Thomas Brackett Reed

For more information on Thomas Brackett Reed, visit Britannica.com.

As Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas Brackett Reed (1839-1902) was called "Czar Reed." He was one of America's greatest parliamentarians.

Thomas B. Reed was born on Oct. 18, 1839, in Portland, Maine, an origin stamped in the nasal drawl in which he delivered the corrosive witticisms for which he became famous. Graduating from Bowdoin College in 1860, he studied law, traveled to California, and taught school briefly. In 1865 he joined the Maine bar and entered politics, becoming state legislator (1867-1868), state senator (1869-1870), and attorney general (1870-1873). Elected congressional representative in 1876, he served in the House until 1899.

Congressman Reed's first important assignment was to the "Potter Committee," appointed in 1878 to investigate alleged fraud in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876. Representing the Republican minority, Reed demonstrated that his party was not alone in fraud and even managed to implicate the nephew of Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden. During the 1880s Reed emerged as a leading party regular. As Speaker of the House (1889-1891, 1895-1899), he struggled to revise House rules, especially those that allowed the Democratic majority to avoid action through filibustering or absenteeism. His physical appearance, a towering height of 6 feet 3 inches and a weight of almost 300 pounds, contributed to his impressiveness. Although later congresses lessened his power, he helped establish the principle of party responsibility.

Reed was fiercely partisan. Democrats, he said, never spoke without diminishing the sum of human knowledge. "A statesman," he noted in his most quoted epigram, "is a successful politician who is dead." Supporting the tariff, hard money, and internal improvements for national purposes, he believed business stability essential to progress. In advance of his time, he opposed capital punishment and advocated woman's suffrage.

In his later years neither party nor country entirely pleased Reed. "The convention could do worse," he said of his presidential ambitions in 1896, "and probably will." He resigned from the House in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War and then practiced law in New York. He died on Dec. 7, 1902, in Washington.

Considered an archconservative by those who opposed his economic views, Reed displayed a genuine humanity and broad learning in his speeches and articles. As a master of the parliamentary skills that make representative government effective, he has rarely been equaled.

Further Reading

Samuel W. McCall, The Life of Thomas Brackett Reed (1914), although weak on Reed's political career, is useful for personal detail. William A. Robinson, Thomas B. Reed, Parliamentarian (1930), details Reed's political skills. Arthur Wallace Dunn, From Harrison to Harding (2 vols., 1922), and H. Wayne Morgan, From Hayes to McKinley: National Party Politics, 1877-1896 (1969), place Reed's career in the context of "gilded age" politics.

• Born: Oct. 18, 1839, Portland, Maine
• Political party: Republican
• Education: Bowdoin College, graduated, 1860; studied law
• Representative from Maine: 1877–99
• Speaker of the House: 1889–91, 1895–99
• Died: Dec. 7, 1902, Washington, D.C.

Six feet, three inches tall and weighing nearly 300 pounds, Speaker Thomas B. Reed ruled the House of Representatives so firmly that people called him “Czar” Reed. After years of weak leadership, Reed was unwilling to sit helplessly in the Speaker's chair and watch the majority become powerless to pass legislation. The minority Democrats had been disrupting House business by making motions to adjourn and then demanding roll call votes. Reed declared these motions “dilatory,” or deliberately delaying, and ruled them out of order. The minority also tried to stall House business by not answering quorum calls—a practice known as the “disappearing quorum.” Reed simply took it upon himself to count anyone he saw, even if they had not answered “present.” One furious Kentucky Democrat shouted, “I deny your right, Mr. Speaker, to count me present.” Reed calmly responded, “The Chair is making a statement of fact that the gentleman from Kentucky is present. Does he wish to deny it?”

Reed got his way, and the rules of the House were changed to recognize the Speaker's right to count a quorum and to declare delaying motions out of order. The rules of the House, he insisted, were designed not to protect the minority but “to promote the orderly conduct of business.” Reed used his power as Speaker to promote the Republican party's conservative financial programs. But even Reed could not stop the House stampede to vote for war with Spain in 1898. After the war he strongly opposed the taking of Puerto Rico and the Philippines as U.S. territories. He retired as Speaker when he failed to persuade his party to abandon its expansionist foreign policies.

