Have you ever wanted to have an easy way to determine which political party controlled the federal government at certain times in American History? Well, I’ve created some information that might be of help. If you want a simple time-line of political parties in the US here it is:
- George Washington wasn’t actually a member of a party (and neither was his opposition) but due to Hamilton’s influence he had strong Federalist leanings.
- Political views hardened into distinct parties before the 3rd Congress in 1793 and political control became a contest between the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans.
- The Democratic Republicans began to completely dominate the elections however, they began to split up before the 19th Congress in 1825
- The Pro-Jackson coalition started to dominate the elections after 1825.
- The Pro-Jackson coalition eventually morphed into the Democratic Party while the Anti-Jackson coalition remained splintered until it became the Whig Party in 1833.
- The Whig Party was a weak opposition party to the Democrats and by 1853 it was irrelevant.
- The Republican Party was founded in 1854, won national elections in 1858, and with a couple exceptions; it became the dominant party until Franklin Roosevelt in 1933.
- The Democratic Party began to dominate Congress after 1931 and the Great Depression; this dominance lasted until Gingrich in 1995.
- After Roosevelt, the Presidency began to swing back and forth between Democrats and Republicans.
- Currently, the Democrats control both Houses of Congress along with the Presidency. They briefly held a filibuster proof majority until they lost a special election in the Senate.
"Aaron Burr debates Alexander Hamilton" or- "Burr 1; Hamilton 0"
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I’ve also created a table that shows the party of the President, the Senate and the House of Representatives from the 1st Congress in 1789 until now. The table below shows the President and the number of members of the party in power at the beginning of each Congressional term. This information could change during the term like the Senate did during the current 111th Congress. The current Senate started with 55 Democrats and 2 democratic leaning independents controlling a Senate with 98 seats, due to 2 vacancies. But now, after a couple of changes in both directions, the Senate now has 57 Democrats plus 2 independents controlling 100 seats.
Note that I had to made some generalizations in this table. For example; Washington, Tyler and Andrew Johnson had weak or no associations with their parties. Plus, there often were changes in party affiliation among Congressmen during each term, especially early in American history.
Remember that the changes listed below aren’t only due to election victories. You have to look elsewhere for that info; such as the Federal Electoral College Website.
| F – Federalist Party |
| DR – Democratic Republican Party |
| A – Pro Adams Coalition |
| J – Pro Jackson Coalition |
| O – opposition coalition |
| W – Whig |
| D – Democratic Party |
| R – Republican Party |
| Year | Congress | President | Senate Control | House Control | Non-Vacant Senate Seats | Non-Vacant House Seats |
| 2009 | 111th | Obama – D | D – 55 | D – 256 | 98 | 434 |
| 2007 | 110th | Bush Jr – R | D – 49 | D – 233 | 100 | 435 |
| 2005 | 109th | Bush Jr – R | R – 55 | R – 232 | 100 | 434 |
| 2003 | 108th | Bush Jr – R | R – 51 | R – 229 | 100 | 435 |
| 2001 | 107th | Bush Jr – R | D 50 | R – 221 | 100 | 434 |
