The Eighty-first 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 January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1951, during the fifth and sixth years of Harry S. Truman's presidency.
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| 81st United States Congress | |||
 United States Capitol (2002) |
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| Duration: January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951 | |||
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| Senate President: | Vacant (until Jan 20, 1949) Alben W. Barkley (from Jan 20, 1949) |
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| Senate Pres. pro tem: | Kenneth McKellar | ||
| House Speaker: | Sam Rayburn | ||
| Members: | 96 Senators 435 Representatives 4 Non-voting members |
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| Senate Majority: | Democratic | ||
| House Majority: | Democratic | ||
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| Sessions | |||
| 1st: January 3, 1949 – October 19, 1949 2nd: January 3, 1950 – January 2, 1951 |
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The Eighty-first 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 January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1951, during the fifth and sixth years of Harry S. Truman's presidency.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Sixteenth Census of the United States in 1940. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
Major events[edit]
- January 20, 1949: Inauguration of President Truman and Vice President Barkley
- August 16, 1949: Office of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff created
- January 21, 1950: Accused communist spy Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury
- January 31, 1950: President Truman ordered the development of the hydrogen bomb, in response to the detonation of the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb in 1949
- June 27, 1950: Korean War: President Truman ordered American military forces to aid in the defense of South Korea
Major legislation[edit]
- June 20, 1949: Central Intelligence Agency Act, ch. 227, 63 Stat. 208, 50 U.S.C. § 403a
- May 5, 1950: Uniform Code of Military Justice, ch. 169, 64 Stat. 109
- October 25, 1949: Hospital Survey and Construction Amendments of 1949, ch. 722, Pub.L. 81–380, 63 Stat. 898
- October 26, 1949: Fair Labor Standards Amendment, ch. 736, Pub.L. 81–393, 63 Stat. 910, 29 U.S.C. ch. 8
- October 31, 1949: Agricultural Act of 1949, ch. 792, 63 Stat. 1051
- May 10, 1950: National Science Foundation Act, ch. 171, Pub.L. 81–507, 64 Stat. 149, 42 U.S.C. ch. 16
- September 8, 1950: Defense Production Act of 1950, Pub.L. 81–774, 64 Stat. 798
- September 12, 1950: Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, ch. 946, 64 Stat. 832
- September 23, 1950: McCarran Internal Security Act (including Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950), ch. 1024, 64 Stat. 987, 50 U.S.C. § 781
- September 30, 1950: Performance Rating Act, ch. 1123, 64 Stat. 1098
- August 15, 1950: Omnibus Medical Research Act, Pub.L. 81–692, 64 Stat. 443 (including Public Health Services Act Amendments, which established the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness)
- December 29, 1950: Celler-Kefauver Act (Anti-Merger Act), ch. 1184, 64 Stat. 1125
- January 12, 1951: Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, ch. 1228, 64 Stat. 1245 (codified in 50 U.S.C. App., here [1])
Hearings[edit]
- May 11, 1950: Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime began
Party summary[edit]
Senate[edit]
- Democratic (D): 53 (majority)
- Republican (R): 43
TOTAL members: 96
House of Representatives[edit]
- Democratic (D): 263 (majority)
- Republican (R): 171
- American Labor (AL): 1
TOTAL members: 435
Leadership[edit]
Senate[edit]
- President: Vacant until January 20, 1949
- Alben W. Barkely (D), from January 20, 1949
Majority (Democratic) leadership[edit]
Minority (Republican) leadership[edit]
House of Representatives[edit]
- Speaker: Sam Rayburn (D)
Majority (Democratic) leadership[edit]
- Majority Leader: John W. McCormack
- Majority Whip: J. Percy Priest
- Caucus Chairman: Francis E. Walter
Minority (Republican) leadership[edit]
- Minority Leader: Joseph W. Martin, Jr.
- Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
- Conference Chair: Roy O. Woodruff
Members[edit]
Senate[edit]
Senators are popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six year terms with each Congress. Senators are ordered first by state, and then by seniority. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election.
See also: United States Senate elections, 1948
House of Representatives[edit]
Changes in membership[edit]
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress.
