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1915-1917 U.S. Congress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1915, to March 4, 1917, during the third and fourth years of Woodrow Wilson's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1910 United States census.
| 64th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
63rd ← → 65th | |
United States Capitol (1906) | |
March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1917 | |
| Members | 96 senators 435 representatives 5 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Democratic |
| Senate President | Thomas R. Marshall (D) |
| House majority | Democratic |
| House Speaker | Champ Clark (D) |
| Sessions | |
| 1st: December 6, 1915 – September 8, 1916 2nd: December 4, 1916 – March 3, 1917 (lame duck) | |
The Democrats maintained a majority in both chambers (albeit reduced in the House) and, along with President Wilson, also maintained an overall federal government trifecta.
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Republican (R) | Other | |||
| End of previous congress | 53 | 42 | 1[a] | 96 | 0 |
| Begin | 56 | 40 | 0 | 96 | 0 |
| End | 55 | 41 | |||
| Final voting share | 57.3% | 42.7% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 54 | 42 | 0 | 96 | 0 |
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Bull Moose (Prog.) | Socialist (Soc.) | Independent (I) | Prohibition (Proh.) | Republican (R) | |||
| End of previous congress | 282 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 130 | 424 | 11 |
| Begin | 230 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 192 | 431 | 4 |
| End | 227 | 4 | 200 | 434 | 1 | |||
| Final voting share | 52.3% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 46.1% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 213 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 216 | 434 | 1 |
Prior to the 64th Congress, per Article 1, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution, all senators had been "chosen by the [State] Legislature thereof." (As a practical matter, many senators had been "elected"; however, technically, those elections were subject to affirmation by the State Legislatures.)[1]
However, 32 senators of the 64th Congress - those of Senate Class 3 - were directly elected by popular vote in the 1914 United States Senate Elections as directed by the 17th Amendment. The 17th stipulated that it "...shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution." Thus, Class 1 and 2 senators were not subject to election until 1916 and 1918, respectively. (Note, however, that should a senator have perished prior to the end of his term, then their replacement would have been subject to direct election as they would not have been "chosen before" ratification. This is why Augustus Bacon was the first senator constitutionally elected on July 15, 1913.)[1]
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
| State | Senator | Reason for vacancy | Successor | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana (3) |
Benjamin F. Shively (D) | Died March 14, 1916. Successor was appointed. | Thomas Taggart (D) | March 20, 1916 |
| Maine (2) |
Edwin C. Burleigh (R) | Died June 16, 1916. Successor was elected. | Bert M. Fernald (R) | September 12, 1916 |
| Arkansas (3) |
James P. Clarke (D) | Died October 1, 1916. Successor was elected. | William F. Kirby (D) | November 8, 1916 |
| Indiana (3) |
Thomas Taggart (D) | Successor was elected. | James E. Watson (R) | November 8, 1916 |
| District | Vacated by | Reason for vacancy | Successor | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York 31st | Vacant | Rep. Edwin A. Merritt died during previous congress | Bertrand Snell (R) | November 2, 1915 |
| New York 36th | Vacant | Rep. Sereno E. Payne died during previous congress | Norman J. Gould (R) | November 2, 1915 |
| Pennsylvania 24th | Vacant | Rep.-elect William M. Brown died during previous congress | Henry W. Temple (R) | November 2, 1915 |
| New York 1st | Vacant | Election was tied up in the courts | Frederick C. Hicks (R) | January 4, 1916 |
| South Carolina 4th | Joseph T. Johnson (D) | Resigned April 19, 1915 | Samuel J. Nicholls (D) | September 4, 1915 |
| New York 23rd | Joseph A. Goulden (D) | Died May 3, 1915 | William S. Bennet (R) | November 2, 1915 |
| Mississippi 5th | Samuel A. Witherspoon (D) | Died November 24, 1915 | William W. Venable (D) | January 4, 1916 |
| West Virginia 2nd | William Gay Brown Jr. (D) | Died March 9, 1916 | George M. Bowers (R) | May 9, 1916 |
| West Virginia 4th | Hunter H. Moss Jr. (R) | Died July 15, 1916 | Harry C. Woodyard (R) | November 7, 1916 |
| California 10th | William Stephens (Prog.) | Resigned July 22, 1916, after being elected Lieutenant Governor of California | Henry S. Benedict (R) | November 7, 1916 |
| Virginia 7th | James Hay (D) | Resigned October 1, 1916, after being appointed judge of the United States Court of Claims | Thomas W. Harrison (D) | November 7, 1916 |
| Philippines Resident Commissioner | Manuel L. Quezon | Resigned October 15, 1916, after being elected to the Senate of the Philippines | Seat remained vacant until next Congress | |
| Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner | Luis Muñoz Rivera | Died November 15, 1916 | Seat remained vacant until next Congress | |
| Georgia 8th | Samuel J. Tribble (D) | Incumbent died December 8, 1916. Successor elected January 11, 1917. |
Tinsley W. Rucker Jr. (D) | January 11, 1917 |
| South Carolina 5th | David E. Finley (D) | Resigned January 26, 1917. Successor elected February 21, 1917. |
Paul G. McCorkle (D) | February 21, 1917 |
| New York 15th | Michael F. Conry (D) | Died March 2, 1917 | Seat remained vacant until next Congress | |
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.
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