Republican Conference Chairmen
(1863-present)
The House Republican Conference Chairman presides over conference meetings, which are composed of all members of the Republican party. The chair is elected by the conference, and is limited to two consecutive full terms. A list of House Republican Conference Chairmen from 1863 to present is presented below.
The House Republican Conference serves as the organizational forum to elect party leaders at the outset of each new Congress. The conference meets on a weekly basis to discuss party policy, pending legislative issues, and other matters of mutual concern. Further information on the Conference's current activity is available on the House Republican Conference Web site.
Congress | Name | State | Years of Service |
---|---|---|---|
38th-39th | Justin S. Morrill | Vermont | 1863-18671 |
40th | n/a2 | ......... | 1867-1869 |
41st | Robert C. Schenck | Ohio | 1869-18713 |
41st | Nathaniel P. Banks | Massachusetts | 1869-18713 |
42nd | Austin Blair | Michigan | 1871-1873 |
43rd | Horace Maynard | Tennessee | 1873-1875 |
44th | George W. McCrary | Iowa | 1875-1877 |
45th | Eugene Hale | Maine | 1877-1879 |
46th | William P. Frye | Maine | 1879-1881 |
47th | George M. Robeson | New Jersey | 1881-1883 |
48th-50th | Joseph G. Cannon | Illinois | 1883-1889 |
51st-53rd | Thomas J. Henderson | Illinois | 1889-1895 |
54th-55th | Charles H. Grosvenor | Ohio | 1895-1899 |
56th-57th | Joseph G. Cannon | Illinois | 1899-1903 |
58th-60th | William P. Hepburn | Iowa | 1903-1909 |
61st-62nd | Frank D. Currier | New Hampshire | 1909-1913 |
63rd-65th | William S. Greene | Massachusetts | 1913-1919 |
66th-67th | Horace M. Towner | Iowa | 1919-1923 |
68th | Sydney Anderson | Minnesota | 1923-1925 |
69th-72nd | Willis C. Hawley | Oregon | 1925-1933 |
73rd | Robert Luce | Massachusetts | 1933-1935 |
74th | Frederick R. Lehlbach | New Jersey | 1935-1937 |
75th-81st | Roy O. Woodruff | Michigan | 1937-1951 |
82nd-84th | Clifford R. Hope | Kansas | 1951-1957 |
85th-87th | Charles Hoeven | Iowa | 1957-1963 |
88th | Gerald R. Ford | Michigan | 1963-1965 |
89th-90th | Melvin Laird | Wisconsin | 1965-1969 |
91st-95th | John B. Anderson | Illinois | 1969-1979 |
96th | Samuel L. Devine | Ohio | 1979-1981 |
97th-99th | Jack Kemp | New York | 1981-19874 |
100th | Dick Cheney | Wyoming | 1987-19894 |
101st-102nd | Jerry Lewis | California | 1989-1993 |
103rd | Richard K. Armey | Texas | 1993-1995 |
104th-105th | John A. Boehner | Ohio | 1995-1999 |
106th-107th | J. C. Watts Jr. | Oklahoma | 1999-2003 |
108th-109th | Deborah Pryce | Ohio | 2003-2007 |
110th | Adam Putnam | Florida | 2007-2009 |
111th | Mike Pence | Indiana | 2009-present |
1 Representative Morrill is the first officially designated Republican Conference chairman. There exists no clear evidence of formal chairmanships of Republican organizations in earlier Congresses.
2 Conference minutes show three Members (Representative Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts, Luck Poland of Vermont, and Samuel Hooper of Massachusetts) chairing three separate meetings.
3 Conference minutes show Representative Schenck elected; chairman, but Representative Banks chairing two early meetings, possibly in Schenck's absence.
4 On June 4, 1987, Representative Cheney was elected Conference Chair to succeed Representative Kemp who resigned from the post.