Report Outline
Major Legislative Action by 83rd Congress
Government Finances
Foreign Relations
Hot-Cold War Chronology, 1954
New Look in National Defense
Internal Security
Economic Policy: Labor and Farm Legislation; Public Power Questions
Social Welfare Legislation
Federal-State Conflicts; Across-The-Border Relations
Machinery of Government
Special Focus
Major Legislative Action by 83rd Congress
Administration Successes and Failures in 1954
President Eisenhower got much of what he wanted, but not all that he wanted, from the Congress elected with him in 1952. He frequently applied the words “dynamic, progressive, forward-looking” to his legislative program, but in the main it showed a middle-of-the-road approach, calculated to draw support from both major parties. The measure of the program's success was about what was to be expected from a Congress almost evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats—working with a President who continued to command more public confidence than the Congress itself.
The first session of the 83rd Congress in 1953 was devoted almost wholly to revising and extending laws about to expire, scaling down appropriations, and making ready to tackle the program the President would submit at the second session. Last year's most striking piece of permanent legislation was the bill relinquishing federal claims to submerged oil lands to the states; this year's most striking enactment, the bill to outlaw the Communist party.
The death of Sen. Taft toward the close of the 1953 session, when the Eisenhower program was still in its formative stages, deprived the President of a wise counsellor and a skillful strategist in Congress. Taft's successor as Senate majority leader, Sen. Knowland of California, sometimes worked at cross purposes with the administration on questions of foreign policy and at times found it difficult to hold the conservative and more liberal Republicans together on specific domestic issues. On occasion administration measures received more support from the minority than from members of the President's own party. |
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Congressional Records and Roll Calls |
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Jul. 30, 1956 |
Record of the 84th Congress (Second Session) |
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Aug. 11, 1955 |
Roll Calls in 84th Congress (First Session) |
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Aug. 04, 1955 |
Record of the 84th Congress (First Session) |
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Aug. 23, 1954 |
Roll Calls in 83rd Congress (Second Session) |
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Aug. 21, 1954 |
Record of the 83rd Congress (Second Session) |
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Aug. 05, 1953 |
Roll Calls in 83rd Congress (First Session) |
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Aug. 04, 1953 |
Record of 83rd Congress (First Session) |
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Jul. 14, 1952 |
Roll Calls in the 82nd Congress (Second Session) |
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Jul. 08, 1952 |
Record of the 82nd Congress (Second Session) |
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Oct. 23, 1951 |
Roll Calls in 82nd Congress (First Session) |
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Oct. 22, 1951 |
Record of the 82nd Congress (First Session) |
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Sep. 25, 1950 |
Record Votes in the 81st Congress (Second Session) |
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Sep. 25, 1950 |
Record of the 81st Congress (Second Session) |
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Oct. 21, 1949 |
Record Votes in the 81st Congress (First Session) |
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Oct. 20, 1949 |
Record of the 81st Congress (First Session) |
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Aug. 07, 1948 |
Record Votes in the 80th Congress (Second Session) |
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Aug. 07, 1948 |
Record of the 80th Congress (Second Session) |
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Jul. 30, 1947 |
Record Votes in 80th Congress (January-July, 1947) |
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Jul. 28, 1947 |
Record of the 80th Congress (January-July, 1947) |
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Aug. 03, 1946 |
Roll Calls in 79th Congress (Second Session) |
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Aug. 03, 1946 |
Record of the 79th Congress (Second Session) |
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Dec. 26, 1945 |
Record Votes in the 79th Congress (First Session) |
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Dec. 21, 1945 |
Record of the 79th Congress (First Session) |
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Dec. 20, 1944 |
Record Votes in the 78th Congress (Second Session) |
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Dec. 20, 1944 |
Record of the 78th Congress (Second Session) |
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Dec. 15, 1943 |
Record Votes in the 78th Congress (First Session) |
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Dec. 15, 1943 |
Record of the 78th Congress (First Session) |
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Dec. 23, 1942 |
Record Votes in the 77th Congress (Second Session) |
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Dec. 15, 1942 |
Record of the 77th Congress (Second Session) |
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Dec. 15, 1941 |
Record Votes in the 77Th Congress (First Session) |
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Dec. 15, 1941 |
Record of the 77th Congress |
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Dec. 23, 1940 |
Record Votes in the 76th Congress (Second and Third Sessions) |
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Jul. 01, 1940 |
Record of the 76th Congress |
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Aug. 07, 1939 |
Record Votes in the 76th Congress (First Session) |
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Aug. 07, 1939 |
Record of the 76th Congress (First Session) |
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Jun. 16, 1938 |
Record Votes in the 75th Congress (Second and Third Sessions) |
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Jun. 16, 1938 |
Record of the 75th Congress |
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Aug. 22, 1937 |
Record Votes in the 75th Congress |
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Aug. 22, 1937 |
Record of the 75th Congress |
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Jun. 22, 1936 |
Record Votes in the 74th Congress, Second Session |
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Jun. 22, 1936 |
Record of the 74th Congress, Second Session |
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Aug. 27, 1935 |
Record of the Seventy-Fourth Congress, First Session |
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Jun. 19, 1934 |
Record of the Seventy-Third Congress, Second Session |
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Jun. 16, 1933 |
Record of the Seventy-Third Congress First (Special) Session |
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Mar. 04, 1933 |
Record of the Seventy-Second Congress |
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Jul. 16, 1932 |
Record of the Seventy-Second Congress, First Session |
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Jun. 30, 1932 |
Record Votes in the Seventy-Second Congress |
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Mar. 04, 1931 |
Record of the Seventy-First Congress |
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Mar. 04, 1929 |
Legislative Record of the Seventieth Congress |
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May 29, 1928 |
Legislative Record of the Seventieth Congress (First Session) |
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Mar. 31, 1927 |
Legislative Record of the Sixty-Ninth Congress |
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Mar. 04, 1925 |
Legislative Record of the Sixty Eighth Congress |
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