Archive Report
Archive Report
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 ...