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85th United States Congress

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85th United States Congress
84th ←
→ 86th

January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1959
Members96 senators
435 representatives
Senate majorityDemocratic Party
Senate PresidentRichard Nixon
House majorityDemocratic Party
House SpeakerSam Rayburn
Sessions
1st: January 3, 1957 – August 30, 1957
2nd: January 7, 1958 – August 24, 1958

The Eighty-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1959, during the fifth and sixth years of Dwight Eisenhower's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Seventeenth Census of the United States in 1950. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.

Major events

  • January 5, 1957: President Eisenhower announced the Eisenhower Doctrine in a special message to Congress
  • January 20, 1957: Inauguration of President Dwight Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon for a second term
  • August 21, 1957: President Eisenhower announced a 2-year suspension of nuclear testing
  • August 28, 1957: Senator Strom Thurmond set a record for the longest filibuster with his 24-hour, 18-minute speech against the Civil Rights Act of 1957
  • September 24, 1957: Little Rock Crisis: President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Arkansas to provide safe passage into Central High School for the Little Rock Nine.
  • October 4, 1957: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth
  • October 21, 1957: The U.S. military sustained its first combat fatality in Vietnam
  • November 7, 1957: Gaither Report called for more American missiles and fallout shelters
  • November 25, 1957: President Eisenhower had a stroke
  • January 31, 1958: U.S. launched its first satellite, Explorer 1
  • October 1, 1958: NASA started operations

Major legislation

States admitted

  • January 3, 1959: Alaska was admitted as the 49th state.

Party summary

Senate

Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Independent
(I)
Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 47 2 47 96 0
Begin 49 0 46 95 1
End 50 45
Final voting share 52.6% 0.0% 47.4%
Beginning of next congress 64 0 34 98 0

House of Representatives

TOTAL: 435

Leadership

Senate

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

House of Representatives

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

Members

Senate

Senators are popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. Senators in each state are listed in order of seniority, except for replacements, who appear below the senator they replace.

House of Representatives

Changes in membership

Senate

Template:Ordinal US Congress Senate |- | New York
(3) | Vacant | style="font-size:80%" | Javitz delayed taking seat to allow for the recently inaugurated Republican majority legislature of New York to appoint his successor as New York Attorney General | nowrap style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Jacob K. Javits (R) | January 9, 1957 |- | Texas
(1) | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | Price Daniel (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned January 14, 1957 after being elected Governor of Texas | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | William A. Blakley (D) | January 15, 1957 |- | Texas
(1) | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | William A. Blakley (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Successor elected April 28, 1957 | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | Ralph Yarborough (D) | April 29, 1957 |- | Wisconsin
(1) | nowrap style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Joseph McCarthy (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died May 2, 1957. | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | William Proxmire (D) | August 28, 1957 |- | West Virginia
(2) | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | Matthew M. Neely (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died January 18, 1958 | nowrap style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | John D. Hoblitzell, Jr. (R) | January 25, 1958 |- | North Carolina
(2) | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | W. Kerr Scott (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died April 16, 1958 | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | B. Everett Jordan (D) | April 19, 1958 |- | West Virginia
(2) | nowrap style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | John D. Hoblitzell, Jr. (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Successor elected November 4, 1958. Lost special election to fill the seat. | nowrap style="background-color:#B0CEFF" | Jennings Randolph (D) | November 4, 1958 |- | California
(1) | nowrap style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | William F. Knowland (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned January 2, 1959. | Vacant | Not filled this term |}

House of Representatives

Template:Ordinal US Congress Rep |- | New Mexico At-large | Vacant | style="font-size:80%" | Rep. Antonio M. Fernández died during previous congress | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap | Joseph Montoya (D) | April 9, 1957 |- | New Jersey 2nd | Vacant | style="font-size:80%" | Rep. T. Millet Hand died during previous congress | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap | Milton W. Glenn (R) | November 5, 1957 |- | Illinois 7th | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap| James Bowler (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died July 18, 1957 | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap | Roland V. Libonati (D) | December 31, 1957 |- | Pennsylvania 13th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| Samuel K. McConnell, Jr. (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned September 1, 1957 after becoming Executive Director of the United Cerebral Palsy Associations | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap | John A. Lafore, Jr. (R) | November 5, 1957 |- | Georgia 7th | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap| Henderson L. Lanham (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died November 10, 1957 | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap | Harlan E. Mitchell (D) | January 8, 1958 |- | Pennsylvania 21st | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap| Augustine B. Kelley (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died November 20, 1957 | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap | John H. Dent (D) | January 21, 1958 |- | New York 37th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| W. Sterling Cole (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned December 1, 1957 after becoming Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap | Howard W. Robison (R) | January 14, 1958 |- | Tennessee 8th | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap| Jere Cooper (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died December 18, 1957 | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap | Robert "Fats" Everett (D) | February 1, 1958 |- | Pennsylvania 4th | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap| Earl Chudoff (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned January 5, 1958 after being elected judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas No. 1 | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap | Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. (D) | May 20, 1958 |- | New Jersey 14th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| Vincent J. Dellay (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Changed political affiliation some time in 1958 | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap | Vincent J. Dellay (D) | ????, 1958 |- | Illinois 14th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| Russell W. Keeney (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died January 11, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | Minnesota 1st | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| August H. Andresen (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died January 14, 1958 | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap | Al Quie (R) | February 18, 1958 |- | Wisconsin 1st | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| Lawrence H. Smith (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died January 22, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | New Mexico At-large | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap| John J. Dempsey (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died March 11, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | Louisiana 8th | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap| George S. Long (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died March 22, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | Illinois 4th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| William E. McVey (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died August 10, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | Pennsylvania 28th | style="background-color:#B0CEFF" nowrap| Herman P. Eberharter (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died September 9, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | Ohio 17th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| J. Harry McGregor (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died October 7, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | Illinois 20th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| Sid Simpson (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died October 26, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | Massachusetts 13th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| Richard B. Wigglesworth (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned November 13, 1958 | Vacant | Not filled this term |- | New York 4th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" nowrap| Henry J. Latham (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned December 31, 1958 after becoming a judge of the New York Supreme Court | Vacant | Not filled this term |}

Employees

House of Representatives

References

  • Gould, Lewis L. (2005). The Most Exclusive Club. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books Group. ISBN 0-465-02778-4.
  • Remini, Robert V. (2006). The House. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-06-088434-7.
  • "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress". U.S. Congress. 2005. Archived from the original on 1 June 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  • "Congressional History". U.S. House of Representatives. 2006. Archived from the original on 1 June 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  • "Statistics and Lists". U.S. Senate. 2006. Archived from the original on 1 June 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)