In the early 1900s, 'Uncle Joe' Cannon of Illinois was a powerful House speaker who defied an ouster effort
Joe Cannon was a Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois who survived an overthrow plot more than 100 years before the blunderbuss attack that earlier this month toppled Kevin McCarthy. Known as “Uncle Joe” Cannon, he dealt in an authoritarian brand of politics that came to be known as “Cannonism.” After one vote he announced: “The ayes make more noise, but the ...