Senate[edit]
| State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky (3) |
Alben W. Barkley (D) | Resigned January 19, 1949 to become U.S. Vice President. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. |
Garrett L. Withers (D) | January 20, 1949 |
| North Carolina (2) |
J. Melville Broughton (D) | Died March 6, 1949. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. |
Frank P. Graham (D) | March 29, 1949 |
| New York (3) |
Robert F. Wagner (D) | Resigned June 28, 1949 due to ill health. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. |
John Foster Dulles (R) | July 7, 1949 |
| Rhode Island (1) |
J. Howard McGrath (D) | Resigned August 23, 1949 to become U.S. Attorney General. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. |
Edward L. Leahy (D) | August 24, 1950 |
| Idaho (2) |
Bert H. Miller (D) | Died October 8, 1949. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election, which he subsequently won. |
Henry Dworshak (R) | October 14, 1949 |
| Kansas (3) |
Clyde M. Reed (R) | Died November 8, 1949. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. |
Harry Darby (R) | December 2, 1949 |
| New York (3) |
John Foster Dulles (R) | Lost special election November 8, 1949. Successor was elected to finish term. |
Herbert H. Lehman (D) | November 9, 1949 |
| Connecticut (1) |
Raymond E. Baldwin (R) | Resigned December 16, 1949. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election, which he subsequently won. |
William Benton (D) | December 17, 1949 |
| Kentucky (3) |
Garrett L. Withers (D) | Retired after successor elected November 26, 1950. Successor was elected to finish term. |
Earle C. Clements (D) | November 27, 1950 |
| North Carolina (2) |
Frank P. Graham (D) | Lost special election to finish term November 26, 1950. Successor was elected to finish term. |
Willis Smith (D) | November 27, 1950 |
| Kansas (3) |
Harry Darby (R) | Retired after successor elected November 28, 1950. Successor was elected to finish term. |
Frank Carlson (R) | November 29, 1950 |
| California (3) |
Sheridan Downey (D) | Resigned November 30, 1950 due to ill health. Successor was appointed to finish term, having already been elected to the next term. |
Richard Nixon (R) | December 1, 1950 |
| Rhode Island (1) |
Edward L. Leahy (D) | Retired after successor elected December 18, 1950. Successor was elected to finish term. |
John O. Pastore (D) | December 19, 1950 |
House of Representatives[edit]
| District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date successor seated |
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| New York 7th | Vacant | Rep. John J. Delaney died during previous congress | Louis B. Heller (D) | February 15, 1949 |
| New York 20th | Sol Bloom (D) | Died March 7, 1949 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr. (Lib) | May 17, 1949 |
| New York 10th | Andrew L. Somers (D) | Died April 6, 1949 | Edna F. Kelly (D) | November 8, 1949 |
| Pennsylvania 26th | Robert L. Coffey (D) | Died April 20, 1949 | John P. Saylor (R) | September 13, 1949 |
| California 5th | Richard J. Welch (R) | Died September 10, 1949 | John Shelley (D) | November 8, 1949 |
| Massachusetts 6th | George J. Bates (R) | Died November 1, 1949 | William H. Bates (R) | February 14, 1950 |
| Illinois 5th | Martin Gorski (D) | Died December 4, 1949 | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| New Jersey 7th | J. Parnell Thomas (R) | Resigned January 2, 1950 following conviction on charges of salary fraud | William B. Widnall (R) | February 6, 1950 |
| Virginia 1st | S. Otis Bland (D) | Died February 16, 1950 | Edward J. Robeson, Jr. (D) | May 2, 1950 |
| Illinois 13th | Ralph E. Church (R) | Died March 21, 1950 | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| Texas 18th | Eugene Worley (D) | Resigned April 3, 1950 after being appointed associate judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| Michigan 16th | John Lesinski, Sr. (D) | Died May 27, 1950 | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| North Dakota At-large | William Lemke (R) | Died May 30, 1950 | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| North Carolina 11th | Alfred L. Bulwinkle (D) | Died August 31, 1950 | Woodrow W. Jones (D) | November 7, 1950 |
| Kansas 3rd | Herbert A. Meyer (R) | Died October 2, 1950 | Myron V. George (R) | November 7, 1950 |
| California 12th | Richard Nixon (R) | Resigned November 30, 1950 after being appointed to the US Senate | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| Wyoming At-large | Frank A. Barrett (R) | Resigned December 31, 1950 after being elected Governor of Wyoming | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
Employees[edit]
Architect of the Capitol: David Lynn
Senate[edit]
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
House of Representatives[edit]
- Chaplain:
- Clerk: Ralph R. Roberts
- Doorkeeper: William Mosley Miller
- Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
- Postmaster: Finis E. Scott
- Sergeant at Arms: Joseph H. Callahan
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