The 83rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1953, until January 3, 1955, during the last two weeks of the Truman administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of Dwight Eisenhower's presidency. It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 1950 U.S. census.
The Republicans gained the majority in both chambers, winning back full control of Congress for the first time since the 80th Congress in 1947, and with Dwight Eisenhower being sworn in as president on January 20, 1953, this gave the Republicans an overall federal government trifecta for the first time since the 71st Congress in 1929, and the last time until they briefly did so during the 107th Congress in 2001.
Major events
January 20, 1953: Dwight Eisenhower is sworn in as President of the United States in his first inauguration March 1, 1954: U.S. Capitol shooting incident December 2, 1954: Joseph McCarthy is censured by the U.S. Senate
Major legislation
July 3, 1953: Small Business Act, , ch. 282, August 7, 1953: Refugee Relief Act, August 7, 1953: Submerged Lands Act, ch. 345, August 14, 1953: Public Law 280, , May 13, 1954: Saint Lawrence Seaway Act, ch. 201, August 12, 1954: Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act, ch. 649, title II, §201, August 13, 1954: Multiple Mineral Development Act, ch. 730, August 16, 1954: Internal Revenue Code of 1954, , ch. 736, Federal Unemployment Tax Act, §1(d), National Firearms Act, §1(d), August 24, 1954: Communist Control Act of 1954, ch. 886, August 30, 1954: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 1954: Agricultural Act of 1954 1954: Water Facilities Act of 1954
Party summary
Until the last week of the first session of Congress, Republicans had a 48-47-1 tied-plurality in the Senate which Republican Vice President Richard Nixon broke in the GOP’s favor. At the start of the second session, to account for whenever the Senate became tied 47-47-1 or when the Democrats held the plurality the Republican-turned-Independent, Wayne Morse, caucused with the GOP which gave them a tie-breaking majority, allowing continuity in GOP control of the Senate and the overall trifecta of government. Thus Republican leader William Knowland remained Senate Majority Leader, Democratic leader Lyndon B. Johnson remained Senate Minority Leader, and the GOP remained continuously in control of the Senate committees. Wayne Morse would begin caucusing with Democrats at the start of the next Congress in 1955 to give them Senate control.
Senate
Affiliation Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) Total Democratic Independent Republican Vacant End of previous Congress 47 — 48 95 1 Begin 47 1 48 96 — June 26, 1953 46 95 1 July 10, 1953 47 96 — July 24, 1953 47 95 1 July 31, 1953 47 46 94 2 August 14, 1953 47 47 95 1 November 10, 1953 48 96 — January 6, 195448 1 47 96 — April 12, 1954 48 1 46 95 1 April 16, 1954 48 1 47 96 — May 12, 1954 47 95 1 June 5, 1954 48 96 — June 19, 1954 47 95 1 June 24, 1954 48 96 — July 1, 1954 47 95 1 July 3, 1954 48 96 — September 1, 1954 46 95 1 September 6, 1954 47 96 — September 28, 1954 46 95 1 October 1, 1954 49 96 — November 2, 1954 47 48 November 2, 1954 48 47 December 15, 1954 47 48 December 23, 1954 46 95 1 December 24, 1954 47 96 — December 31, 1954 47 95 1 January 1, 1955 48 96 — Final voting share 49% 1% 50% Beginning of the next Congress 48 1 47 96 —
House of Representatives Republican majority in the House becomes a plurality after the end of the last congressional session. Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) Total Vacant Democratic Independent Republican End of previous Congress 228 1 198 427 8 Begin 211 1 221 433 2 End 212 213 426 9 Beginning of next Congress 231 0 203 434 1
Leadership
Senate President: Alben W. Barkley (D), until January 20, 1953 Richard Nixon (R), from January 20, 1953 President pro tempore: Styles Bridges (R)
Majority (Republican) leadership Majority Leader: Robert A. Taft, until July 31, 1953 (died) William Knowland, from August 3, 1953 Majority Whip: Leverett Saltonstall Republican Conference Chairman: Eugene Millikin Republican Conference Secretary: Milton Young National Senatorial Committee Chair: Everett Dirksen Policy Committee Chairman: Homer S. Ferguson
Minority (Democratic) leadership Minority Leader and Conference Chairman: Lyndon B. Johnson Minority Whip: Earle Clements Democratic Caucus Secretary: Thomas C. Hennings Jr.
