The 87th 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, 1961, to January 3, 1963, during the final weeks of Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency and the first two years of John Kennedy's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1950 United States census, along with two seats temporarily added in 1959 (one member each from recently admitted states of Alaska and Hawaii).
87th United States Congress | |
---|---|
86th ← → 88th | |
January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963 | |
Members | 100 senators 437 representatives |
Senate majority | Democratic |
Senate President | Richard Nixon (R)[a] (until January 20, 1961) Lyndon B. Johnson (D) (from January 20, 1961) |
House majority | Democratic |
House Speaker | Sam Rayburn (D) John W. McCormack (D) |
Sessions | |
1st: January 3, 1961 – September 27, 1961 2nd: January 10, 1962 – October 13, 1962 |
Both chambers had a Democratic majority (albeit reduced in the House). With President Kennedy being sworn in on January 20, 1961, this gave the Democrats an overall federal government trifecta for the first time since the 81st Congress in 1949.
Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (D) |
Republican (R) | |||
End of previous congress | 66 | 34 | 100 | 0 |
Begin | 65 | 35 | 100 | 0 |
End | 62 | 37 | 99 | 1 |
Final voting share | 62.6% | 37.4% | ||
Beginning of next congress | 65 | 33 | 98 | 2 |
Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (D) |
Republican (R) | |||
End of previous congress | 281 | 151 | 432 | 5 |
Begin | 263 | 174 | 437 | 0 |
End | 260 | 434 | 3 | |
Final voting share | 59.9% | 40.1% | ||
Beginning of next congress | 258 | 176 | 434 | 1 |
Senators are popularly elected statewide 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 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1962; Class 1 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1964; and Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1966.
Currently, this is the last Congressional session in which the Democratic Party commanded all Senate seats from the Deep South, a unity broken when a Republican defeated the appointed successor to Lyndon Johnson's seat in a 1961 Senate special election.
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
State (class) |
Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[c] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Texas (2) |
William A. Blakley (D) | Lost special election. Successor elected June 14, 1961. |
John Tower (R) | June 15, 1961 |
New Hampshire (2) |
Styles Bridges (R) | Died November 26, 1961. Successor appointed December 7, 1961. |
Maurice J. Murphy Jr. (R) | December 7, 1961 |
Kansas (2) |
Andrew Frank Schoeppel (R) | Died January 21, 1962. Successor appointed January 31, 1962, and then elected November 6, 1962. |
James B. Pearson (R) | January 31, 1962 |
South Dakota (3) |
Francis H. Case (R) | Died June 23, 1962. Successor appointed July 9, 1962 to finish the term. |
Joseph H. Bottum (R) | July 9, 1962 |
Idaho (2) |
Henry Dworshak (R) | Died July 23, 1962. Successor appointed August 6, 1962, and then elected November 6, 1962. |
Leonard B. Jordan (R) | August 6, 1962 |
Wyoming (2) |
John J. Hickey (D) | Lost special election. Successor elected November 6, 1962. |
Milward Simpson (R) | November 6, 1962 |
Massachusetts (1) |
Benjamin A. Smith II (D) | Successor elected November 6, 1962. | Ted Kennedy (D) | November 7, 1962 |
New Hampshire (2) |
Maurice J. Murphy Jr. (R) | Lost special election. Successor elected November 6, 1962. |
Thomas J. McIntyre (D) | November 7, 1962 |
New Mexico (1) |
Dennis Chávez (D) | Died November 18, 1962. Successor appointed November 30, 1962 to continue the term. |
Edwin L. Mechem (R) | November 30, 1962 |
Oklahoma (2) |
Robert S. Kerr (D) | Died January 1, 1963. | Vacant | Not filled this term |
District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[c] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arizona 2nd | Stewart Udall (D) | Resigned January 18, 1961 to become United States Secretary of the Interior. | Mo Udall (D) | May 2, 1961 |
Arkansas 6th | William F. Norrell (D) | Died February 15, 1961. | Catherine Dorris Norrell (D) | April 18, 1961 |
Pennsylvania 16th | Walter M. Mumma (R) | Died February 25, 1961. | John C. Kunkel (R) | May 16, 1961 |
Tennessee 1st | B. Carroll Reece (R) | Died March 19, 1961. | Louise Goff Reece (R) | May 16, 1961 |
Louisiana 4th | Overton Brooks (D) | Died September 16, 1961. | Joe Waggonner (D) | December 19, 1961 |
Michigan 1st | Thaddeus M. Machrowicz (D) | Resigned September 18, 1961 to become judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. | Lucien Nedzi (D) | November 7, 1961 |
Texas 20th | Paul J. Kilday (D) | Resigned September 24, 1961 to become judge of United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. | Henry B. González (D) | November 4, 1961 |
Michigan 14th | Louis C. Rabaut (D) | Died November 12, 1961. | Harold M. Ryan (D) | February 13, 1962 |
Texas 4th | Sam Rayburn (D) | Died November 16, 1961. | Ray Roberts (D) | January 30, 1962 |
Texas 13th | Frank N. Ikard (D) | Resigned December 15, 1961. | Graham B. Purcell Jr. (D) | January 27, 1962 |
New York 6th | Lester Holtzman (D) | Resigned December 31, 1961 to become judge of the New York Supreme Court. | Benjamin Stanley Rosenthal (D) | February 20, 1962 |
South Carolina 2nd | John J. Riley (D) | Died January 1, 1962. | Corinne Boyd Riley (D) | April 10, 1962 |
New Jersey 11th | Hugh Joseph Addonizio (D) | Resigned June 30, 1962 to become Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. | Vacant | Not filled this term |
California 1st | Clement Woodnutt Miller (D) | Died October 7, 1962. | ||
Mississippi 3rd | Frank Ellis Smith (D) | Resigned November 14, 1962. |
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.