in the Kaw Nation , which had been removed from Kansas to the Indian Territory when he was in his teens. Curtis was strongly influenced by both sets of grandparents. After living on the reservation with his maternal grandparents, M. Papin and Julie Gonville, he returned to

384-427: A Native American jazz band to perform at the inauguration. Curtis's election as vice president made history because he was the only native Kansan, the only Native American, and the first non-European to hold the post. The first person enrolled in a Native American tribe to be elected to such a high office, Curtis decorated his office with Native American artifacts and posed for pictures wearing Indian headdresses. He

480-770: A comparatively quick rise to the post and was the youngest House Majority Leader in American history. Before 1899, the majority party floor leader had traditionally been the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee , the most powerful committee in the House, as it generates the Bills of Revenue specified in the Constitution as the House's unique power. However, this designation (begun under Speaker Henry Clay during

576-558: A home in Topeka for his paternal sister Dolly Curtis before her marriage. His wife died in 1924. A widower when he was elected vice president in 1928 , Curtis had his long-since-married sister, Dolly Curtis Gann (March 1866 – January 30, 1953), act as his official hostess for social events. She had lived with her husband, Edward Everett Gann, in Washington, D.C., since about 1903. He was a lawyer and once an assistant attorney general in

672-606: A landslide victory. In 1932 , he became the first United States vice president to open the Olympic Games . However, when Curtis and Hoover ran together again in 1932 during the Great Depression , they lost as the public gave the Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner a landslide victory that year. Curtis remains the highest-ranking enrolled Native American who ever served in

768-700: A lower profile and defers to the President. For that situation the House Minority Leader can play the role of a de facto "leader of the opposition", often more so than the Senate Minority Leader, due to the more partisan nature of the House and the greater role of leadership. Minority Leaders who have played prominent roles in opposing the incumbent president have included Gerald Ford , Richard Gephardt , Nancy Pelosi , and John Boehner . The style and role of any minority leader

864-517: A majority of seats and the Democrats holding a minority, the current leaders are Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota , Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York , and Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts . The floor leaders and whips of each party are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot. The Speaker-presumptive

960-928: A member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ; names the members of the Democratic Leadership Council ; chairs the Policy Committee; and heads the Steering Committee. Examples of other assignments are making "recommendations to the Speaker on all Democratic Members who shall serve as conferees" and nominating party members to the Committees on Rules and House Administration. Republican rules identify generally comparable functions for their top party leader. Informally,

1056-412: A party comprising a distinct minority" and "to coordinate the actions of men who were already partisans in the same cause." In 1828, a foreign observer of the House offered this perspective on the absence of formal party leadership on Capitol Hill : Internal party disunity compounded the difficulty of identifying lawmakers who might have informally functioned as a minority leader. For instance, "seven of

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1152-498: A party perspective, the minority leader has a wide range of partisan assignments, all geared toward retaking majority control of the House. Five principal party activities direct the work of the minority leader. The roles and responsibilities of the minority leader are not well-defined. To a large extent, the functions of the minority leader are defined by tradition and custom. A minority leader from 1931 to 1939, Representative Bertrand Snell , R-N.Y., provided this "job description": "He

1248-399: A pension letter, or any other letter for that matter, came in that wasn't answered promptly.... And another name went into the all-embracing card index. The doctors were listed. The farm leaders. The school teachers. The lists were kept up to date. How such an intricate index could be kept up to date and function so smoothly was a marvel to his associates. It was one of Curtis's prides. Curtis

1344-563: A plane crash; and Dick Gephardt , who served as Majority Leader from 1989–1995, descended to Minority Leader since his party lost control in the 1994 midterm elections. Since 1995, the only two Majority Leaders to become Speaker are John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy , though indirectly as their party lost control in the 2006 and 2018 midterm elections. Boehner subsequently served as House Minority Leader from 2007 to 2011, and McCarthy served from 2019 to 2023. Both were elected Speaker when

1440-413: A series of prominent lawmakers, including ex-Speaker James Blaine of Maine in 1875, former Appropriations Chairman James A. Garfield of Ohio, in 1876, 1877, and 1879, and ex-Speaker Keifer in 1883. "It is hard to believe that House partisans would place a man in the speakership when in the majority, and nominate him for this office when in the minority, and not look to him for legislative guidance." This

