74th Congress (1935 - 1937)

House of Representatives

House Majority: Democrat

House Majority Seats: 322 out of 435

House Speaker: Rep. Joseph W. Byrns (D-TN)

Senate

Senate Majority: Democrat

Senate Majority Seats: 70 out of 96

Senate Majority Leader: Sen. Joseph T. Robinson (D-AR)

Executive

President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D-NY)

Vice President: John Nance Garner (D-TX)

portrait

Member Spotlight

Featured: Sen. Alben Barkley (D-KY) was a masterful orator and influential legislator whose career spanned over five decades in both the House and Senate. Born in 1877, he served as Senate Majority Leader and later as Vice President under Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953. Barkley was known for his wit, wisdom, and commitment to progressive economic policies, famously remarking: “We have been told here that we ought to balance the budget. It has become a sort of shibboleth, a sacred slogan in the last few weeks. Although, for 150 years as a nation, we did without a budget and did not know what a budget was, now that we have one we do not know what to do with. We cannot balance it and we cannot leave it unbalanced.” His combination of humor, insight, and political skill made him a beloved and enduring figure in government.

Enactments