Lewis Deschler

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Lewis Deschler CAC CC 001 18 17 0000 1627 (1).jpg

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| order = 1st

| office = Parliamentarian of the United States House of Representatives

| term_start = January 1, 1928

| term_end = June 30, 1974

| predecessor = Lehr Fess (Clerk at the Speaker's table)

| successor = William Holmes Brown

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|03|03}}

| birth_place = Chillicothe, Ohio

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|07|12|1905|03|03}}

| death_place = Bethesda, Maryland

| resting_place = Grandview Cemetery

| education = Miami University and George Washington University

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Lewis Deschler (March 3, 1905 – July 12, 1976) was the first, and longest-serving, Parliamentarian of the United States House of Representatives. He started his term on January 1, 1928,{{Cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Office/Parliamentarians/|title=Parliamentarians of the House | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives}} during the 70th United States Congress following the retirement of Lehr Fess. Prior to the 70th Congress, the Parliamentarian position was referred to as the Clerk at the Speaker's Table.

Deschler served as the Parliamentarian from 1928 until his retirement on June 30, 1974, during the 93rd United States Congress. He was an important advisor to many congressmen during his employment, including advising House Speaker Carl Albert on the tax fraud investigation of Vice President Spiro Agnew{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/27/archives/man-of-many-rules-lewis-deschler-keeper-of-the-wisdom-a-bubble-of.html | work=The New York Times | first=Linda | last=Charlton | title=Man of Many Rules Lewis Deschler | date=September 27, 1973}} and the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. His tenure spanned 24 Congresses and over 46 years. Deschler was the first officer to become personally influential in his own right.{{cite book|last=Weatherford|first=J. McIver|author-link=J. McIver Weatherford|title=Tribes on the Hill|year=1985|publisher=Bergin & Garvey Publishers|location=South Hadley, Mass.|isbn=0-89789-072-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/tribesonhill00weat/page/221 221–223]|edition=Reprint.|url=https://archive.org/details/tribesonhill00weat/page/221}} South Carolina Representative L. Mendel Rivers – a powerful figure in his own right who served for nearly 30 years, including as the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during the Vietnam War – referred to Deschler as, "...the image of Congress."

Deschler was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. He went to Miami University and George Washington University. On July 12, 1976, Deschler died at the age of 71 while receiving treatment at Bethesda Naval Hospital after a series of strokes.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/13/archives/lewis-deschler-71-dies-exhouse-parliamentarian.html | work=The New York Times | title=Lewis Deschler, 71, Dies; Ex-House Parliamentarian | date=July 13, 1976}} During his retirement he resided in Bethesda, Maryland. He is buried at Grandview Cemetery in Chillicothe, Ohio, where his gravestone is shaped like the Washington Monument and prominently highlights his service as Parliamentarian.