| 1999 | 106th | Clinton – D | R – 55 | R – 223 | 100 | 435 |
| 1997 | 105th | Clinton – D | R – 55 | R – 228 | 100 | 435 |
| 1995 | 104th | Clinton – D | R – 53 | R – 230 | 100 | 435 |
| 1993 | 103rd | Clinton – D | D – 57 | D – 258 | 100 | 435 |
| 1991 | 102nd | Bush Sr – R | D – 55 | D – 270 | 100 | 435 |
| 1989 | 101st | Bush Sr – R | D – 55 | D – 261 | 100 | 435 |
| 1987 | 100th | Reagan – R | D – 55 | D – 258 | 100 | 435 |
| 1985 | 99th | Reagan – R | R – 53 | D – 253 | 100 | 435 |
| 1983 | 98th | Reagan – R | R – 55 | D – 272 | 100 | 435 |
| 1981 | 97th | Reagan – R | R – 53 | D – 242 | 100 | 435 |
| 1979 | 96th | Carter – D | D – 58 | D – 277 | 100 | 435 |
| 1977 | 95th | Carter – D | D – 61 | D – 292 | 100 | 435 |
| 1975 | 94th | Ford – R | D – 60 | D -291 | 99 | 435 |
| 1973 | 93rd | Nixon – R | D – 56 | D – 240 | 100 | 432 |
| 1971 | 92nd | Nixon – R | D – 54 | D – 255 | 100 | 435 |
| 1969 | 91st | Nixon – R | D – 57 | D – 243 | 100 | 435 |
| 1967 | 90th | Johnson – D | D – 64 | D – 247 | 100 | 434 |
| 1965 | 89th | Johnson – D | D – 68 | D – 295 | 100 | 435 |
| 1963 | 88th | Johnson – D | D – 66 | D – 258 | 100 | 435 |
| 1961 | 87th | Kennedy – D | D – 63 | D – 263 | 100 | 437 |
| 1959 | 86th | Eisenhower – R | D – 65 | D -283 | 100 | 437 |
| 1957 | 85th | Eisenhower – R | D – 49 | D – 234 | 96 | 435 |
| 1955 | 84th | Eisenhower – R | D – 47 | D – 232 | 96 | 435 |
| 1953 | 83rd | Eisenhower – R | R – 48 | R – 221 | 96 | 435 |
| 1951 | 82nd | Truman – D | D – 48 | D – 235 | 96 | 435 |
| 1949 | 81st | Truman – D | D – 53 | D – 263 | 96 | 435 |
| 1947 | 80th | Truman – D | R – 51 | R – 248 | 96 | 435 |
| 1945 | 79th | Truman – D | D – 57 | D – 242 | 96 | 435 |
| 1943 | 78th | F Roosevelt – D | D – 58 | D – 222 | 96 | 435 |
| 1941 | 77th | F Roosevelt – D | D – 66 | D – 267 | 96 | 435 |
| 1939 | 76th | F Roosevelt – D | D – 69 | D – 252 | 96 | 435 |
| 1937 | 75th | F Roosevelt – D | D – 76 | D – 334 | 96 | 435 |
| 1935 | 74th | F Roosevelt – D | D – 69 | D – 322 | 96 | 435 |
| 1933 | 73rd | F Roosevelt – D | D – 59 | D – 311 | 96 | 433 |
| 1931 | 72nd | Hoover – R | R – 48 | D – 217 | 96 | 435 |
| 1929 | 71st | Hoover – R | R – 56 | R – 270 | 96 | 435 |
| 1927 | 70th | Coolidge – R | R – 48 | R – 238 | 96 | 435 |
| 1925 | 69th | Coolidge – R | R – 54 | R – 247 | 96 | 435 |
| 1923 | 68th | Harding – R | R – 53 | R – 225 | 96 | 435 |
| 1921 | 67th | Harding – R | R – 59 | R – 302 | 96 | 435 |
| 1919 | 66th | Wilson – D | R- 49 | R – 240 | 96 | 435 |
| 1917 | 65th | Wilson – D | D – 54 | R – 215 | 96 | 435 |
| 1915 | 64th | Wilson – D | D – 56 | D – 230 | 96 | 435 |
| 1913 | 63rd | Wilson – D | D – 51 | D – 291 | 96 | 435 |
| 1911 | 62nd | Taft – R | R – 52 | D – 230 | 96 | 394 |
| 1909 | 61st | Taft – R | R – 60 | R – 219 | 92 | 391 |
| 1907 | 60th | T Roosevelt – R | R – 61 | R – 223 | 90 | 391 |
| 1905 | 59th | T Roosevelt – R | R – 59 | R – 252 | 90 | 386 |
| 1903 | 58th | T Roosevelt – R | R – 55 | R – 209 | 90 | 386 |
| 1901 | 57th | McKinley – R | R – 56 | R – 200 | 90 | 357 |
| 1899 | 56th | McKinley – R | R – 53 | R – 187 | 90 | 357 |
| 1897 | 55th | McKinley – R | R – 44 | R – 204 | 90 | 357 |
| 1895 | 54th | Cleveland – D | R – 42 | R – 230 | 87 | 344 |
| 1893 | 53rd | Cleveland – D | D – 44 | D – 218 | 88 | 356 |
| 1891 | 52nd | B Harrison – R | R – 47 | D – 238 | 88 | 332 |
| 1889 | 51st | B Harrison – R | R – 51 | R – 179 | 88 | 332 |
| 1887 | 50th | Cleveland – D | R – 39 | D – 167 | 76 | 325 |
| 1885 | 49th | Cleveland – D | R – 42 | D – 182 | 76 | 325 |
