78th United States Congress
| 78th United States Congress | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Seventy-eighth 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, DC from January 3, 1943 to January 3, 1945, during the last two years of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Sixteenth Census of the United States in 1940. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
Major events
- World War II continued (1941–1945)
- June 6, 1944: Battle of Normandy
- November 7, 1944: General elections:
- President Roosevelt was re-elected to a fourth term.
- Senate Democrats kept their majority despite 1-seat net loss.
- House Democrats increased their majority with a 20-seat net gain.
Major legislation
- December 17, 1943: Magnuson Act (Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943), Sess. 1, ch. 344, 57 Stat. 600
- February 3, 1944: Mustering-out Payment Act, Sess. 2, Pub.L. 78–225, 58 Stat. 8
- June 6, 1944: Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (G.I. Bill), Sess. 2, ch. 268, Pub.L. 78–345, 58 Stat. 284
- June 27, 1944: Veterans' Preference Act, Sess. 2, ch. 287, Pub.L. 78–359, 58 Stat. 387
- July 1, 1944: Public Health Service Act, Sess. 2, ch. 373, 58 Stat. 682
- December 22, 1944: Pick-Sloan Flood Control Act, Sess. 2, ch. 665, Pub.L. 78–534, 58 Stat. 887
Party summary
Senate
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Progressive (P) | Republican (R) | Other | |||
| End of the previous congress | 64 | 1 | 28 | 3 | 96 | 0 |
| Begin | 58 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 95 | 1 |
| End | 57 | 38 | 96 | 0 | ||
| Final voting share | 59.4% | 1.0% | 39.6% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 57 | 1 | 38 | 0 | 96 | 0 |
House of Representatives
- Democratic (D): 222 (majority)
- Republican (R): 209
- Progressive (P): 2
- Labor (AL): 1
- Farmer-Labor (F-L): 1
TOTAL members: 435
Leaders
[ Section contents: Senate: Majority (D), Minority (R) • House: Majority (D), Minority (R) ]
Senate
Majority (Democratic) leadership
Minority (Republican) leadership
- Minority Leader: Charles L. McNary, until February 25, 1944
- Wallace H. White, Jr., after February 25, 1944
- Minority whip: No Republican whips were appointed from 1935 to 1944 since only 17 Republicans were in the Senate following the landslide reelection of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. Accordingly, the minutes of the Republican Conference for the period state: "On motion of Senator Hastings, duly seconded and carried, it was agreed that no Assistant Leader or Whip be elected but that the chairman be authorized to appoint Senators from time to time to assist him in taking charge of the interests of the minority." A note attached to the conference minutes added: "The chairman of the conference, Senator McNary, apparently appointed Senator Austin of Vermont as assistant leader in 1943 and 1944, until the conference adopted Rules of Organization."[1]
House of Representatives
- Speaker: Sam Rayburn (D)
Majority (Democratic) leadership
Minority (Republican) leadership
- Minority Leader: Joseph William Martin, Jr.
- Minority whip: Harry Lane Englebright, until May 13, 1943
- Leslie C. Arends, from May 13, 1943
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.
