88th United States Congress
87th ←
→ 89th
United States Capitol (1962)
January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965
Members100 senators
435 representatives
Senate majorityDemocratic
Senate PresidentLyndon B. Johnson (D)[a]
(until November 22, 1963)
Vacant
(from November 22, 1963)
House majorityDemocratic
House SpeakerJohn McCormack (D)
Sessions
1st: January 9, 1963 – December 30, 1963
2nd: January 7, 1964 – October 3, 1964

The 88th 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, 1963, to January 3, 1965, during the final months of the presidency of John F. Kennedy, and the first years of the presidency of his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1960 United States census, and the number of members was again 435 (it had temporarily been 437 in order to seat one member each from recently admitted states of Alaska and Hawaii).

Both chambers maintained a Democratic majority - including a filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate - and with President Kennedy, the Democrats maintained an overall federal government trifecta.

Major events

Main articles: 1963 in the United States, 1964 in the United States, and 1965 in the United States

Major legislation

Main article: List of United States federal legislation § 88th United States Congress
First page of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
President Johnson signs the Wilderness Act of 1964

Constitutional amendments

Party summary

Senate

Party
(shading shows control) 		Total Vacant
Democratic
(D) 		Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 62 37 99 1
Begin 65 33 98 2
End 66 34 1000
Final voting share 66.0% 34.0%
Beginning of next congress 68 32 100 0

House of Representatives

Party
(shading shows control) 		Total Vacant
Democratic
(D) 		Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 260 174 434 3
Begin 258 176 434 1
End 253 177 4305
Final voting share 58.8% 41.2%
Beginning of next congress 295 140 435 0

Leadership

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. Senators are ordered first by state, and then by class. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election, In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1964; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1966; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1968.

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[b]
Oklahoma
(2) 		Vacant Sen. Robert S. Kerr died in previous congress.
Successor appointed to continue the term. 		J. Howard Edmondson (D) January 7, 1963
Wisconsin
(3) 		Vacant Delayed taking oath of office in order to finish term as Governor of Wisconsin Gaylord Nelson (D) January 8, 1963
Tennessee
(2) 		Estes Kefauver (D) Died August 10, 1963.
Successor appointed August 20, 1963, to continue the term. 		Herbert S. Walters (D) August 20, 1963
California
(1) 		Clair Engle (D) Died July 30, 1964.
Successor appointed August 4, 1964. 		Pierre Salinger (D) August 4, 1964
South Carolina
(2) 		Strom Thurmond (D) Changed political parties. Strom Thurmond (R) September 16, 1964
New Mexico
(1) 		Edwin L. Mechem (R) Lost special election.
Successor elected November 3, 1964. 		Joseph Montoya (D) November 4, 1964
Oklahoma
(2) 		J. Howard Edmondson (D) Successor elected November 3, 1964. Fred R. Harris (D) November 4, 1964
Tennessee
(2) 		Herbert S. Walters (D) Successor elected November 3, 1964. Ross Bass (D) November 4, 1964
Minnesota
(2) 		Hubert Humphrey (DFL) Resigned December 29, 1964, after being elected Vice President of the United States.
Successor appointed December 30, 1964, to finish the term. 		Walter Mondale (DFL) December 30, 1964
California
(1) 		Pierre Salinger (D) Resigned December 31, 1964, to give successor preferential seniority.
Successor appointed January 1, 1965. 		George Murphy (R) January 1, 1965

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[b]
California 1st Vacant Rep. Clement Woodnutt Miller died during previous congress Donald H. Clausen (R) January 22, 1963
California 23rd Clyde Doyle (D) Died March 14, 1963 Del M. Clawson (R) June 11, 1963
Pennsylvania 15th Francis E. Walter (D) Died May 31, 1963 Fred B. Rooney (D) July 30, 1963
North Dakota 1st Hjalmar Carl Nygaard (R) Died July 18, 1963 Mark Andrews (R) October 22, 1963
Pennsylvania 23rd Leon H. Gavin (R) Died September 15, 1963 Albert W. Johnson (R) November 3, 1963
Texas 10th Homer Thornberry (D) Resigned December 20, 1963, after being appointed as a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas J. J. Pickle (D) December 21, 1963
Pennsylvania 5th William J. Green Jr. (D) Died December 21, 1963 William J. Green III (D) April 28, 1964
California 5th John F. Shelley (D) Resigned January 7, 1964, after being elected Mayor of San Francisco Phillip Burton (D) February 18, 1964
Tennessee 2nd Howard Baker Sr. (R) Died January 7, 1964 Irene Baker (R) March 10, 1964
Illinois 6th Thomas J. O'Brien (D) Died April 14, 1964 Vacant Not filled this term
South Carolina 5th Robert W. Hemphill (D) Resigned May 1, 1964, after being appointed judge of the US District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of SC Thomas S. Gettys (D) November 3, 1964
Missouri 9th Clarence Cannon (D) Died May 12, 1964 William L. Hungate (D) November 3, 1964
Michigan 12th John B. Bennett (R) Died August 9, 1964 Vacant Not filled this term
Oregon 1st A. Walter Norblad (R) Died September 20, 1964 Wendell Wyatt (R) November 3, 1964
New Mexico at-large Joseph Montoya (D) Resigned November 3, 1964, after being elected to the US Senate Vacant Not filled this term
Tennessee 6th Ross Bass (D) Resigned November 3, 1964, after being elected to the US Senate
Illinois 9th Edward Rowan Finnegan (D) Resigned December 6, 1964, after being appointed judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County

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.

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Notes

  1. ^ U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson's term as President of the Senate ended on November 22, 1963, when ascending to the Presidency, President pro tempore Carl Hayden acted his duties as the President of the Senate.
  2. ^ a b When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

References

  1. ^ Loevy, Robert D. (1997). The Civil Rights Act of 1964: the passage of the law that ended racial segregation. SUNY Press. pp. 358, 360.
  2. ^ "Civil Rights Filibuster Ended". U.S. Senate. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  3. ^ "Major Features of the Civil Rights Act of 1964". CongressLink. The Dirksen Congressional Center. Archived from the original on December 6, 2014.

External links

United States congresses (and year convened)
Category