1536-406: A week before the convention, he described Hoover as a man "for whom the party will be on the defensive from the day he is named until the close of the polls on election day." However, Curtis had no qualms about accepting the vice-presidential nomination. Although Hoover gave few speeches during the 1928 presidential campaign, Curtis traveled coast to coast and spoke almost every day. While covering

1632-540: A wide network of professional contacts from his long career in Congress and the executive branch. He participated in one of the earliest known triathlons in the city. Curtis died from a heart attack on February 8, 1936, at the age of 76. By his wishes, his body was returned to Kansas and buried next to his wife at the Topeka Cemetery . Curtis was the first multiracial person to serve as Vice President of

1728-423: A widower but remarried while in office. First elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives of the 53rd Congress , Curtis was re-elected for the following six terms. Naturally gregarious, he also made the effort to learn about his many constituents and treated them as personal friends. Curtis promoted cultural assimilation of Native Americans into the dominant white American society, most notably in

1824-674: Is assumed to be the incoming Speaker , although not formally selected to be nominated for Speaker by the majority party's caucus. After this period, the Speaker-designate is also chosen in a closed-door session by the largest caucus although the Speaker is formally elevated to the position by a public vote of the entire House when Congress reconvenes. Like the Speaker of the House, the Minority Leaders are typically experienced lawmakers when they win election to this position. When Nancy Pelosi , D-CA, became Minority Leader in

1920-541: Is influenced by a variety of elements, including personality and contextual factors, such as the size and cohesion of the minority party, whether their party controls the White House, the general political climate in the House, and the controversy that is sometimes associated with the legislative agenda. Despite the variability of these factors, there are a number of institutional obligations associated with this position. Many of these assignments or roles are spelled out in

2016-403: Is spokesman for his party and enunciates its policies. He is required to be alert and vigilant in defense of the minority's rights. It is his function and duty to criticize constructively the policies and programs of the majority, and to this end employ parliamentary tactics and give close attention to all proposed legislation." Since Snell's description, other responsibilities have been added to

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2112-533: Is subject to dispute. On December 3, 1883, the House elected Democrat John G. Carlisle of Kentucky as Speaker. Republicans placed in nomination for the speakership J. Warren Keifer of Ohio, who was Speaker the previous Congress. Clearly, Keifer was not the Republicans' minority leader. He was a discredited leader in part because as Speaker he arbitrarily handed out "choice jobs to close relatives ... all at handsome salaries." Keifer received "the empty honor of

2208-467: Is the second highest-ranking member of their party's House caucus, behind the Speaker of the House . The Majority Leader is responsible for setting the annual legislative agenda, scheduling legislation for consideration, and coordinating committee activity. The Minority Leader serves as floor leader of the opposition party, and is the minority counterpart to the Speaker. The Minority Leader also speaks for

2304-517: The 108th Congress , she had served in the House nearly 20 years and had served as minority whip in the 107th Congress . When her predecessor, Dick Gephardt , D-MO, became minority leader in the 104th House, he had been in the House for almost 20 years, had served as chairman of the Democratic Caucus for four years, had been a 1988 presidential candidate , and had been majority leader from June 1989 until Republicans captured control of

2400-654: The 12th United States Congress ) was informal, and after 1865, alternated between the Ways and Means Committee Chair and the House Appropriations Committee Chair after the latter committee was split from the former. By at least 1850, the Senate and House Republican Conferences and the Senate and House Democratic Caucuses began naming chairs (although conference and caucus chairs carried very little authority). The office of Majority Leader

2496-580: The 1928 presidential election in a landslide by receiving 444 out of the 531 Electoral College votes and 58.2% of the popular vote . Curtis resigned from the Senate the day before he was sworn in as vice-president. After he took the oath of office in the Senate Chamber , the presidential party proceeded to the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol for Hoover's inauguration . Curtis arranged for