House of Representatives
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
Changes in membership
Senate
| State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa (2) | Vacant | Seat remained vacant until Senator-elect completed his term as Governor of Iowa | George A. Wilson (R) | January 14, 1943 |
| New Jersey (1) | William Warren Barbour (R) | Died November 22, 1943. Successor was appointed until an election. |
Arthur Walsh (D) | November 26, 1943 |
| Indiana (3) | Frederick Van Nuys (D) | Died January 25, 1944. Successor was appointed until an election. |
Samuel D. Jackson (D) | January 28, 1944 |
| Massachusetts (2) | Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (R) | Resigned February 3, 1944 to go on active duty in the US Army. Success was appointed until a special election. |
Sinclair Weeks (R) | February 8, 1944 |
| Oregon (2) | Charles L. McNary (R) | Died February 25, 1944. Successor was appointed and subsequently won special election |
Guy Cordon (R) | March 4, 1944 |
| Washington (3) | Homer Bone (D) | Resigned November 13, 1944 to become Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Successor was appointed to finish the term, having just been elected to the next term. |
Warren Magnuson (D) | December 14, 1944 |
| Indiana (3) | Samuel D. Jackson (D) | Resigned November 14, 1944 after successor was elected | William E. Jenner (R) | November 7, 1944 |
| South Carolina (3) | Ellison Durant Smith (D) | Died November 17, 1944. | Wilton E. Hall (D) | November 20, 1944 |
| New Jersey (1) | Arthur Walsh (D) | Resigned December 7, 1944 after a successor was elected | H. Alexander Smith (R) | December 7, 1944 |
| Massachusetts (2) | Sinclair Weeks (R) | Resigned December 19, 1944 after a successor was elected. | Vacant until the next Congress. Senator-elect, Leverett Saltonstall, did not take office until January 4, 1945, after completion of his term as Governor of Massachusetts. | |
House of Representatives
| District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date successor seated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri 6th | Vacant | Rep. Philip A. Bennett died in previous Congress | Marion T. Bennett (R) | January 12, 1943 |
| California 2nd | Harry L. Englebright (R) | Died May 13, 1943 | Clair Engle (D) | August 31, 1943 |
| Kansas 2nd | Ulysses S. Guyer (R) | Died June 5, 1943 | Errett P. Scrivner (R) | September 14, 1943 |
| Oklahoma 2nd | John C. Nichols (D) | Resigned July 3, 1943 to become vice-president of Transcontinental and Western Air. | William G. Stigler (D) | March 28, 1944 |
| New York 32nd | Francis D. Culkin (R) | Died August 4, 1943 | Hadwen C. Fuller (R) | November 2, 1943 |
| Pennsylvania 23rd | James E. Van Zandt (R) | Resigned September 24, 1943 after being called to active duty in the US Armed Forces. | D. Emmert Brumbaugh (R) | November 2, 1943 |
| Kentucky 4th | Edward W. Creal (D) | Died October 13, 1943 | Chester O. Carrier (R) | November 30, 1943 |
| Pennsylvania 2nd | James P. McGranery (D) | Resigned November 17, 1943 after being appointed an Assistant Attorney General | Joseph Marmaduke Pratt (R) | January 18, 1944 |
| Pennsylvania 17th | J. William Ditter (R) | Died November 21, 1943 | Vacant until the next Congress | |
| Alabama 3rd | Henry B. Steagall (D) | Died November 22, 1943 | George W. Andrews (D) | March 14, 1944 |
| Colorado 1st | Lawrence Lewis (D) | Died December 9, 1943 | Dean M. Gillespie (R) | March 7, 1944 |
| New York 21st | Joseph A. Gavagan (D) | Resigned December 30, 1943 after being elected a justice of the New York Supreme Court | James H. Torrens (D) | February 29, 1944 |
| Illinois 19th | William H. Wheat (R) | Died January 16, 1944 | Rolla C. McMillen (R) | June 13, 1944 |
| Illinois 7th | Leonard W. Schuetz (D) | Died February 13, 1944 | Vacant until the next Congress | |
| New York 4th | Thomas H. Cullen (D) | Died March 1, 1944 | John J. Rooney (D) | June 6, 1944 |
| New York 11th | James A. O'Leary (D) | Died March 16, 1944 | Ellsworth B. Buck (R) | June 6, 1944 |
| Louisiana 3rd | James Domengeaux (D) | Resigned April 15, 1944 to join US Armed Forces | James Domengeaux (D) | Re-elected to fill his own vacancy November 7, 1944 |
| California 16th | Will Rogers, Jr. (D) | Resigned May 23, 1944 to enter the US Army | Vacant until the next Congress | |
| Philippines At-large | Joaquín Miguel Elizalde | Resigned August 9, 1944 to become a member of the war cabinet of President Manuel L. Quezon | Carlos P. Romulo | August 10, 1944 |
| Virginia 2nd | Winder R. Harris (D) | Resigned September 15, 1944 | Ralph Hunter Daughton (D) | November 7, 1944 |
| Florida 3rd | Robert L. F. Sikes (D) | Resigned October 19, 1944 to enter the US Army | Vacant until the next Congress | |
