Electing the Speaker of the House in the 34th Congress was quite difficult. In the congressional elections of 1854-1855, the House was divided somewhat evenly among three factions (Opposition, Democratic and American) with further divisions due to the Kansas/Nebraska act. Although various means of compromise were attempted, no faction could garner a majority. Nathaniel P. Banks was chosen Speaker by plurality on the 133rd ballot.

William A. Richardson led on the first eleven ballots. Linn Boyd, the previous Speaker, had retired when it became obvious that the Democrats had lost control of the House. Richardson, the popular Democratic floor leader, became their chief candidate. Opposition Party members supported Lewis D. Campbell of Ohio. Anti-Nebraska Americans supported Nathaniel P. Banks, while pro-Nebraska Americans supported the Whigs Henry M. Fuller and Hemphrey Marshall. [Fuller's supporters cast their vote on the 12th ballot for Thomas J.D. Fuller, a Democrat, during a period of frustration.] Richardson's total remained quite steady on the first 15 ballots, ranging between 72 and 78. Campbell ran second on the initial ten ballots, then struck a deal with the Anti-Nebraska nativists for their votes. Campbell pulled into first place, just ahead of Richardson but still far short of a majority. Meanwhile, an assortment of over 50 Representatives received a scattering of votes on the first 15 ballo

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Electing the Speaker of the House in the 34th Congress was quite difficult. In the congressional elections of 1854-1855, the House was divided somewhat evenly among three factions (Opposition, Democratic and American) with further divisions due to the Kansas/Nebraska act. Although various means of compromise were attempted, no faction could garner a majority. Nathaniel P. Banks was chosen Speaker by plurality on the 133rd ballot.

William A. Richardson led on the first eleven ballots. Linn Boyd, the previous Speaker, had retired when it became obvious that the Democrats had lost control of the House. Richardson, the popular Democratic floor leader, became their chief candidate. Opposition Party members supported Lewis D. Campbell of Ohio. Anti-Nebraska Americans supported Nathaniel P. Banks, while pro-Nebraska Americans supported the Whigs Henry M. Fuller and Hemphrey Marshall. [Fuller's supporters cast their vote on the 12th ballot for Thomas J.D. Fuller, a Democrat, during a period of frustration.] Richardson's total remained quite steady on the first 15 ballots, ranging between 72 and 78. Campbell ran second on the initial ten ballots, then struck a deal with the Anti-Nebraska nativists for their votes. Campbell pulled into first place, just ahead of Richardson but still far short of a majority. Meanwhile, an assortment of over 50 Representatives received a scattering of votes on the first 15 ballots.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1855
Candidate: ballot	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Lewis D. Campbell OH	53	55	55	56	58	57	54	51	51	48	47	75	79	81	80
William A. Richardson IL	74	74	74	72	78	75	75	75	75	72	74	73	74	74	74
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	30	22	23	22	23	25	28	32	31	32	37	12	9	8	8
Humphrey Marshall KY	--	30	30	30	19	18	20	18	15	25	26	21	22	13	6
Henry M. Fuller PA	21	18	18	17	20	22	20	20	21	21	19	--	21	21	19
Thomas J.D. Fuller ME	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	19	--	--	--
Alexander C.M. Pennington NJ	17	7	8	8	8	9	10	9	10	9	9	6	7	5	7
Scattering	27	18	16	17	18	18	17	17	19	13	11	12	10	21	25

When it became clear that Campbell would not be able to muster a majority, he agreed to allow the nativists to test the strength of Banks. This arrangement allowed Banks to consolidate the vote of two American contenders (Smith and Zollicoffer). On the 28th ballot, Banks placed first and won the most votes any contender had received up to that point. Richardson was hemmed in, ranging from 71 to 74. Southern Democrats refused to scheme with the nativists or the Anti-Nebraska Representatives.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1855
Candidate: ballot	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	6	14	18	18	23	21	11	10	41	44	46	49	86	97	98
Lewis D. Campbell OH	79	69	62	57	48	46	74	75	1	1	1	1	--	--	--
William A. Richardson IL	72	73	72	71	71	71	73	73	74	72	72	73	73	73	73
Henry M. Fuller PA	20	21	21	23	22	21	20	16	19	22	27	28	28	18	28
Alexander C.M. Pennington NJ	9	10	11	14	19	20	9	9	18	18	17	17	8	6	4
Felix K. Zollicoffer KY	--	1	1	--	--	--	9	15	15	12	9	9	8	5	5
William R. Smith AL	14	10	11	10	8	7	3	1	1	1	1	--	--	1	1
John Wheeler NY	10	11	10	11	12	13	11	11	11	10	9	7	5	6	1
Benjamin B. Thurston RI	2	2	2	1	3	3	4	4	11	6	8	7	3	2	1
Scattering	10	7	9	9	10	9	7	5	29	31	26	24	10	13	8

