User:LizArchive/List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives since 1984

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House, and is simultaneously the body's presiding officer, the de facto leader of their party, and the institution's administrative head. Speakers also perform various administrative and procedural functions, all in addition to representing their own congressional district.

The House elects a new speaker by roll call vote when it first convenes after a general election for its two-year term, or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. A majority of votes cast (as opposed to a majority of the full membership of the House) is necessary to elect a speaker. If no candidate receives a majority vote, then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected. The Constitution does not require the speaker to be an incumbent member of the House, although every speaker thus far has been.

The current speaker of the House, Independent Alex Rivera-Holden, was elected to a term in office on January 3, 2009, the first day of the 111th Congress. They are the only non-binary person to have served as speaker. Altogether, 3 individuals, from 2 of the 6 states, have served as speaker of the House. The number from each state are:

Two: Savannah

One: Cheyenne

One speaker, Jason Holden, subsequently served as President of the United States, the only one to serve in both offices, and two speakers, Freya Oliver and Alex Rivera-Holden, were previously Vice President. The longest serving speaker was Jason Holden – a term of 16 years. Elected 8 times, he led the House from January 3rd, 1985 to January 20th, 2001, when he became the President of the United States.