See also Quorum; Rules of the House and Senate; Speaker of the House

Sources

• Richard B. Cheney and Lynne V. Cheney Kings of the Hill: Power and Personality in the House of Representatives (New York: Continuum, 1983)

Quotes:

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."

"Most new things are not good, and die an early death; but those which push themselves forward and by slow degrees force themselves on the attention of mankind are the unconscious productions of human wisdom, and must have honest consideration, and must not be made the subject of unreasoning prejudice."

"To say that a thing has never yet been done among men is to erect a barrier stronger than reason, stronger than discussion."

"Representative William McK. Springer, remarks in the House, quoting Henry Clay: As for me, I would rather be right than be President. Reed: Well, the gentleman will never be either."

For other persons named Thomas Reed, see Thomas Reed (disambiguation).

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (November 2009)

Thomas Brackett Reed
36th & 38th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office December 4, 1889 – March 4, 1891 December 2, 1895 – March 4, 1899
President	Benjamin Harrison Grover Cleveland William McKinley
Preceded by	John G. Carlisle Charles F. Crisp
Succeeded by	Charles F. Crisp David B. Henderson
Member of U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 1st district
In office March 4, 1877 – September 4, 1899
Preceded by	John H. Burleigh
Succeeded by	Amos L. Allen
Born	October 18, 1839 (1839-10-18) Portland, Maine
Died	December 7, 1902 (1902-12-08) (aged 63) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Bowdoin College
Profession	Law

Thomas Brackett Reed, (October 18, 1839 – December 7, 1902), occasionally ridiculed as Czar Reed, was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the House from 1889–1891 and from 1895–1899. He was a powerful leader of the Republican Party but was unable to stop the Spanish-American War.

Contents 1 Political life 2 In the House of Representatives 2.1 Early service 2.1.1 Acerbic wit 2.2 As the Speaker of the House 3 Presidential aspirations and departure from Congress 4 Landmarks 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External links

Political life

Born in Portland, Maine, Reed attended public school, including Portland High School, before graduating from Bowdoin College in 1860. He studied law. After college, he went on to become acting assistant paymaster, United States Navy, from April, 1864, to November 1865, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. He practiced in Portland, and was elected to the Maine House of Representatives, in 1868 and 1869. He served in the Maine Senate in 1870 but left to serve as the state's Attorney General 1870-72. Reed became city solicitor of Portland 1874–1877, before being elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth and to the eleven succeeding Congresses, serving from 1877, to September 4, 1899, when he resigned.

In the House of Representatives

Early service

Acerbic wit

He was known for his acerbic wit (asked if his party might nominate him for President, he noted "They could do worse, and they probably will"; His size, standing at over 6 feet in height and weighing over 300 lbs (136 kg), was also a distinguishing factor for him. Reed was a member of the social circle that included intellectuals and politicians Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Adams, John Hay and Mark Twain.

As a House freshman, Reed was appointed to the Potter Commission, which was to investigate voting irregularities in the presidential election of 1876, where his skill at cross examination forced Democrat Samuel J. Tilden to personally appear to defend his reputation. He chaired of the Committee on the Judiciary (Forty-seventh Congress) and chaired the Rules Committee (Fifty-first, Fifty-fourth, and Fifty-fifth Congresses).

As the Speaker of the House

Pressure in Capitol builds for war in 1898; Reed (upper left) is unable to contain it, as McKinley watches

Reed was first elected Speaker after an intense fight with William McKinley of Ohio. Reed gained the support of young Theodore Roosevelt, whose influence with the newly appointed Civil Service Commissioner was the decisive factor. Reed served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1889 to 1891 and then from 1895 to 1899, as well as being Chairman of the powerful Rules Committee.

