the one given. The date of the special election is mentioned in a note to the list below, when that date is not used as the seniority date by the Biographical Directory. Representatives who returned to the House, after having previously served, are credited with service equal to one less than the total number of terms they served. When a representative has served a prior term of less than two terms (i.e. prior term minus one equals less than one), he is ranked above all others whose service begins on the same day. Leadership In this Congress the only formal leader was the Speaker of the House. A Speakership ballot was held on November 4, 1811, and Henry Clay (DR-KY) was elected. The title Dean of the House (sometimes known, in the nineteenth century, as Father of the House) was held by the member with the longest continuous service. It was not a leadership position. Standing committees The House created its first standing committee, on April 13, 1789. There were nine standing committees, listed in the rules initially used by the 12th Congress. Committees, in this period, were appointed for a session at a time by the Speaker. This list refers to the standing committees of the House in the 12th Congress, the year of establishment as a standing committee, the number of members assigned to the committee and the dates of appointment in each session, the end of the session and its chairman. Chairmen, who were re-appointed after serving in the previous Congress, are indicated by an *. The first session was November 4, 1811-July 6, 1812 (245 days) and the second session was November 2, 1812-March 3, 1813 (122 days). List of representatives by seniority A numerical rank is assigned to each of the 142 members initially elected to the 12th Congress. Other members, who were not the first person elected to a seat but who joined the House during the Congress, are not assigned a number (with the exception of the first member from the newly admitted state of Louisiana, who is numbered 143). Four Representatives-elect were not sworn in, as they resigned. The list below includes the Representatives-elect (with name in italics), with the seniority they would have held if sworn in. Party designations used in this article are DR for Democratic-Republican members and F for Federalist representatives. Designations used for service in the first three