Roger H. Davidson is professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. Susan Hammond is professor of political science at the American University. Raymond Smock is former historian of the U.S. House of Representatives.

• Introduction: Rediscovering the "Masters of the House" -- The Start of Something New: Clay, Stevenson, Polk, and the Development of the Speakership, 1789-1869 -- Thomas Brackett Reed and the Rise of Party Government -- Uncle Joe Cannon: The Brakeman of the House of Representatives, 1903-1911 -- Oscar W. Underwood: The First Modern House Leader, 1911-1915 -- Nicholas Longworth: The Genial Czar -- John Nance Garner -- The Speaker and the Presidents: Sam Rayburn, the White House, and the Legislative Process, 1941-1961 -- Hale Boggs: The Southerner as National Democrat -- Gerald R. Ford: Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, 1965-1973 -- Tip O'Neill and Contemporary House Leadership -- Epilogue: Leaders Talk About House Leadership