During his time as Speaker, Reed assiduously and dramatically increased the power of the Speaker over the House; although the power of the Speaker had always waxed (most notably during Henry Clay's tenure) and waned, the position had previously commanded influence rather than outright power. Reed set out to put into practical effect his dictum that "The best system is to have one party govern and the other party watch"; this was accomplished by carefully studying the existing procedures of the U.S. House, most dating to the original designs written by Thomas Jefferson. What followed has popularly been called the "Battle of the Reed Rules".

In particular, Reed sought to circumscribe the ability of the minority party to block business, by way of its members refusing to answer a quorum call, thus forcing the House to suspend business. This is popularly called the disappearing quorum. As Speaker, Reed's solution was as controversial as it was simple: when a quorum call was, Reed began counting every member present in the chamber, whether they chose to answer the roll call or not. Reed's intent was simple: to enable the majority party to make decisions that the minority could not block by parliamentary maneuver.

Reed was convinced of the need to streamline House procedure, but the Democrats had the most to lose as the minority party. The parliamentary intrigue and back room infighting was heated and at times threatening. Reed's cunning and Cannon's technical skill won out. His changes paved the way for the Speakership of Joseph Gurney Cannon.

Presidential aspirations and departure from Congress

Official portrait of Thomas B. Reed.

Reed tried to obtain the Republican nomination for President in 1896, but Ohio Governor McKinley's campaign manager, Mark Hanna, blocked his efforts.

In 1898 Reed supported McKinley in efforts to head off war with Spain. When McKinley switched to support for the war, Reed disagreed. He resigned from Congress in 1900 to enter private law practice.

On a nostalgic trip to Washington in 1902 he had a sudden heart attack and died; Henry Cabot Lodge eulogized him as "a good hater, who detested shams, humbugs and pretense above all else." He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine.

Landmarks

The coastal town of Reed, Oregon, was named after him. ^[1]

His home town of Portland, Maine, erected a statue of him at the corner of Western Promenade and Pine St^[2] in a ceremony on August 31st, 1910.^[3]

References

1. ^ Bob Welch. "Of cranes with trees and bands on knees". Register-Guard. 16 Dec 2007. http://blogs.registerguard.com/cms/index.php/close-to-home/comments/qa_dec_16/ Accessed 21 April 2009.
2. ^ Robert Klotz. "Portland Locations with National Political Significance". Portland Political Trail. Accessed 21 April. http://www.usm.maine.edu/~rklotz/exhibits/revtrail.htm
3. ^ Anon.. Exercises at the Unveiling of the Statue of Thomas Brackett Reed, at Portland, Maine, August Thirty-First, Nineteen Hundred and Ten. Read Books. p. 10. ISBN 9781408669211. http://books.google.com/books?id=bxsQ3U3FmHAC&pg=PA6#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 

Bibliography

Strahan, Randall (2007). Leading Representatives: The Agency of Leaders in the Politics of the U.S. House. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8108-8691-0. 
Tuchman, Barbara Wertheim (1996). The proud tower: a portrait of the world before the war, 1890-1914. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-40501-2. 

External links

• Thomas Brackett Reed at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Political cartoon, NY Times/Harper's Weekly, December 21, 1895 Our American Czar and His Do-Nothing Policy
• Thomas Brackett Reed at Find a Grave
•  "Reed, Thomas Brackett". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by John H. Burleigh	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 1st congressional district March 4, 1877 – September 4, 1899	Succeeded by Amos L. Allen
Political offices
Preceded by John G. Carlisle	Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives December 2, 1889 – March 4, 1891	Succeeded by Charles F. Crisp
Preceded by Charles F. Crisp	Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives December 2, 1895 – March 4, 1897; March 15, 1897 – March 4, 1899	Succeeded by David B. Henderson

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Persondata
NAME	Reed, Thomas Brackett
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the House
DATE OF BIRTH	October 18, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH	Portland, Maine, United States
DATE OF DEATH	December 7, 1902
PLACE OF DEATH	Washington, D.C., United States

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