2592-549: The 1932 Republican National Convention , Hoover was renominated almost unanimously. Curtis failed to secure a majority of votes on the first ballot for the vice-presidential nomination. He received 559.25 out of 1,154 votes (or 48.5%), with Generals Hanford MacNider (15.8%) and James Harbord (14.0%) being his nearest contenders. On the second ballot, the Pennsylvania delegation shifted its votes to Curtis from Edward Martin , which gave him 634.25 votes (54.9%) and secured him

2688-576: The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway ; U.S. Sen. Arthur Capper , owner and publisher of The Topeka Daily Capital and later Topeka's first radio station, WIBW, shares a cemetery lot with Gov. Sam Crawford, his father-in-law. Capper served two terms as governor and five terms in the U.S. Senate. The cemetery is notable for its Mausoleum Row, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The National Register Listing

2784-617: The Curtis Act of 1898 . In his hand-written autobiography, Curtis noted having been unhappy with the final version of the Curtis Act. This was due to the bill HR 8581 having gone through five revisions in committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, with little left of Curtis' original draft. He believed that the Five Civilized Tribes needed to make changes, and that the way ahead for Native Americans

2880-405: The Great Depression began, Curtis had endorsed the five-day work week with no reduction in wages as a work-sharing solution to unemployment. In October 1930, in the middle of the campaign for 1930 midterm elections , Curtis made an offhand remark that "good times are just around the corner". The statement was later erroneously attributed to Hoover and became a "lethal political boomerang." At

2976-548: The President of the United States for a fast-track negotiating authority (trade promotion authority) trade agreement must be introduced (by request) in the House by the Majority Leader of the House or a designee. From an institutional perspective, the rules of the House assign a number of specific responsibilities to the minority leader. For example, Rule XII, clause 6, grant the minority leader (or their designee)

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3072-794: The Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929. A member of the Kaw Nation born in the Kansas Territory , Curtis was the first Native American to serve in the United States Congress , where he served in the United States House of Representatives and Senate before becoming Senate Majority Leader. Curtis also was the first Native American to serve as Vice President. Curtis believed that Native Americans could benefit from mainstream education and assimilation . He entered political life when he

3168-589: The 61st Congress (1909–1910), "it was the custom to have the minority leader also serve as the ranking minority member on the two most powerful committees, Rules and Ways and Means." Today, the minority leader no longer serves on these committees; however, they appoint the minority members of the Rules Committee and influence the assignment of partisan colleagues to the Ways and Means Committee . Second, Democrats have always elevated their minority floor leader to

3264-540: The Cheyenne. The rival Indian warriors put on a display of superb horsemanship, accompanied with war cries and volleys of bullets and arrows. Terrified white settlers took refuge in nearby Council Grove . After about four hours, the Cheyenne retired with a few stolen horses and a peace offering of coffee and sugar from the Council Grove merchants. No one had been injured on either side. During the battle, Joe Jim ,

3360-502: The Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 elections. She ran successfully for Minority Leader in the 112th Congress. In 2014, Eric Cantor became the first House Majority Leader to lose a primary election . Following his primary defeat, Cantor announced his resignation as Majority Leader, effective July 31, 2014, and he subsequently resigned his seat in Congress. The House Majority Leader's duties vary, depending upon

3456-415: The House rule book . Others have devolved upon the position in other ways. To be sure, the minority leader is provided with extra staff resources—beyond those accorded him or her as a Representative—to assist in carrying out diverse leadership functions. Worth emphasis is that there are limits on the institutional role of the minority leader, because the majority party exercises disproportionate influence over

3552-488: The House a system for drug testing in the House." Inspector General. Rule II, clause 6, states that the "Inspector General shall be appointed for a Congress by the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader, acting jointly." This rule further states that the minority leader and other specified House leaders shall be notified of any financial irregularity involving the House and receive audit reports of

3648-555: The House after he had been elected by the Kansas Legislature to the U.S. Senate seat that was left vacant by the resignation of Joseph R. Burton . Curtis served the remainder of his current term, which ended on March 4, 1907. (Popular election of U.S. senators had not yet been mandated by constitutional amendment.) At the same time, the legislature elected Curtis to the next full Senate term. From March 4, 1907, he served until March 3, 1913. In 1912, Democrats won control of

