Watergate Babies

The "Watergate Babies" were the Democrats first elected to the United States Congress in 1974 following President Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal, on August 9, 1974. Tom Downey was the youngest among the babies -- being age 25 upon his election, which is the minimum age one can serve at. Former Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) was also elected to Congress in this election cycle. In November 1974, Democrats picked up 49 seats in the House and 5 in the Senate. This group greatly increased the strength of Northerners and liberals in the House Democratic Caucus. They teamed up with some more senior liberals to strike a blow against the seniority system and overthrew three committee chairmen whom they viewed as too conservative and/or too old to represent the Democratic Party in these prominent positions: William Poage, Wright Patman and Edward Hebert.

Five of these Watergate Babies are current members of the U.S. Congress:

• First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974:
  • Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont)

• First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974:
  • Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
  • Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana)
  • Rep. George Miller (D-California)
  • Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California)

External links

• "Rebels of '94 and 'Watergate Babies' Similar In Class Size, Sense of Zeal" at All Politics CNN