the Speaker appointed the members. The office of speaker and other party or committee leadership positions in the House are often associated with seniority. However, leadership is typically not associated with seniority. U.S. House seniority list A numerical rank is assigned to each of the 65 members initially elected to the 1st 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 (apart from the Representatives from the two states, admitted after ratifying the constitution during the Congress, who are numbered 60-65). One Representative-elect was not sworn in, as he declined to serve. The list below includes that Representative-elect (with name in italics), with the seniority he would have held if he had been sworn in. Notes References United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997, by Michael J. Dubin (McFarland and Company 1998) See also 1st United States Congress List of United States congressional districts List of United States senators in the 1st Congress by seniority External links House Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress House of Representatives list of members of the 1st Congress 1 1st United States Congress