3744-740: The House in the November 1994 elections. Gephardt's predecessor in the minority leadership position was Robert Michel, R-IL, who became GOP Leader in 1981 after spending 24 years in the House. Michel's predecessor, Republican John Rhodes of Arizona, was elected Minority Leader in 1973 after 20 years of House service. By contrast, party leaders of the United States Senate have often ascended to their position despite relatively few years of experience in that chamber, such as Lyndon B. Johnson , William Knowland , Tom Daschle , and Bill Frist . Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor also had

3840-623: The House per the usual formulation of conditional concurrent adjournment resolutions; they are a traditional member of the House Office Building Commission; they are a member of the United States Capitol Preservation Commission; and they may, after consultation with the Speaker, convene an early organizational party caucus or conference. Informally, the minority leader maintains ties with majority party leaders to learn about

3936-518: The House reconvened after gaining a majority in their respective midterm elections. In 1998, when Speaker Newt Gingrich announced his resignation, neither Majority Leader Dick Armey nor Majority Whip Tom DeLay contested the Speakership, which eventually went to Chief Deputy Whip Dennis Hastert . Traditionally, the Speaker is viewed as the leader of the majority party in the House, with the Majority Leader as second-in-command. For example, when

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4032-483: The House, remained the most conspicuous member of his party. Another scholar contends that the minority leader position emerged even before 1883. On the Democratic side, "there were serious caucus fights for the minority speakership nomination in 1871 and 1873," indicating that the "nomination carried with it some vestige of leadership." Further, when Republicans were in the minority, the party nominated for Speaker

4128-598: The Indian Territory and prepared the larger territory to be admitted as the State of Oklahoma in 1907. The government tried to encourage Indians to accept individual citizenship and lands and to take up European-American culture. Curtis was elected to the U.S. Senate first by the Kansas Legislature in 1906 and then by popular vote in 1914 , 1920 , and 1926 . Curtis served one six-year term from 1907 to 1913 and then most of three terms from 1915 to 1929, when he

4224-460: The Kansas legislature and so Curtis was not re-elected. The 17th Amendment , providing for direct popular election of Senators, was adopted in 1913. In 1914, Curtis was elected to Kansas's other Senate seat by popular vote and was re-elected in 1920 and 1926. In total, he served from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1929, when he resigned to become vice president. During his tenure in the Senate, Curtis

4320-533: The Kaw matrilineal system, he inherited it from her. His father tried unsuccessfully to get control of that land. Orren Curtis married a third time and had a daughter, Theresa Permelia "Dolly" Curtis, who was born in 1866, after the end of the war. On June 1, 1868, one hundred Cheyenne warriors invaded the Kaw Reservation. The Kaw men painted their faces, donned regalia, and rode out on horseback to confront

4416-539: The Kaw reservation and returned to them in later years. He learned to love racing horses and was later a highly successful jockey in prairie horse races. After Curtis's mother died in 1863, his father remarried but soon divorced. During his Civil War service, Orren Curtis was captured and imprisoned. During that period, the toddler Charles was cared for by his maternal grandparents. They also later helped him gain possession of his mother's land in North Topeka; under

4512-493: The Republicans gained the majority in the House after the 2010 elections, Boehner ascended to the Speakership while Eric Cantor succeeded Boehner as Majority Leader. Cantor was understood to be the second-ranking Republican in the House since Boehner was the indisputable leader of the House Republicans. However, there have been some exceptions. The most recent exception to this rule came when Majority Leader Tom DeLay

4608-427: The Speaker normally takes a low profile and defers to the President. For that situation, the House Minority Leader can play the role of a de facto "leader of the opposition", often more so than the Senate Minority Leader, owing to the more partisan nature of the House and the greater role of leadership. When the Majority Leader's party loses control of the House, and if the Speaker and Majority Leader both remain in

4704-485: The Speakership after the incumbent surrenders the position. The only exceptions during this period were Charles A. Halleck , who served as Majority Leader from 1947–1949 and again from 1953–1955 and did not become Speaker because his party lost the House in the 1948 and 1954 House elections, respectively, and would not regain the House until 1994 (Halleck had been dead for years at this point); Hale Boggs , who served as Majority Leader from 1971–1973, died in

