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.

Barack Obama: The Democrats’ Richard Nixon?

Barack Obama: The Democrats’ Richard Nixon?

Bruce Bartlett has quickly become one of my favorite commentators and the story linked to above is a reason why. He quickly and neatly summarizes the ideological nature of almost every president since FDR and explains why Obama is best seen as being to conservatism, what Nixon was to liberalism.

2302s ought to read this in order to get familiar with the nature of recent presidents, 2301s ought to read it in order to understand not only the ideological shifts that the nation has gone through in the past seven or eight decades, but the elections that facilitate this shift.

Just in Case

From the story below, a copy of the text Nixon would have read had the crew of Apollo 11 not returned safely from the moon. H.R. Halderman was Nixon's chief of staff, Bill Safire was a speechwriter.

The EPA Turns 40

Photo Essay: Why Nixon Created the EPA.

Young John Kerry: Republican Prospect

It looks like the Nixon White House thought John Kerry was a potential recruit.

Nixon Tries to be Warm and Fuzzy

An amazing memo by Richard Nixon a couple of year before his reelection in 1972. He wants his staff to sell his "warmth" to the public.

Nixon on Executive Power

From an interview with David Frost in 1977:

Frost: So what in a sense you are saying is that there are certain situations when the president can decide that it is in the best interest of the nation or something and do something illegal.

Nixon: Well, when the president does it that means its not illegal.

Frost: By definition.

Nixon: Exactly.