<row><cell>GOP<nl>51-45<cell>GOP<nl>146-188<cell>Truman<cell>Though it was the most successful election for the Republicans since the 1920s, President Truman during his first term exercised his veto power more than any of his successors, rejecting 75 bills sent by what he called the "Do-Nothing" Congress. The most significant piece of domestic legislation passed was the Taft-Hartley Labor-Management Relations Act, which outlawed closed shops and secondary boycotts by unions. It passed over Truman's veto in June 1947.
<row><cell>51-45<cell>146-188<cell><cell>
<row><cell>The 81st (1949-50)<cell><cell><cell>
<row><cell>Dems<cell>Dems<cell>Truman<cell>With the Democrats in complete control, a long-range housing bill was passed, along with the Social Security Expansion Act of 1950; legislation extending the life of the Marshall Plan; and the Government Reorganization Act of 1949, which streamlined the Executive branch.
<row><cell>54-42<cell>263-171<cell><cell>
<row><cell>The 83nd (1953-54)<cell><cell><cell>
<row><cell>GOP<cell>GOP<cell>Eisenhower<cell>The Republicans were back in charge. They approved Eisenhower's government reorganization intiatives leading to the creation of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, enacted sweeping revisions to the Internal Revenue Code and passed the Communist Control Act of 1954.
<row><cell>48-47<cell>221-213<cell><cell>
<row><cell>The 88rd (1963-64)<cell><cell><cell>
<row><cell>Dems<cell>Dems<cell>Kennedy, Johnson<cell>After a slow start, this heavily Democratic Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an $11.5 billion tax cut, and helped L.B.J. launch the "War on Poverty." Both L.B.J. and Interior Secretary Stewart Udall called this the "conservationist Congress" because of the abundance of environmental legislation.
<row><cell>68-32<cell>258-176<cell><cell>
<row><cell>The 89th (1965-66)<cell><cell><cell>
<row><cell>Dems<cell>Dems<cell>Johnson<cell>The Democrats again dominated both Houses and continued the pace begun in 1964, approving expanded Social Security payments, sweeping immigration reform, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, several education aid bills and a huge increase in defense appropriations. They also created the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
<row><cell>67-33<cell>295-140<cell><cell>
<row><cell>The 92nd (1971-72)<cell><cell><cell>
<row><cell>Dems<cell>Dems<cell>Nixon<cell>During this session, Congress set the first federal noise-control regulations, lowerd the voting age to 18 and cut taxes $16 billion over three years. Over Nixon's veto, it also passed a massive water-pollution-control measure. The Senate ratified the SALT arms-control agreement with the Soviets.
<row><cell>55-45<cell>255-180<cell><cell>
<row><cell>The 94th (1975-76)<cell><cell><cell>
<row><cell>Dems<cell>Dems<cell>Ford<cell>This was the Watergate class, elected three month's after Richard Nixon's resignation on Aug. 9, 1974. The Republicans lost 48 seats in the House, allowing the Democrats to usher in a new liberal agenda, including the Health Maintenance Organization Amendments of 1976. They enacted a major energy conservation and oil policy and, over veto, passed public-works job legislation. At the same time, they cut off federal funding for abortions.
<row><cell>61-38<cell>292-143<cell><cell>
<row><cell>The 97th (1981-82)<cell><cell><cell>
<row><cell>GOP<cell>Dems<cell>Reagan<cell>Even with the Democrats controlling the House, Republicans drew support from "boll weevil" conservative Southern Democrats to pass landmark budget and tax legislation and launch the era of Reaganomics. In the second year they rasied taxes to lower the deficit and, amid rising unemployment, extended jobless benefits.