4800-581: The Topekans who died in the Battle of the Blue . 39°02′26″N 95°39′10″W  /  39.04055°N 95.65287°W  / 39.04055; -95.65287 Charles Curtis Charles Curtis (January 25, 1860 – February 8, 1936) was an American attorney and Republican politician from Kansas who served as the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under Herbert Hoover and

4896-417: The United States , and was the only one until Kamala Harris was inaugurated in 2021. Curtis was also the only United States vice president to have inaugurated the Olympic Games . Over the course of his career, Curtis was featured on the cover of Time magazine on three occasions. Two of these appearances – on December 20, 1926, and June 18, 1928 – occurred while Curtis was a senator. The third occasion

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4992-415: The agenda, partisan ratios on committees, staff resources, administrative operations, and the day-to-day schedule and management of floor activities. Under the rules of the House, the minority leader has certain roles and responsibilities. They include the following: Drug Testing. Under Rule I, clause 9, the "Speaker, in consultation with the Minority Leader, shall develop through an appropriate entity of

5088-528: The beginning of a Congress, the Speaker or his designee and the Minority Leader or his designee each shall appoint 10 Members, Delegates, or Resident Commissioners from his respective party who are not members of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to be available to serve on investigative subcommittees of that committee during that Congress." Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "The Speaker and Minority Leader shall be ex officio members of

5184-646: The chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are elected every two years in secret balloting of their party caucuses or conferences : the House Democratic Caucus and the House Republican Conference . Depending on which party is in power, one party leader serves as majority leader and the other as minority leader . Unlike the Senate Majority Leader , the House Majority Leader

5280-623: The city of Topeka. There, he lived with his paternal grandparents while he attended Topeka High School . Both grandmothers encouraged his education. Curtis read law in an established firm, where he worked part time. He was admitted to the bar in 1881 and began his practice in Topeka. He served as prosecuting attorney of Shawnee County, Kansas , from 1885 to 1889. On November 27, 1884, Curtis married Annie Elizabeth Baird (1860–1924). They had three children: Permelia Jeannette Curtis (1886–1955), Henry "Harry" King Curtis (1890–1946), and Leona Virginia Curtis (1892–1965). He and his wife also provided

5376-565: The convention, H. L. Mencken described Curtis as "the Kansas comic character, who is half Indian and half windmill. Charlie ran against Hoover with great energy, and let fly some very embarrassing truths about him. But when the Hoover managers threw Charlie the Vice-Presidency as a solatium, he shut up instantly, and a few days later he was hymning his late bugaboo as the greatest statesman since Pericles ." The Hoover–Curtis ticket won

5472-570: The federal government. He is also the most recent officer of the executive branch to have been born in a territory, rather than a state or federal district. Kamala Harris became the second multiracial person to become vice president in 2021. Born on January 25, 1860, in North Topeka , Kansas Territory , a year before Kansas was admitted as a state, Charles Curtis had three-eighths Native American ancestry and five-eighths European American ancestry. His mother, Ellen Papin (also spelled Pappan),

5568-463: The federal government. Other land that had been held in common was allocated to individual tribal members. Under the terms of the act, as enrolled tribal members, Curtis and his three children were allotted about 1,625 acres (6.6 km ) of Kaw land near Washunga in Oklahoma. Curtis served several consecutive terms in the House from March 4, 1893, to January 28, 1907. Curtis resigned from

5664-536: The first "minority leader" because in the First Congress he led the opposition to Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton 's fiscal policies. During this early period, it was more usual that neither major party grouping (Federalists and Democratic-Republicans) had an official leader. In 1813, for instance, a scholar recounts that the Federalist minority of 36 Members needed a committee of 13 "to represent

5760-475: The first session of a Congress, after consultation with the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader, the Committee on Government Reform shall report to the House the oversight plans" of the standing committees along with any recommendations it or the House leaders have proposed to ensure the effective coordination of committees' oversight plans. Committee on Standards of Official Conduct: Investigative Subcommittees. Rule X, clause 5, stipulates: "At

