85th United States Congress

The 85th 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 1950 United States census.

85th United States Congress
84th ←
→ 86th
United States Capitol (1956)
January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1959
Members96 senators
435 representatives
Senate majorityDemocratic
Senate PresidentRichard Nixon (R)
House majorityDemocratic
House SpeakerSam Rayburn (D)
Sessions
1st: January 3, 1957 – August 30, 1957
2nd: January 7, 1958 – August 24, 1958

Both chambers had a Democratic majority.

To date, this is the earliest Congress with a member still living, Merwin Coad.

Major events
See also: 1957 in the United States, 1958 in the United States, and 1959 in the United States
  • January 5, 1957: President Eisenhower announced the Eisenhower Doctrine in a special message to Congress
  • January 20, 1957: Inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower 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 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 suffers from a stroke
  • January 31, 1958: U.S. launched its first satellite, Explorer 1
  • July 15, 1958: U.S intervenes in the Lebanon Crisis, the first major application of the Eisenhower Doctorine.
  • October 1, 1958: NASA started operations

Major legislation
Main article: List of United States federal legislation § 85th United States Congress

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

Party summary

Senate
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 47 49 96 0
Begin 49 47 96 0
End 50 45 951
Final voting share 52.6% 47.4%
Beginning of next congress 64 34 98 0

House of Representatives
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 228 200 428 7
Begin 233 200 433 2
End 232 193 42510
Final voting share 54.6% 45.4%
Beginning of next congress 282 153 435 0

Leadership
Senate President
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon (R)
Senate President pro tempore
Carl Hayden
Carl Hayden (D)
House Speaker
Sam Rayburn
Sam Rayburn (D)

Senate

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

House of Representatives

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

Caucuses

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 by class. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1958; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1960; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1962.

House of Representatives

Changes in membership

Senate
See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate
Senate changes
State
(class)		 Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
New York
(3)		 Vacant Retired.
Successor elected in 1956, but took seat late to prevent Governor from appointing a rival to be his successor as N.Y. Attorney General		 Jacob Javits (R) January 9, 1957
Texas
(1)		 Price Daniel (D) Resigned January 14, 1957, after being elected Governor of Texas.
Successor appointed January 15, 1957.		 William A. Blakley (D) January 15, 1957
Texas
(1)		 William A. Blakley (D) Interim appointee retired when successor elected.
Successor elected April 28, 1957.		 Ralph Yarborough (D) April 29, 1957
Wisconsin
(1)		 Joseph McCarthy (R) Died May 2, 1957.
Successor elected August 27, 1957.		 William Proxmire (D) August 28, 1957
West Virginia
(2)		 Matthew M. Neely (D) Died January 18, 1958.
Successor appointed January 25, 1958.		 John D. Hoblitzell Jr. (R) January 25, 1958
North Carolina
(2)		 W. Kerr Scott (D) Died April 16, 1958.
Successor appointed April 19, 1958, and then elected November 4, 1958.		 B. Everett Jordan (D) April 19, 1958
West Virginia
(2)		 John D. Hoblitzell Jr. (R) Interim appointee lost special election.
Successor elected November 4, 1958.		 Jennings Randolph (D) November 5, 1958
California
(1)		 William F. Knowland (R) Resigned early January 2, 1959. Vacant Not filled this term

House of Representatives
See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
New Mexico at-large Vacant Rep. Antonio M. Fernández died during previous congress. Joseph Montoya (D) April 9, 1957
New Jersey 2 Vacant Rep. T. Millet Hand died during previous congress. Milton W. Glenn (R) November 5, 1957
Illinois 7 James Bowler (D) Died July 18, 1957. Roland V. Libonati (D) December 31, 1957
Pennsylvania 13 Samuel K. McConnell Jr. (R) Resigned September 1, 1957, after becoming Executive Director of the United Cerebral Palsy Associations John A. Lafore Jr. (R) November 5, 1957
Georgia 7 Henderson L. Lanham (D) Died November 10, 1957. Harlan E. Mitchell (D) January 8, 1958
Pennsylvania 21 Augustine B. Kelley (D) Died November 20, 1957. John H. Dent (D) January 21, 1958
New York 37 W. Sterling Cole (R) Resigned December 1, 1957, after becoming Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Howard W. Robison (R) January 14, 1958
Tennessee 8 Jere Cooper (D) Died December 18, 1957. Fats Everett (D) February 1, 1958
Pennsylvania 4 Earl Chudoff (D) Resigned January 5, 1958, after being elected judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas No. 1. Robert N.C. Nix Sr. (D) May 20, 1958
New Jersey 14 Vincent J. Dellay (R) Changed political affiliation some time in 1958. Vincent J. Dellay (D)  ????, 1958
Illinois 14 Russell W. Keeney (R) Died January 11, 1958. Vacant Not filled this term.
Minnesota 1 August H. Andresen (R) Died January 14, 1958. Al Quie (R) February 18, 1958
Wisconsin 1 Lawrence H. Smith (R) Died January 22, 1958. Not filled this term.
New Mexico at-large John J. Dempsey (D) Died March 11, 1958. Not filled this term.
Louisiana 8 George S. Long (D) Died March 22, 1958. Not filled this term.
Illinois 4 William E. McVey (R) Died August 10, 1958. Not filled this term.
Pennsylvania 28 Herman P. Eberharter (D) Died September 9, 1958. Not filled this term.
Ohio 17 J. Harry McGregor (R) Died October 7, 1958. Not filled this term.
Illinois 20 Sid Simpson (R) Died October 26, 1958. Not filled this term.
Massachusetts 13 Richard B. Wigglesworth (R) Resigned November 13, 1958. Not filled this term.
New York 4 Henry J. Latham (R) Resigned December 31, 1958, after becoming a judge of the New York Supreme Court. Not filled this term.

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. On the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

Joint committees

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Notes
  1. When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

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 June 1, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2006.
  • "Congressional History". U.S. House of Representatives. 2006. Archived from the original on June 1, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2006.
  • "Statistics and Lists". U.S. Senate. 2006. Archived from the original on June 1, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2006.
  • House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 85th Congress (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 85th Congress, 1st Session. 1957.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 85th Congress, 2nd Session. 1958.
  • Pocket Congressional Directory for the 85th Congress. U. S. Govt. Print. Off.; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off. 1957.
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