What made the 91st Congress so cooperative?

A close look at the graph below shows that the 91st Congress - which met from 1969 - 1971 - was the least polarized and most cooperative in the past few decades. This is based on visual analysis anyway. If you look through the graph below, its the one that has the greatest degree of overlap between the Democrats and Republicans.





I have no idea why, but its worth exploring (I'm thinking this might be a good subject for a weekly written assignment for 2305). Its worth noting that the 91st Congress elected in the critical election of 1968 - the one that kicked off the 6th party era - maybe that matters. It was dominated by Democrats and dealt with the initial two years of Richard Nixon's presidency. Again - maybe that matters.

Here's an overview of it from Congress.gov:

The 91st Congress (1969–1971) faced several daunting challenges: an unpopular war in Vietnam, race riots in the cities, a rising crime rate, and an economic recession. College campuses erupted in protest when President Richard Nixon ordered U.S. troops into Cambodia and escalated the Vietnam War. Congress defeated the President’s attempt to change welfare policy, and rejected two of Nixon’s nominees to the Supreme Court. As animosity mounted between the White House and Capitol Hill, Congress reorganized itself in 1970 to foster transparency with new voting rules, a new budget process, and a more professional staff.

And some of the major laws passed:

- The Equal Rights Amendment.
- Organized Crime Control Act of 1970.
- The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970.
- Controlled Substances Act.
- National Environmental Policy Act.

For general information about that session of Congress click on these.

- House.gov: 91st Congress.
- Wikipedia: 91st Congress.
- Wikipedia: Legislative record of the 91st Congress.
- Richard Nixon: Statement About the Legislative Record of the 91st Congress.