| 1883 | 48th | Arthur – R | R – 38 | D – 196 | 76 | 325 |
| 1881 | 47th | Garfield – R | R – 37 | D – 128 | 76 | 293 |
| 1879 | 46th | Hayes – R | D – 42 | D – 141 | 76 | 293 |
| 1877 | 45th | Hayes – R | R – 40 | D – 155 | 76 | 293 |
| 1875 | 44th | Grant – R | R – 46 | D – 182 | 76 | 293 |
| 1873 | 43rd | Grant – R | R – 47 | R – 199 | 74 | 292 |
| 1871 | 42nd | Grant – R | R – 56 | R – 136 | 74 | 243 |
| 1869 | 41st | Grant – R | R – 62 | R – 171 | 74 | 243 |
| 1867 | 40th | A Johnson – D | R – 57 | R – 173 | 68 | 226 |
| 1865 | 39th | Lincoln – R | R – 39 | R – 136 | 54 | 193 |
| 1863 | 38th | Lincoln – R | R – 33 | R – 85 | 52 | 184 |
| 1861 | 37th | Lincoln – R | R – 30 | R – 107 | 55 | 177 |
| 1859 | 36th | Buchanan – D | D – 38 | R – 121 | 66 | 241 |
| 1857 | 35th | Buchanan – D | D – 41 | D – 132 | 66 | 237 |
| 1855 | 34th | Pierce – D | D – 39 | O – 151 | 62 | 234 |
| 1853 | 33rd | Pierce – D | D – 36 | D – 157 | 60 | 233 |
| 1851 | 32nd | Fillmore – W | D – 34 | D – 128 | 60 | 233 |
| 1849 | 31st | Taylor – W | D – 32 | D – 113 | 59 | 230 |
| 1847 | 30th | Polk – D | D – 34 | W – 114 | 55 | 226 |
| 1845 | 29th | Polk – D | D – 26 | D – 138 | 50 | 221 |
| 1843 | 28th | Tyler – W | W – 26 | D – 147 | 48 | 223 |
| 1841 | 27th | W Harrison – W | W – 29 | W – 142 | 51 | 241 |
| 1839 | 26th | Van Buren – D | D – 29 | D – 124 | 50 | 241 |
| 1837 | 25th | Van Buren – D | D – 33 | D – 128 | 52 | 242 |
| 1835 | 24th | Jackson – D | O – 24 | J – 139 | 47 | 238 |
| 1833 | 23rd | Jackson – D | O- 25 | J – 143 | 46 | 240 |
| 1831 | 22nd | Jackson – J | J – 24 | J – 128 | 47 | 212 |
| 1829 | 21st | Jackson – J | J – 26 | J – 136 | 48 | 211 |
| 1827 | 20th | Adams Jr – DR | J – 25 | J – 110 | 48 | 212 |
| 1825 | 19th | Adams Jr – DR | J – 25 | A – 109 | 45 | 213 |
| 1823 | 18th | Monroe – DR | DR – 44 | DR – 188 | 46 | 212 |
| 1821 | 17th | Monroe – DR | DR – 40 | DR – 160 | 46 | 191 |
| 1819 | 16th | Monroe – DR | DR – 30 | DR – 150 | 40 | 184 |
| 1817 | 15th | Monroe – DR | DR – 25 | DR – 141 | 38 | 180 |
| 1815 | 14th | Madison – DR | DR – 21 | DR – 128 | 38 | 177 |
| 1813 | 13th | Madison – DR | DR – 27 | DR – 128 | 33 | 177 |
| 1811 | 12th | Madison – DR | DR – 27 | DR – 106 | 34 | 142 |
| 1809 | 11th | Madison – DR | DR – 26 | DR – 95 | 33 | 142 |
| 1807 | 10th | Jefferson – DR | DR – 28 | DR – 115 | 34 | 140 |
| 1805 | 9th | Jefferson – DR | DR – 27 | DR – 113 | 34 | 139 |
| 1803 | 8th | Jefferson – DR | DR – 27 | DR – 113 | 34 | 139 |
| 1801 | 7th | Jefferson – DR | F – 17 | DR – 56 | 32 | 105 |
| 1799 | 6th | Adams Sr- F | F – 22 | F – 60 | 31 | 106 |
| 1797 | 5th | Adams Sr- F | F – 22 | F – 57 | 31 | 106 |
| 1795 | 4th | Washington – F | F – 21 | DR – 58 | 32 | 105 |
| 1793 | 3rd | Washington – F | F – 16 | DR – 55 | 29 | 105 |
| 1791 | 2nd | Washington – F | F – 15 | F – 39 | 28 | 68 |
| 1789 | 1st | Washington – F | F – 14 | F – 34 | 21 | 59 |
Currently, there are 2 major parties; the Democrats and the Republicans. And there are 3 major third parties which are the Constitution Party, the Green Party and the Libertarian Party. On top of those, there are at least 40 other small parties.
If you want to know more about any of these political parties go the Politics1 website
will you be updating this chart – great information!!!!
Well done. I found another, but yours went further by including names of the presidents and more years.
Great chart with simple, practical color shading. The easiest basic site to use with this information.
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