68th United States Congress

The 68th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1923, to March 4, 1925, during the last months of Warren G. Harding's presidency, and the first years of the administration of his successor, Calvin Coolidge. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1910 United States census.

68th United States Congress
67th ←
→ 69th

March 4, 1923 – March 4, 1925
Members96 senators
435 representatives
5 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentCalvin Coolidge (R)[a]
(until August 2, 1923)
Vacant
(from August 2, 1923)
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerFrederick H. Gillett (R)
Sessions
1st: December 3, 1923 – June 7, 1924
2nd: December 1, 1924 – March 3, 1925

Both chambers maintained a Republican majority—albeit greatly reduced from the previous Congress and with losing supermajority status in the House—and along with President Harding, the Republicans maintained an overall federal government trifecta.[1]

Major events

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Major legislation

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Constitutional amendments

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Party summary

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The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below.

Senate

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Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Farmer–
Labor

(FL)
Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 37 0 59 96 0
Begin 42 1 53 96 0
End 2 52
Final voting share 43.8% 2.1% 54.2%
Beginning of next congress 40 1 55 96 0

House of Representatives

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Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Farmer–
Labor

(FL)
Republican
(R)
Socialist
(Soc.)
End of previous congress 130 0 296 1 427 8
Begin 206 2 223 1 432 3
End 208 222 4332
Final voting share 48.0% 0.5% 51.3% 0.2%
Beginning of next congress 183 3 247 1 434 1

Leadership

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Senate president

 
Calvin Coolidge (R)
President pro tempore

 
Albert B. Cummins (R)
House Speaker

Senate

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Majority (Republican) leadership

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Minority (Democratic) leadership

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House of Representatives

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Majority (Republican) leadership

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Minority (Democratic) leadership

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Members

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This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

Senate

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Senators were elected every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. 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 began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1928; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1924; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1926.

House of Representatives

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The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise at-large, are preceded by their district numbers.

Changes in membership

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The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

Senate

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State Senator Reason for vacancy Successor Date of successor's installation
Colorado
(3)
Samuel D. Nicholson (R) Died March 24, 1923.
Successor was appointed.
Alva B. Adams (D) May 17, 1923
Minnesota
(2)
Knute Nelson (R) Died April 28, 1923.
Successor was elected.
Magnus Johnson (FL) July 16, 1923
Vermont
(3)
William P. Dillingham (R) Died July 12, 1923.
Successor was elected.
Porter H. Dale (R) November 7, 1923
Rhode Island
(2)
LeBaron Bradford Colt (R) Died August 18, 1924.
Successor was elected.
Jesse H. Metcalf (R) November 5, 1924
Connecticut
(3)
Frank B. Brandegee (R) Died October 14, 1924.
Successor was elected December 17, 1924.
Hiram Bingham III (R) January 8, 1925[4]
Massachusetts
(1)
Henry Cabot Lodge (R) Died November 9, 1924.
Successor was appointed.
William M. Butler (R) November 13, 1924
Colorado
(3)
Alva B. Adams (D) Interim appointee retired.
Successor was elected November 4, 1924.
Rice W. Means (R) December 1, 1924
Illinois
(2)
Joseph M. McCormick (R) Died February 25, 1925.
Successor was appointed, having already been elected to the next term.
Charles S. Deneen (R) February 26, 1925

House of Representatives

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  • Replacements: 22
  • Deaths: 15
  • Resignations: 6
  • Contested election: 0
  • Total seats with changes: 24
District Vacated by Reason for vacancy Successor Date of successor's installation
Illinois 2nd Vacant Rep. James R. Mann died during previous congress Morton D. Hull (R) April 3, 1923
California 10th Vacant Rep. Henry Z. Osborne died during previous congress John D. Fredericks (R) May 1, 1923
New York 16th Vacant Rep. William Bourke Cockran died during previous congress John J. O'Connor (D) November 6, 1923
Alabama 2nd John R. Tyson (D) Died March 27, 1923 Lister Hill (D) August 14, 1923
Michigan 3rd John M. C. Smith (R) Died March 30, 1923 Arthur B. Williams (R) June 19, 1923
Iowa 8th Horace M. Towner (R) Resigned April 1, 1923, after being appointed Governor of Puerto Rico Hiram K. Evans (R) June 4, 1923
New York 11th Daniel J. Riordan (D) Died April 28, 1923 Anning S. Prall (D) November 6, 1923
Illinois 4th John W. Rainey (D) Died May 4, 1923 Thomas A. Doyle (D) November 6, 1923
Arkansas 6th Lewis E. Sawyer (D) Died May 5, 1923 James B. Reed (D) October 6, 1923
Washington 5th J. Stanley Webster (R) Resigned May 8, 1923, after being appointed to United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington Samuel B. Hill (D) September 25, 1923
North Carolina 2nd Claude Kitchin (D) Died May 31, 1923 John H. Kerr (D) November 6, 1923
New York 32nd Luther W. Mott (R) Died July 10, 1923 Thaddeus C. Sweet (R) November 6, 1923
Vermont 2nd Porter H. Dale (R) Resigned August 11, 1923, after becoming a candidate for the United States Senate Ernest Willard Gibson (R) November 6, 1923
Kentucky 7th J. Campbell Cantrill (D) Died September 2, 1923 Joseph W. Morris (D) November 30, 1923
New York 24th James V. Ganly (D) Died September 7, 1923 Benjamin L. Fairchild (R) November 6, 1923
Mississippi 3rd Benjamin G. Humphreys II (D) Died October 16, 1923 William Y. Humphreys (D) November 27, 1923
Kentucky 9th William J. Fields (D) Resigned December 11, 1923 Fred M. Vinson (D) January 24, 1924
Louisiana 2nd H. Garland Dupré (D) Died February 21, 1924 James Z. Spearing (D) April 22, 1924
Illinois 14th William J. Graham (R) Resigned June 7, 1924, after being appointed to the United States Court of Customs Appeals Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Kansas 2nd Edward C. Little (R) Died June 27, 1924 Ulysses S. Guyer (R) November 4, 1924
North Dakota 2nd George M. Young (R) Resigned September 2, 1924, after being appointed to the Board of General Appraisers Thomas Hall (R) November 4, 1924
Massachusetts 15th William S. Greene (R) Died September 22, 1924 Robert M. Leach (R) November 4, 1924
Maryland 5th Sydney E. Mudd II (R) Died October 11, 1924 Stephen W. Gambrill (D) November 4, 1924
California 4th Julius Kahn (R) Died December 18, 1924 Seat remained vacant until next Congress

Committees

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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

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House of Representatives

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Joint committees

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Caucuses

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Employees

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Senate

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House of Representatives

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ U.S. Vice President Coolidge's term as President of the Senate ended on August 2, 1923, when he ascended to the presidency. President pro tempore Albert B. Cummins acted his duties as the president of the Senate.

References

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  1. ^ Rogers, Lindsay (1925). "First and Second Sessions of the Sixty-Eighth Congress: December 3, 1923 to June 7, 1924; December 1, 1924 to March 4, 1925". American Political Science Review. 19 (4): 761–772. doi:10.2307/2939164. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 2939164.
  2. ^ Huckabee, David C. (September 30, 1997). "Ratification of Amendments to the U.S. Constitution" (PDF). Congressional Research Service reports. Washington D.C.: Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2004.
  3. ^ "Four amendments that almost made it into the constitution". Constitution Daily. Philadelphia: The National Constitution Center. March 23, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  4. ^ "A chronological list of senators since the First Congress in 1789" (PDF). United States Senate.
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
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