Banks turned out to be more popular than the Anti-Nebraska Representatives had anticipated. His vote rose to 107 on the 37th ballot, far more than Campbell's high of 81 or Richardson's high of 78. As Banks rose to within a dozen votes of a majority, the stragglers moved to the top three candidates: Banks, Richardson, and Fuller.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1855
Candidate: ballot	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	99	100	100	100	105	106	107	107	107	107	107	106	107	107	106
William A. Richardson IL	72	72	73	74	76	76	76	75	76	74	74	75	75	74	74
Henry M. Fuller PA	29	30	30	31	29	29	28	28	28	27	28	27	28	28	27
Scattering	21	19	18	16	15	15	13	15	15	16	16	17	16	16	16

In the following 15 ballots, as Banks hovered just below the 50% mark, Fuller tried to collect the scattering votes in an attempt to garner support for a compromise with the two leaders. The scattering votes in these 15 ballots were cast for 25 different candidates, none of whom received more than two votes. Richardson himself voted for a different supporter on each ballot in an effort to keep his leaning supporters in line.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1855
Candidate: ballot	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	106	106	105	105	105	105	104	104	104	104	106	106	106	105	105
William A. Richardson IL	74	74	74	75	75	75	75	74	74	73	73	74	73	74	74
Henry M. Fuller PA	33	32	32	33	33	33	32	34	35	38	40	41	41	41	40
Scattering	11	11	12	11	11	11	12	10	9	7	5	5	5	4	6

As the impasse continued week after week, several Representatives began to give up and pass on the situation until a resolution was completed. Meanwhile Banks was trapped at three votes shy of a majority.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1855
Candidate: ballot	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	105	106	105	106	102	106	103	101	100	103	103	103	101	100	101
William A. Richardson IL	74	73	73	73	73	75	73	72	66	67	67	67	68	68	68
Henry M. Fuller PA	40	37	38	38	38	34	34	31	30	31	31	31	30	31	31
Scattering	6	7	7	6	6	9	10	11	9	10	10	10	8	8	8

The year 1856 began after the 85th ballot was cast, with still no decision as to the Speaker. With sixteen Representatives already having given up on the situation, the remainder attempted to find a resolution. A proposal to choose by plurality was the first motion of the new year, but it would have the effect of electing Banks. The Democrats and Nebraska Americans had enough support to vote it down. Alexander C. M. Pennington (Am-NJ) received half of the scattering vote in the ballots 76-90; his support would have been enough to put Banks over the top on several ballots.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1855
Candidate: ballot	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	101	101	103	102	101	102	100	99	98	103	101	102	102	102	101
William A. Richardson IL	67	68	68	68	68	68	68	67	66	72	71	73	73	73	72
Henry M. Fuller PA	31	32	30	31	30	30	30	29	29	32	30	33	33	33	30
Scattering	8	8	8	8	9	9	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11

On 1/9/1856, the 100th ballot for Speaker was cast. The Clerk allowed various House members to state their postion on the issue of electing the Speaker. The roll calls show the declining interest in the speeches and the continuing inability to organize the House.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1855
Candidate: ballot	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	100	101	102	103	104	105
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	104	104	105	98	101	99	97	99	97	90	88	92	92	92	88
William A. Richardson IL	73	73	72	72	73	73	73	72	72	68	65	68	67	67	63
Henry M. Fuller PA	34	34	32	29	29	30	30	30	33	32	28	28	26	29	28
Scattering	10	10	10	11	11	12	14	15	12	10	11	11	11	11	9

The time between ballots was greater, as Representatives debated the reasons for their voting. The next 15 ballots show little change from ballot to ballot.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1856
Candidate: ballot	106	107	108	109	110	111	112	113	114	115	116	117	118	119	120
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	88	98	94	95	95	95	92	92	93	88	94	94	93	91	91
William A. Richardson IL	62	70	69	66	65	64	65	65	66	65	68	69	65	67	67
Henry M. Fuller PA	27	32	34	34	33	33	34	33	33	29	32	31	31	29	28
Scattering	10	12	10	16	16	16	16	16	17	13	9	8	8	8	8

Richardson withdrew following the 122d ballot. The Democratic caucus decided to go with Orr, a Southerner. Although Orr gained over Richardson's late totals, he was also unable to gain traction. The Democrats finally decided to try a compromise with the Nebraska Americans. They agreed on 2/2/1856 to allow three additional ballots. If no candidate received a majority, the leading candidate on the 133d ballot would be declared the Speaker. The Democrats then placed William Aiken of SC in nomination, a Democrat with some American tendencies. It is not clear why the Democrats waited so long to attempt such a compromise. Aiken's vote on his first ballot was the highest cast for any Democratic contender up to that time. On the critical 133d ballot, Banks was chosen by a 103-100 margin over Aiken.

U.S. House Speaker balloting, 1856
Candidate: ballot	121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130	131	132	133
Nathaniel P. Banks MA	91	90	96	95	94	94	94	97	99	102	102	102	103
William Aiken SC	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	93	93	92	100
James L. Orr SC	--	--	68	68	66	65	64	67	69	--	--	--	--
William A. Richardson IL	67	65	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Henry M. Fuller PA	29	30	12	20	28	29	23	35	34	14	13	13	6
James B. Ricaud MD	--	--	18	5	3	1	1	--	1	--	--	--	--
Scattering	8	9	9	8	9	10	11	7	7	6	6	6	5

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