History is not my strong suit, a fact that has never bothered me before. But now that we seem to be teetering on the brink of some historical events, I can’t help but hear my dad saying, “You have to study the past to prepare for the future.”

Where do I start though. It’s not like I’m still in school and can just take a class. While driving home from work, I had the idea of investigating the covers of Time Magazine.

Joseph G. Cannon appeared on the 1st cover of Time magazine, March 3, 1923. He had served 23 non-consecutive terms in the House of Representatives for the state of Illinois, making him the longest serving member of congress ever at that time. I had never heard of this man before now. 🤷‍♀️

During his time, Joseph G. Cannon was a big deal though. His image was satirized in multiple publications due to the fact that he was referred to as the Czar of the House. As Speaker of the House and simultaneous chairman of the Rules Committee, Cannon had complete control over what bills made it to the floor for roughly 6 years. This was during a time when his Republican Party was divided into progressives and Standpatters, people opposed to change. As a standpatter, Cannon stopped multiple bills from reaching the floor which could have lead to new labor relations, environmental protections and democratic reforms. This is not the Republican Party of today, that’s for certain.

Then there is the legend of the bean soup. According to the House Restaurant, in 1904 Speaker of the House Joseph G. Cannon came in expecting to order bean soup and discovered it wasn’t on the menu. ”Thunderation!I had my mouth set for bean soup! From now on, hot or cold, rain or sun, snow or shine, I want it on the menu every day.” Since then, bean soup has been served at the house restaurant everyday minus one during WWII when then they ran out of their bean rations and served just broth. A link to the official recipe is located in the resources section of this page. I’m not making it for fear of wasting food.

The oldest building of offices for congressmen, Cannon House Office Building, is named after him. On March 3, 1903, (does everything happen on March 3rd?) Joseph G. Cannon, William P. Hepburn and James D. Richardson comprised the House Office Building Commission and oversaw the plans and budget for the project. Completed in 1908, the building provided larger committee rooms than the Capitol contained, which permitted larger audiences to observe hearings. In 1962, it was became officially known as the Cannon Building, rather than the “old” building as it had been unofficially designated previously.

Conclusion

So what did I learn by researching Joseph G. Cannon

• There has been a need for congressional term limits for more than 100 years in order stop career politicians from stagnating our country.
• Too much power leads to ridiculous orders and expectations

I’m pretty sure we aren’t learning from our past. I don’t have an answer for how to balance progress with experience, but something needs to change.

Resources:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gurney_Cannon

https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/buildings-grounds/house-office-buildings/cannon

https://history.house.gov/Blog/2023/April/4-12-Cannon-Bluff/

https://www.cookinwithcongress.com/cookin-with-congress-recipes/capitolbeansoup