| South Carolina 2nd | Hampton P. Fulmer (D) | Died October 19, 1944 | Willa L. Fulmer (R) | November 7, 1944 |
| Florida At-large | Robert A. Green (D) | Resigned November 25, 1944 to enter the United States Navy | Vacant until the next Congress | |
| Tennessee 4th | Albert Gore, Sr. (D) | Resigned December 4, 1944 to enter the United States Army | Vacant until the next Congress | |
| Rhode Island 2nd | John E. Fogarty (D) | Resigned December 7, 1944 to enter the United States Navy | Vacant until the next Congress | |
| Washington 1st | Warren Magnuson (D) | Resigned December 14, 1944 when appointed U.S. Senator | Vacant until the next Congress | |
| Pennsylvania At-large | William I. Troutman (R) | Resigned January 2, 1945 | Vacant until the next Congress | |
Committees
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Appropriations
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- Banking and Currency
- Campaign Expenditures Investigation, 1944 (Special)
- Centralization of Heavy Industry in the United States (Select)
- Civil Service
- Civil Service Laws (Special)
- Claims
- Commerce
- District of Columbia
- Education and Labor
- Wartime Health and Education
- Enrolled Bills
- Expenditures in Executive Departments
- Finance
- Foreign Relations
- Fuel Situation in the Middle West (Special)
- Gasoline and Fuel Oil Shortages (Special)
- Immigration
- Immigration and Naturalization
- Indian Affairs
- Interoceanic Canals
- Interstate Commerce
- Investigate the National Defense Program (Special)
- Judiciary
- Library
- Manufactures
- Military Affairs
- Mines and Mining
- Naval Affairs
- Patents
- Pensions
- Petroleum Resources (Special)
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Post-War Economic Policy and Planning (Special)
- Printing
- Privileges and Elections
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands and Surveys
- Rules
- Senatorial Campaign Expenditures (Special)
- Small Business Enterprises (Special)
- Territories and Insular Affairs
- Whole
- Wildlife Resources (Special)
- Wool Production (Special)
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Agriculture
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- Census
- Civil Service
- Claims
- Coinage, Weights and Measures
- Disposition of Executive Papers
- District of Columbia
- Education
- Election of the President, Vice President and Representatives in Congress
- Elections
- Enrolled Bills
- Expenditures in the Executive Departments
- Flood Control
- Foreign Affairs
- Immigration and Naturalization
- Indian Affairs
- Insular Affairs
- Interstate and Foreign Commerce
- Invalid Pensions
- Irrigation and Reclamation
- Labor
- Memorials
- Merchant Marine and Fisheries
- Military Affairs
- Mines and Mining
- Naval Affairs
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Revision of Laws
- Rivers and Harbors
- Roads
- Rules
- Small Business (Select)
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- War Claims
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Commemorate the Cenntennial of the Telegraph
- Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
- Disposition of (Useless) Executive Papers
- The Library
- Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures
- Organization of Congress
- Selective Service Deferments
- Taxation
Employees
Legislative branch agency directors
- Architect of the Capitol: David Lynn
- Attending Physician of the United States Congress: George Calver
- Comptroller General of the United States: Lindsay C. Warren
- Librarian of Congress: Archibald MacLeish (until 1944)
- Public Printer of the United States: Augustus E. Giegengack
Senate
- Chaplain: Frederick Brown Harris (Methodist)
- Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins
- Secretary: Edwin A. Halsey
- Sergeant at Arms: Wall Doxey
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: James Shera Montgomery (Methodist)
- Clerk: South Trimble
- Doorkeeper: Ralph R. Roberts
- Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
- Sergeant at Arms: Kenneth Romney
See also
- United States elections, 1942 (elections leading to this Congress)
- United States elections, 1944 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
References
- ↑ "Party Whips". Senate.gov.
- House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 78th Congress (PDF).
- Official Congressional Directory for the 78th Congress, 1st Session.
- Official Congressional Directory for the 78th Congress, 2nd Session.
- Official Congressional Directory for the 78th Congress, 2nd Session (1st Revision).
- Official Congressional Directory for the 78th Congress, 2nd Session (2nd Revision).
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