House of Representatives Speaker: Joseph W. Martin Jr. (R)
Majority (Republican) leadership Majority Leader: Charles A. Halleck Majority Whip: Leslie C. Arends Republican Conference Chairman: Clifford R. Hope Policy Committee Chairman: Joseph W. Martin Jr. Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Richard M. Simpson
Minority (Democratic) leadership Minority Leader: Sam Rayburn Minority Whip: John W. McCormack Democratic Caucus Chairman: Wilbur Mills Democratic Caucus Secretary: Edna F. Kelly Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Michael J. Kirwan
Caucuses
House Democratic Caucus Senate Democratic Caucus
Members
Senate
Senators are popularly elected statewide every six years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Within each state, senators are listed in order of seniority. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election, In this Congress, Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1954; Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1956; and Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1958.
Alabama 2. John Sparkman (D) 3. J. Lister Hill (D)
Arizona 1. Barry Goldwater (R) 3. Carl Hayden (D)
Arkansas 2. John L. McClellan (D) 3. J. William Fulbright (D)
California 1. William Knowland (R) 3. Thomas Kuchel (R)
Colorado 2. Edwin C. Johnson (D) 3. Eugene Millikin (R)
Connecticut 1. William A. Purtell (R) 3. Prescott Bush (R)
Delaware 1. John J. Williams (R) 2. J. Allen Frear Jr. (D)
Florida 1. Spessard Holland (D) 3. George Smathers (D)
Georgia 2. Richard Russell Jr. (D) 3. Walter F. George (D)
Idaho 2. Henry Dworshak (R) 3. Herman Welker (R)
Illinois 2. Paul Douglas (D) 3. Everett Dirksen (R)
Indiana 1. William E. Jenner (R) 3. Homer E. Capehart (R)
Iowa 2. Guy M. Gillette (D) 3. Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R)
Kansas 2. Andrew Frank Schoeppel (R) 3. Frank Carlson (R)
Kentucky 2. John Sherman Cooper (R) 3. Earle Clements (D)
Louisiana 2. Allen J. Ellender (D) 3. Russell B. Long (D)
Maine 1. Frederick G. Payne (R) 2. Margaret Chase Smith (R)
Maryland 1. James Glenn Beall (R) 3. John Marshall Butler (R)
Massachusetts 1. John F. Kennedy (D) 2. Leverett Saltonstall (R)
Michigan 1. Charles E. Potter (R) 2. Homer S. Ferguson (R)
Minnesota 1. Edward John Thye (R) 2. Hubert Humphrey (DFL)
Mississippi 1. John C. Stennis (D) 2. James Eastland (D)
Missouri 1. Stuart Symington (D) 3. Thomas C. Hennings Jr. (D)
Montana 1. Mike Mansfield (D) 2. James E. Murray (D)
Nebraska 1. Hugh A. Butler (R), until July 1, 1954 Samuel W. Reynolds (R), July 3, 1954 – November 7, 1954 Roman Hruska (R), from November 8, 1954 2. Dwight Griswold (R), until April 12, 1954 Eva Bowring (R), April 16, 1954 – November 7, 1954 Hazel Abel (R), November 8, 1954 – December 31, 1954 Carl Curtis (R), from January 1, 1955
Nevada 1. George W. Malone (R) 3. Patrick A. McCarran (D), until September 28, 1954 Ernest S. Brown (R), October 1, 1954 – December 1, 1954 Alan Bible (D), from December 2, 1954
New Hampshire 2. Styles Bridges (R) 3. Charles W. Tobey (R), until July 24, 1953 Robert W. Upton (R), August 14, 1953 – November 7, 1954 Norris Cotton (R), from November 8, 1954
New Jersey 1. Howard Alexander Smith (R) 2. Robert C. Hendrickson (R)
New Mexico 1. Dennis Chávez (D) 2. Clinton P. Anderson (D)
New York 1. Irving Ives (R) 3. Herbert H. Lehman (D)
North Carolina 2. Willis Smith (D), until June 26, 1953 Alton Lennon (D), July 10, 1953 – November 28, 1954 W. Kerr Scott (D), from November 29, 1954 3. Clyde R. Hoey (D), until May 12, 1954 Sam Ervin (D), from June 5, 1954