5856-403: The fourteen speakership elections from 1834 through 1859 had at least twenty different candidates in the field. Thirty-six competed in 1839, ninety-seven in 1849, ninety-one in 1859, and 138 in 1855." With so many candidates competing for the speakership, it is not at all clear that one of the defeated lawmakers then assumed the mantle of "minority leader". The Democratic minority from 1861 to 1875

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5952-458: The government. Attuned to social protocol, Dolly Gann insisted in 1929 on being treated officially as the second woman in government at social functions. The diplomatic corps voted to change a State Department protocol to acknowledge that while her brother was in office. To date, Curtis is the last vice president to remain unmarried during his entire time in office. Alben W. Barkley , who served as vice president from 1949 to 1953, entered office as

6048-441: The inspector general. Questions of Privilege. Under Rule IX, clause 2, a resolution "offered as a question of privilege by the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader ... shall have precedence of all other questions except motions to adjourn." This rule further references the minority leader with respect to the division of time for debate of these resolutions. Oversight Plans. Under Rule X, clause 2, not later "than March 31 in

6144-423: The job. These duties involve an array of institutional and party functions. Before examining the institutional and party assignments of the minority leader, it is worth highlighting the historical origin of this position. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] To a large extent, the minority leader's position is a 20th-century innovation. Prior to this time congressional parties were often relatively disorganized, so it

6240-412: The leadership hierarchy, convention suggests that they would become the Minority Leader and Minority Whip, respectively. As the minority party has one less leadership position after losing the speaker's chair, there may be a contest for the remaining leadership positions. Nancy Pelosi is the most recent example of an outgoing Speaker seeking the Minority Leader post to retain the House party leadership, as

6336-436: The minority leader has a wide range of party assignments. Lewis Deschler, the late House Parliamentarian (1928–1974), summarized the diverse duties of a party's floor leader: A party's floor leader, in conjunction with other party leaders, plays an influential role in the formulation of party policy and programs. They are instrumental in guiding legislation favored by his party through the House, or in resisting those programs of

6432-541: The minority nomination. But with it came a sting -- for while this naturally involves the floor leadership, he was deserted by his [partisan] associates and his career as a national figure terminated ingloriously." Representative Thomas Reed , R-ME, who later became Speaker, assumed the de facto role of minority floor leader in Keifer's stead. "[A]lthough Keifer was the minority's candidate for Speaker, Reed became its acknowledged leader, and ever after, so long as he served in

6528-474: The minority party in the House and its policies, and works to protect the minority party's rights. The assistant majority leader and assistant minority leader of the House, commonly called whips , are the second-ranking members of each party's leadership. The main function of the majority and minority whips is to gather votes of their respective parties on major issues. With the Republicans holding

6624-693: The nomination for the second time. Curtis opened the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and so became the first U.S. executive branch officer to open the Olympic Games. Curtis cast three tie-breaking votes in the Senate. Following the stock market crash in 1929, the problems of the Great Depression deepened during the Hoover administration and resulted in the defeat of the Republican ticket in 1932. The Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt

6720-473: The nomination since August 1927, when President Calvin Coolidge took himself out of contention. Curtis was a leader of the anti-Hoover movement and had formed an alliance with two of his Senate colleagues, Guy Goff and James E. Watson , as well as Governor Frank Lowden of Illinois. Hoover's pedigree as a progressive follower of Theodore Roosevelt did not sit well with conservatives like Curtis. Less than

6816-409: The other party that are considered undesirable by his own party. They are instrumental in devising and implementing his party's strategy on the floor with respect to promoting or opposing legislation. They are kept constantly informed as to the status of legislative business and as to the sentiment of his party respecting particular legislation under consideration. Such information is derived in part from

6912-461: The political makeup of the majority caucus. In several recent sessions of Congress, with the notable exception of the Pelosi speakership, the Majority Leader has been primarily responsible for scheduling the House floor's legislative calendar and direct management for all House committees. One statutory duty, per 19 U.S.C.   § 2191(c)(1) , stipulates that an implementing bill submitted by

7008-614: The right to offer a motion to recommit with instructions; Rule II, clause 6, states the Inspector General shall be appointed by joint recommendation of the Speaker, majority leader, and minority leader; and Rule XV, clause 6, provides that the Speaker, after consultation with the minority leader, may place legislation on the Corrections Calendar. The minority leader also has other institutional duties, such as appointing individuals to certain federal entities. From

