Thomas Reed was a Republican Speaker of the House during the 1890's. He was nicknamed the "Czar" of Congress because he would cast votes for nonattending members of Congress. Reed changed the House rules single-handedly. He believed that the majority should legislate, in accord with democratic practices, and not be crippled by a filibustering minority. Reed's Congress was the first in peacetime to pull together one billion dollars. The Congress opened the federal purse in the Pension Act of 1890. "Czar" Reed drove through Congress many bills, conspicuous among which won the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890.Under Reed many bills were passed that gave money to businesses and Civil War veterans. When the Democrats won control of the House two years later, in 1892, they paid Reed the compliment of adopting some of his reforms for speedier action.
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