Joseph W. Martin Jr.

Martin and Sam Rayburn at the U.S. Capitol

Martin was elected House Minority Leader following Republican gains in the 1938 elections. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives for two terms, separated in time: from 1947 to 1949, and from 1953 to 1955. The terms represented two Republican short-term majorities in the House, and Martin's two terms were bookended by Sam Rayburn, the Texas Democrat and mentor of Lyndon Johnson with whom Martin enjoyed a warm personal relationship.

Probably the most controversial moment of Martin's congressional career came in April 1951, when he read on the floor of Congress a letter he had received from General Douglas MacArthur, who was commanding US troops fighting in the Korean War. President Harry S Truman had decided on peace negotiations as the best way out of the grinding conflict. MacArthur's letter, written in response to one from Martin asking for the general's views on Truman's policy, was scathingly critical of the president.

Martin had hoped that disclosing the letter's contents would bolster MacArthur's case. Instead, it ignited a political firestorm and demands for his removal. Six days after Martin read the letter on the House floor, Truman dismissed MacArthur.[7]

Despite the unintended outcome, Martin and MacArthur remained friends. Martin invited the general to deliver what became known popularly as the "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech before a joint meeting of Congress following his dismissal. In 1952, Martin urged MacArthur to seek the Republican presidential nomination. MacArthur, however, favored U.S. Senator Robert A. Taft, of Ohio, who lost the nomination to Willkie in 1940, to Dewey in 1948, and to Eisenhower in 1952. Eisenhower then defeated Governor Adlai E. Stevenson II of Illinois.

In his capacity as leader of the House Republicans, Martin presided over the Republican National Convention on five occasions between 1940 and 1956. In 1940, he was instrumental in the choice of Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary of Oregon as Wendell Willkie's running mate. Martin's most controversial role was at the 1952 Republican National Convention, when several of his rulings were seen as tilting the nomination to Eisenhower over Taft.

In preparation for the 1952 elections, Martin traveled to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a regional Republican meeting called by the state party chairman Osro Cobb, a former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, to unveil a potential strategy to make the party competitive in the American South. "We came away from the meeting more determined and better prepared to advance the two-party system in the South," recalled Cobb in his memoirs, as the Republicans won at the presidential level that year in Tennessee, Texas, Florida, and Virginia.[8]

Martin was in the Speaker's chair presiding over the House on March 1, 1954, when four Puerto Rican independence activists opened fire on the House, wounding five Representatives. Martin declared the House in recess as he sought cover behind a marble pillar on the rostrum.[9] Martin would be the last Republican to serve as Speaker of the House until the election of Newt Gingrich of Georgia 40 years later.[10] Martin remained the leader of the House Republicans until 1958, when the party experienced heavy losses in that year's elections. In the aftermath, Martin was ousted from the leadership by his deputy, Charles A. Halleck.

Despite the defeat, Martin chose to remain as a backbench member of the House. Eight years later, in 1966, he was ousted from his seat in the Republican primary by a more liberal Republican, Margaret Heckler, who was 46 years his junior. He was also one of seven Speakers to serve more than one non-consecutive term and the second Republican to do so. Martin voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,[11][12] 1960,[13][14] and 1964,[15][16] as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[17] Martin voted in favor of the House amendment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on July 9, 1965,[18] but did not vote on the joint conference committee report on August 3, 1965.[19] Martin voted in favor of the initial House resolution for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 on August 16, 1967,[20] but voted against the Senate amendment to the bill on April 10, 1968.[21]

A lifelong bachelor, Martin never married.

Martin died in Hollywood, Florida, on March 6, 1968.