<P> If the Speaker's party loses control of the House in an election, and if the Speaker and Majority Leader both remain in the leadership hierarchy, they would become the Minority Leader and Minority Whip, respectively . As the minority party has historically had one less leadership position after losing the Speaker's chair, there may be a contest for the remaining leadership positions; upon losing control of the House after the 2010 election, the Democrats created the position of Assistant Democratic Leader in order to prevent such a contest . Most Speakers whose party has lost control of the House have not returned to the party leadership (Tom Foley lost his seat, Dennis Hastert returned to the backbenches and resigned from the House in late 2007). However, Speakers Joseph William Martin, Jr. and Sam Rayburn did seek the post of Minority Leader in the late 1940s and early 1950s . Nancy Pelosi is the most recent example of an outgoing Speaker who was elected Minority Leader, after the Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 elections . </P> <P> The first Speaker was Frederick Muhlenberg: he was elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to the 1st Congress, an Anti-Administration candidate to the 2nd and 3rd Congresses, and a Republican candidate to the 4th Congress, according to the Biographical Directory of Congress, though Oswald Seidensticker wrote that he was elected as a Federalist for the first four Congresses . </P> <P> The position of Speaker started to gain its partisan role and its power in legislative development under Henry Clay (1811--1814, 1815--1820, and 1823--1825). In contrast to many of his predecessors, Clay participated in several debates, and used his influence to procure the passage of measures he supported--for instance, the declaration of the War of 1812, and various laws relating to Clay's "American System" economic plan . Furthermore, when no candidate received an Electoral College majority in the 1824 presidential election causing the President to be elected by the House, Speaker Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams instead of Andrew Jackson, thereby ensuring Adams' victory . Following Clay's retirement in 1825, the power of the speakership once again began to decline, despite speakership elections becoming increasingly bitter . As the Civil War approached, several sectional factions nominated their own candidates, often making it difficult for any candidate to attain a majority . In 1855 and again in 1859, for example, the contest for Speaker lasted for two months before the House achieved a result . During this time, Speakers tended to have very short tenures . For example, from 1839 to 1863 there were eleven Speakers, only one of whom served for more than one term . To date, James K. Polk is the only Speaker of the House later elected President of the United States . </P> <P> Towards the end of the 19th century, the office of Speaker began to develop into a very powerful one . At the time, one of the most important sources of the Speaker's power was his position as Chairman of the Committee on Rules, which, after the reorganization of the committee system in 1880, became one of the most powerful standing committees of the House . Furthermore, several Speakers became leading figures in their political parties; examples include Democrats Samuel J. Randall, John Griffin Carlisle, and Charles F. Crisp, and Republicans James G. Blaine, Thomas Brackett Reed, and Joseph Gurney Cannon . </P>

Do you have to be in congress to be speaker of the house