The Eighty-sixth 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, 1959 to January 3, 1961, during the last two years of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Seventeenth Census of the United States in 1950. Both chambers had a Democratic majority. When Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as states in 1959, the membership of the House temporarily increased to 437 (seating one member from each of those newly admitted states and leaving the apportionment of the other 435 seats unchanged); it would remain at 437 until reapportionment resulting from the 1960 census.
January 7, 1959: The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro
February 12, 1959: In commemorations of the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, Congress met in joint session to hear actor Fredric March give a dramatic reading of the Gettysburg Address, followed with an address by writer Carl Sandburg
February 1, 1960: Greensboro sit-ins begin
May 1, 1960: U-2 incident
June 29, 1960: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress
November 8, 1960: United States presidential election, 1960
1959: Airport Construction Act, Pub.L. 86–72
September 14, 1959: Landrum–Griffin Act, Pub.L. 86–257, 73 Stat. 519
April 22, 1960: Narcotics Manufacturing Act of 1960, Pub.L. 86–429, 74 Stat. 55
May 6, 1960: Civil Rights Act of 1960, Pub.L. 86–449, 74 Stat. 86
June 12, 1960: Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, Pub.L. 86–517, 74 Stat. 215
July 14, 1960: Flood Control Act of 1960, Pub.L. 86–845, 74 Stat. 488
September 13, 1960: Social Security Amendments (Kerr-Mill aid), Pub.L. 86–778, 74 Stat. 976
December 1, 1959: Antarctic Treaty signed
January 19, 1960: Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan signed
June 17, 1960: The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution passed Congress, which would allow residents of Washington, D.C. to vote in presidential elections. It would be ratified by the states in the next Congress.
August 21, 1959: Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state.
Democratic: 64 (majority), then 65
Republican: 34, then 35
TOTAL members: 98, then 100
Democratic: 283 (majority)
Republican: 153
Independent: 1
TOTAL members: 437. The increase over the usual 435 members was due to the admission of Alaska and Hawaii, whose seats were temporary until reapportionment following the 1960 Census.
President of the Senate: Richard Nixon (R)
President pro tempore: Carl Hayden (D)
Majority Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson
Majority Whip: Mike Mansfield
Caucus Secretary: Thomas C. Hennings Jr., until September 13, 1960
George Smathers, afterwards
Minority Leader: Everett Dirksen
Minority Whip: Thomas Kuchel
Republican Conference Chairman: Leverett Saltonstall
Republican Conference Secretary: Milton Young
National Senatorial Committee Chair: Andrew Frank Schoeppel
Policy Committee Chairman: Styles Bridges
Speaker: Sam Rayburn (D)
Majority Leader: John William McCormack
Majority Whip: Carl Albert
Democratic Caucus Chairman: Charles Melvin Price
Caucus Secretary: Leonor Sullivan
Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Michael J. Kirwan
Minority Leader: Charles A. Halleck
Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
Conference Chair: Charles B. Hoeven
Policy Committee Chairman: John W. Byrnes
House Democratic Caucus
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.
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Aeronautical and Space Sciences
Agriculture and Forestry
Appropriations
Banking and Currency
District of Columbia
Finance
Foreign Relations
Government Operations
Interior and Insular Affairs
Interstate and Foreign Commerce
Judiciary
Labor-Management Relations (Select)
Labor and Public Welfare
National Water Resources (Select)
Preserve Historical Records of the Senate (Special)
Post Office and Civil Service
Public Works
Small Business (Select)
Space and Aeronautics (Special)
Subcommittee on Internal Security
Unemployment Problems (Special)
Whole
Agriculture
Appropriations
Banking and Currency
District of Columbia
Education and Labor
Foreign Affairs
Government Operations
House Administration
Interior and Insular Affairs
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Post Office and Civil Service
Public Works
Rules
Science and Astronautics
Small Business (Select)
Standards of Official Conduct
Un-American Activities
Veterans' Affairs
Ways and Means
Whole
Atomic Energy
Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
Construction of a Building for a Museum of History and Technology for the Smithsonian
Defense Production
Disposition of Executive Papers
Economic
Immigration and Nationality Policy
Legislative Budget
The Library
Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
Printing
Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures
Taxation
Washington (DC) Metropolitan Problems
Architect of the Capitol: J. George Stewart
Attending Physician of the United States Congress: George Calver
Comptroller General of the United States: Joseph Campbell
Librarian of Congress: Lawrence Quincy Mumford
Public Printer of the United States: Raymond Blattenberger
Chaplain: Frederick Brown Harris, Methodist
Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins
Secretary: Felton McLellan Johnston
Sergeant at Arms: Joseph C. Duke
Clerk: Ralph R. Roberts
Doorkeeper: William Mosley "Fishbait" Miller
Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
Postmaster: H. H. Morris
Sergeant at Arms: Zeake W. Johnson, Jr.
Chaplain: Bernard Braskamp - Presbyterian