7104-487: The schedule and other House matters and forges agreements or understandings with them insofar as feasible. The minority leader has a number of formal and informal party responsibilities. Formally, the rules of each party specify certain roles and responsibilities for their leader. For example, under Democratic rules for the 106th Congress , the minority leader may call meetings of the Democratic Caucus. They are

7200-477: The select committee but shall have no vote in the select committee and may not be counted for purposes of determining a quorum." In addition, each leader may designate a member of his leadership staff to assist him with his ex officio duties. (Rule X, clause 11). Motion to Recommit with Instructions. Under Rule XIII, clause 6, the Rules Committee may not (except in certain specified circumstances) issue

7296-590: The senior leadership positions in the Senate and was highly respected for his ability to work with members on both sides of the aisle. In 1923, Curtis, together with his fellow Kansan Representative Daniel Read Anthony Jr. , proposed the first version of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to each of their Houses. The amendment did not pass. Curtis's leadership abilities were demonstrated by his election as Republican Whip from 1915 to 1924 and Majority Leader from 1925 to 1929. He

7392-601: The speakership upon reclaiming majority status. Republicans have not always followed this leadership succession pattern. In 1919, for instance, Republicans bypassed James R. Mann , R-IL, who had been minority leader for eight years, and elected Frederick Gillett , R-MA, to be Speaker. Mann "had angered many Republicans by objecting to their private bills on the floor;" also he was a protégé of autocratic Speaker Joseph Cannon , R-IL (1903–1911), and many Members "suspected that he would try to re-centralize power in his hands if elected Speaker." More recently, although Robert H. Michel

7488-432: The two leading senators, the other being Reed Smoot . Curtis was remembered for not making many speeches and was noted for keeping the "best card index of the state ever made." Curtis used a black notebook and later a card index to record all the people whom he met in office or while he was campaigning. He continually referred to it, which resulted in his being known for "his remarkable memory for faces and names:" Never

7584-639: Was Kaw , Osage , Potawatomi , and French . His father, Orren Curtis, was of English , Scots , and Welsh ancestry. On his mother's side, Curtis was a descendant of chief White Plume of the Kaw Nation and chief Pawhuska of the Osage. Curtis's first words as an infant were in French and Kansa , both languages that he learned from his mother. She died in 1863, when he was 3 years old, but he lived for some time thereafter with his maternal grandparents on

7680-665: Was President pro tempore , Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior, of the Committee on Indian Depredations , and of the Committee on Coast Defenses; and Chairman of the Republican Senate Conference. He also was elected for a decade as Senate Minority Whip and for four years as Senate Majority Leader after Republicans won control of the chamber. He had experience in all

7776-690: Was "marked by strong partisan attachments, resilient patronage-based party organizations, and...high levels of party voting in Congress." Plainly, these were conditions conducive to the establishment of a more highly differentiated House leadership structure. While the Office of the House Historian only lists Minority Leaders starting in 1899, the minority's nominees for Speaker (at the beginning of each Congress) may be considered their party's leaders before that time. Sources Two other points of historical interest merit brief mention. First, until

7872-662: Was 32 years old and won several terms from his district in Topeka, Kansas , beginning in 1892 as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives . There, he sponsored and helped pass the Curtis Act of 1898 , which extended the Dawes Act to the Five Civilized Tribes of the Indian Territory . Despite Curtis being unhappy with the final version of it, implementation of the Act completed the ending of tribal land titles in

7968-409: Was 69 years old when he took office, which made him the oldest incoming vice-president at the time. Curtis was the first vice-president to take the oath of office on a Bible in the same manner as the President. Curtis named Lola M. Williams as private secretary to the vice-president, and Williams was one of the first women to enter the Senate floor, which was traditionally a male monopoly. Soon after

8064-579: Was December 5, 1932, during the final months of his vice presidency. Curtis' house in Topeka, Kansas , is now operated as a historic house museum known as the Charles Curtis House Museum. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a state historic site. Republican Whip Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives , also known as floor leaders , are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as

