"UNCLE JOE" CANNON ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On February 13, 1922, Joseph Gurney Cannon* (R-Illinois) announced his plans to "not be a candidate for re-election" at the end of his current term.
The former Speaker is serving his twenty-third term in the House of Representatives. He issued the following statement...
"I am not a candidate for election to the Sixty-eighth Congress."
The Evening Star describes "Uncle Joe" as "one of the most picturesque and widely known figures in Congress." He will turn 86 years old in May and plans to retire to his home in Danville**.
*Joseph Gurney Cannon (1836-1926) was born in Guilford County, North Carolina & attended University of Cincinnati School of Law. JGC served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives & chairman of the Rules Committee, 1903-1911. He ruled the House floor with an iron fist so that he was called 'Czar Cannon.'
**Danville, founded in 1827, is located 120 miles south of Chicago & is named after land contributor Dan W. Beckwith. Danville became a major industrial city.
JFK+50 NOTE
The Cannon Office Building, first building for members of Congress outside the United States Capitol, was named in honor of Speaker Cannon.
SOURCES
"Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois, History, Art and Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, www.history.house.gov/
"'Uncle Joe' Cannon Will Retire From Politics at End of Term," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., Newspaper Archive, Newspaper of Evening Star, February 13, 1922, www.gastearsivi.com/