North Dakota 1. William Langer (R-NPL) 3. Milton Young (R)
Ohio 1. John W. Bricker (R) 3. Robert A. Taft (R), until July 31, 1953 Thomas A. Burke (D), November 10, 1953 – December 2, 1954 George H. Bender (R), from December 16, 1954
Oklahoma 2. Robert S. Kerr (D) 3. A. S. Mike Monroney (D)
Oregon 2. Guy Cordon (R) 3. Wayne Morse (I)
Pennsylvania 1. Edward Martin (R) 3. James H. Duff (R)
Rhode Island 1. John Pastore (D) 2. Theodore F. Green (D)
South Carolina 2. Burnet R. Maybank (D), until September 1, 1954 Charles E. Daniel (D), September 6, 1954 – December 23, 1954 Strom Thurmond (D), from December 24, 1954 3. Olin D. Johnston (D)
South Dakota 2. Karl E. Mundt (R) 3. Francis Case (R)
Tennessee 1. Albert Gore Sr. (D) 2. Estes Kefauver (D)
Texas 1. Price Daniel (D) 2. Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
Utah 1. Arthur Vivian Watkins (R) 3. Wallace F. Bennett (R)
Vermont 1. Ralph Flanders (R) 3. George Aiken (R)
Virginia 1. Harry F. Byrd (D) 2. A. Willis Robertson (D)
Washington 1. Henry M. Jackson (D) 3. Warren G. Magnuson (D)
West Virginia 1. Harley M. Kilgore (D) 2. Matthew M. Neely (D)
Wisconsin 1. Joseph McCarthy (R) 3. Alexander Wiley (R)
Wyoming 1. Frank A. Barrett (R) 2. Lester C. Hunt (D), until June 19, 1954 Edward D. Crippa (R), June 24, 1954 – November 28, 1954 Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D), from November 29, 1954
House of Representatives
Alabama . Frank W. Boykin (D) . George M. Grant (D) . George W. Andrews (D) . Kenneth A. Roberts (D) . Albert Rains (D) . Armistead Selden (D) . Carl Elliott (D) . Robert E. Jones Jr. (D) . Laurie C. Battle (D)
Arizona . John Jacob Rhodes (R) . Harold Patten (D)
Arkansas . Ezekiel C. Gathings (D) . Wilbur Mills (D) . James William Trimble (D) . Oren Harris (D) . Brooks Hays (D) . William F. Norrell (D)
California . Hubert B. Scudder (R) . Clair Engle (D) . John E. Moss (D) . William S. Mailliard (R) . John F. Shelley (D) . Robert Condon (D) . John J. Allen Jr. (R) . George P. Miller (D) . J. Arthur Younger (R) . Charles Gubser (R) . J. Leroy Johnson (R) . Allan O. Hunter (R) . Ernest K. Bramblett (R) . Harlan Hagen (D) . Gordon L. McDonough (R) . Donald L. Jackson (R) . Cecil R. King (D) . Craig Hosmer (R) . Chester E. Holifield (D) . John Carl Hinshaw (R) . Edgar W. Hiestand (R) . Joseph F. Holt (R) . Clyde Doyle (D) . Norris Poulson (R), until June 11, 1953 Glenard P. Lipscomb (R), from November 10, 1953 . Patrick J. Hillings (R) . Sam Yorty (D) . Harry R. Sheppard (D) . James B. Utt (R) . John R. Phillips (R) . Bob Wilson (R)
Colorado . Byron G. Rogers (D) . William S. Hill (R) . John Chenoweth (R) . Wayne N. Aspinall (D)
Connecticut . Thomas J. Dodd (D) . Horace Seely-Brown Jr. (R) . Albert W. Cretella (R) . Albert P. Morano (R) . James T. Patterson (R) . Antoni Sadlak (R)
Delaware . Herbert Warburton (R)
Florida . Courtney W. Campbell (D) . Charles E. Bennett (D) . Robert L. F. Sikes (D) . Bill Lantaff (D) . Syd Herlong (D) . Dwight L. Rogers (D), until December 1, 1954 . James A. Haley (D) . Donald Ray Matthews (D)
Georgia . Prince Preston (D) . J. L. Pilcher (D), from February 4, 1953 . Tic Forrester (D) . Albert Sidney Camp (D), until July 24, 1954 John Flynt (D), from November 2, 1954 . James C. Davis (D) . Carl Vinson (D) . Henderson Lovelace Lanham (D) . William McDonald Wheeler (D) . Phil Landrum (D) . Paul Brown (D)
Idaho