8160-468: Was celebrated as a " stand patter ", the most regular of Republicans but also as a man who could always bargain with his party's progressives and with Senators from across the aisle. Curtis received 64 votes on the presidential ballot at the 1928 Republican National Convention in Kansas City out of 1,084 total. The winning candidate, Herbert Hoover , secured 837 votes and had been the favorite for

8256-482: Was considered more prominent than Speaker Dennis Hastert from 2003 to 2006. In contrast, the Minority Leader is the undisputed leader of the minority party. For example, when the Republicans lost their majority in the 2018 elections, McCarthy was elected as Minority Leader and hence replaced Ryan as the highest-ranking House Republican. When the Presidency and both Houses of Congress are controlled by one party,

8352-449: Was created in 1899 and first occupied by Sereno Payne . Speaker David B. Henderson created the position to establish a party leader on the House floor separate from the Speaker, as the role of Speaker had become more prominent and the size of the House had grown from 105 at the beginning of the century to 356. Starting with Republican Nicholas Longworth in 1925 and continuing until 1995, all majority leaders have directly ascended to

8448-565: Was effective in collaboration and moving legislation forward in the Senate. Idaho Senator William Borah acclaimed Curtis as "a great reconciler, a walking political encyclopedia and one of the best political poker players in America." Time magazine featured him on the cover in December 1926 and reported that "it is in the party caucuses, in the committee rooms, in the cloakrooms that he patches up troubles, puts through legislation" as one of

8544-476: Was elected as vice-president. His long popularity and connections in Kansas and federal politics helped make Curtis a strong leader in the Senate. He marshaled support to be elected as Republican Whip from 1915 to 1924 and then as Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929. In those positions, he was instrumental in managing legislation and in accomplishing Republican national goals. Curtis ran for vice president alongside Herbert Hoover for president in 1928 —winning

8640-525: Was elected in 1932 as president, with a popular vote of 57% to 40%. Curtis's term as vice president ended on March 4, 1933. Curtis's final duty as vice president was to administer the oath of office to his successor, John Nance Garner , whose swearing-in ceremony was the last to take place in the Senate Chamber. Curtis decided to stay in Washington, D.C. , to resume his legal career, as he had

8736-525: Was enlarged in 2017 to include the entire cemetery. Facing Mausoleum Row is the Hurley Monument, a memorial to Santa Fe general manager James Hurley, who died in 1910. The obelisk is 40 feet tall, the shaft a single piece. It was paid for by donations from Santa Fe employees across the nation. In the cemetery's Grand Army of the Republic section stand a granite statue of a soldier, a tribute to

8832-458: Was not always evident who functioned as the opposition floor leader . Decades went by before anything like the modern two-party congressional system emerged on Capitol Hill with official titles for those who were its official leaders. However, from the earliest days of Congress, various House members intermittently assumed the role of "opposition leader". Some scholars suggest that Representative James Madison of Virginia informally functioned as

8928-424: Was not the case, according to some observers, with respect to ex-Speaker Keifer. In brief, there is disagreement among historical analysts as to the exact time period when the minority leadership emerged officially as a party position. Nonetheless, it seems safe to conclude that the position emerged during the latter part of the 19th century, a period of strong party organization and professional politicians. This era

9024-436: Was so completely disorganized that they did not "nominate a candidate for Speaker in two of these seven Congresses and nominated no man more than once in the other five. The defeated candidates were not automatically looked to for leadership." In the judgment of political scientist Randall Ripley, since 1883 "the candidate for Speaker nominated by the minority party has clearly been the Minority Leader." However, this assertion

9120-472: Was the Minority Leader in 1994 when the Republicans regained control of the House in the 1994 midterm elections , he had already announced his retirement and had little or no involvement in the campaign, including the Contract with America which was unveiled six weeks before voting day. In the instance when the Presidency and both Houses of Congress are controlled by one party, the Speaker normally assumes

9216-544: Was through education and use of both their and the majority cultures. However, he also had hoped to give more support to Native American transitions, something which Congress was not prepared to extend. In 1902, the Kaw Allotment Act disbanded the Kaw Nation as a legal entity and provided for the allotment of its communal land to members in a process similar to that experienced by other tribes. The act transferred 160 acres (0.6 km ) of former tribal land to

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