The main responsibility of whips is to make sure that members of their party are present for important votes, give information to the members of their party, determine how each member will vote on a given piece of legislation and negotiate with those who oppose important pieces of legislation. Before the 20th Century the office of the whip existed informally, primarily when important bills were presented and the vote would be close enough to cause concern for either party.

In 1900, the House Democratic Party officially created the office of the whip along with an assistant whip. In 1910 the House Republican Party created a more defined whip office where the Republican Committee on Committees would present a candidate for whip and the Republican Conference could either accept or reject the candidate. Since 1911 the Republican whip has had an office in the Capitol whereas Democratic whips would establish one in 1913. The House has increased the budget for both whip offices since 1913. By 1963 each office had a budget of $40,000. For Democrats, the whip would be chosen by the floor leader with help from the Speaker if the Democrats were in the majority. The importance of the whip became clear during the 1930s when New Deal legislation was proposed and the Democratic whips became more visible in the party. In 1962 and 1963 then Democratic Speaker, McCormack started to use the whip’s office to poll Democratic members regarding their voting tendencies. Assistant whips were responsible for providing the Speaker’s office with accurate information about their delegates’ opinions. The longest serving Whip in House history was Representative Les Arends (R-WI) who served as Republican Whip from 1943 to 1975.