If House Speaker Jim Wright resigns next week as rumored, it will be the first time a scandal has forced a speaker out of office in midterm - although others have had their troubles, too.
But resignation by other House members because of scandal is nothing new. In fact, it has caused eight members to resign or be expelled in just the past 13 years.Besides Wright, the closest that any other speaker came to losing his job in midterm was when Republican Joseph G. Cannon survived a 155-192 vote to oust him in 1910.
The concern then, however, was not ethics; it was Cannon's strong-arm manner. He freely wielded his authority to control who sat on which committee, which bills went to the floor and who would be recognized to speak to punish enemies and reward friends.
While efforts by Cannon's enemies to remove him failed, Cannon lost his speakership after the 1910 election - because the Democrats took over the House for the first time in years, thanks to the help that the issue of Cannon's leadership gave them in the campaign.
Another speaker who came close to being deposed was Nathaniel Macon in 1805. He had been an ally of President Thomas Jefferson but later aligned himself with a bitter foe of the president - John Randolph - to oppose Jefferson's plan to purchase Florida.
Jefferson retaliated by opposing Macon's re-election in 1805. That failed, but the vote was close enough that Macon did not seek another term as speaker.
Scandal caused one ex-speaker to commit suicide - but after he had left office. John White, speaker from 1841 to 1843, plagiarized one of the last speeches he gave in office from Aaron Burr. When that was disclosed, White shot himself.
Among more recent problems faced by speakers, when Tip O'Neill became speaker in 1977, he faced accusations that he accepted gifts from South Korean agents.
However, the Ethics Committee exonerated O'Neill and said the only thing he did of questionable propriety was allow Korean rice dealer Tongsun Park to pay for two parties in his honor.
Before O'Neill, Speaker Carl Albert of Oklahoma survived bad publicity about an apparent drinking problem. And before him, the final straw prompting John McCormack to retire in 1971 was when a top aide, Martin Sweig, was accused of using the speaker's office and name for fraudulent purposes without his knowledge.
While scandals have not yet toppled any speakers while in office, they have toppled several other House members in the past decade and a half, including:
-In 1988, Rep. Mario Biaggi, D-N.Y., resigned before the House voted to expel him for conviction on bribery charges. Also Delegate Fofo I.F. Sunia, D-American Samoa, resigned after pleading guilty to defrauding $130,000 by keeping ghost employees on the payroll.
-In 1982, Rep. Fred Richmond, D-N.Y., resigned as part of a plea bargain with federal prosecutors for alleged income-tax evasion, possession of marijuana and making an illegal payment to a federal employee.
-In 1981, Rep. Raymond F. Lederer, D-Pa., the only member named in the Ab-scam scandal who was re-elected in 1980, resigned after the House Ethics Committee voted to recommend his expulsion for his conviction on bribery charges.
-In 1980, Rep. John W. Jenrette, D-S.C., resigned the day the Ethics Committee was scheduled to vote on whether to expel him for his role in the Abscam bribery case. Rep. Ozzie Myers, D-Pa., was expelled from the House for his role in Abscam by a 376-30 vote.
-In 1979, Rep. Daniel J. Flood, D-Pa., resigned after being indicted on 13 criminal ethics charges to which he later pleaded guilty.
-In 1976, Rep. Wayne L. Hays, D-Ohio, resigned after the Ethics Committee voted to hold public hearings on charges that Elizabeth Ray was on his payroll only to act as a mistress.