1.
United States Congress
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The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, however, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can also refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith, Roberts, and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent
2.
Harry S. Truman
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Harry S. Truman was an American politician who served as the 33rd President of the United States, assuming the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the waning months of World War II. In domestic affairs, he was a moderate Democrat whose liberal proposals were a continuation of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, but the conservative-dominated Congress blocked most of them. He also used weapons to end World War II, desegregated the U. S. armed forces, supported a newly independent Israel. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, and spent most of his youth on his familys 600-acre farm near Independence, in the last months of World War I, he served in combat in France as an artillery officer with his National Guard unit. After the war, he owned a haberdashery in Kansas City, Missouri, and joined the Democratic Party. Truman was first elected to office as a county official in 1922. After serving as a United States Senator from Missouri and briefly as Vice President, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12,1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Germany surrendered on Trumans 61st birthday, just a few weeks after he assumed the presidency, but the war with Imperial Japan raged on and was expected to last at least another year. Although this decision and the issues that arose as a result of it remain the subject of debate to this day. Truman presided over a surge in economic prosperity as America sought readjustment after long years of depression. His presidency was a point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy. Truman helped found the United Nations in 1945, issued the Truman Doctrine in 1947 to contain Communism and his political coalition was based on the white South, labor unions, farmers, ethnic groups, and traditional Democrats across the North. Truman was able to rally groups of supporters during the 1948 presidential election. The Soviet Union became an enemy in the Cold War, Truman oversaw the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and the creation of NATO in 1949, but was unable to stop Communists from taking over China. When communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, he sent U. S. troops, after initial successes in Korea, however, the UN forces were thrown back by Chinese intervention, and the conflict was stalemated throughout the final years of Trumans presidency. Scholars, starting in 1962, ranked Trumans presidency as near great, Harry S. Truman was born on May 8,1884, in Lamar, Missouri, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman. His parents chose the name Harry after his mothers brother, Harrison Harry Young, while the S did not stand for any one name, it was chosen as his middle initial to honor both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The initial has been written and printed followed by a period
3.
1948 Democratic National Convention
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The convention was televised on the East Coast by CBS and NBC. The convention returned to Philadelphia in 2016 and they were opposed by moderates who feared alienating Southern voters, including Trumans own aides, but pressed ahead. They were supported by northeastern urban Democratic leaders, who thought the plank would appeal to the black vote in their cities. In a speech to the convention, Humphrey urged the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states rights, the convention adopted the civil rights plank in a close vote. In response, all 22 members of the Mississippi delegation, led by Governor Fielding L. Wright and former Governor Hugh L. White, thirteen members of the Alabama delegation followed, led by Leven H. Ellis. The bolted delegates and other Southerners then formed the States Rights Democratic Party, the fight over the civil rights plank was a launching point for Humphrey. He was elected to the United States Senate that year, in the absence of three dozen Southern delegates who walked out of the convention with Thurmond,947 Democrats voted to nominate Truman as their candidate. Senator Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky was nominated by acclamation without a call vote
4.
Missouri
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Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1821. With over six million residents, it is the eighteenth most populous state, the largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. The capitol is in Jefferson City on the Missouri River, the state is the twenty-first most extensive by area and is geographically diverse. The Northern Plains were once covered by glaciers, then tallgrass prairie, in the South are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Mississippi River forms the border of the state, eventually flowing into the swampy Missouri Bootheel. Humans have inhabited the land now known as Missouri for at least 12,000 years, the Mississippian culture built cities and mounds, before declining in the 1300s. When European explorers arrived in the 1600s they encountered the Osage, the French established Louisiana, a part of New France, and founded Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764, after a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South, including enslaved African Americans, rushed into the new Missouri Territory, many from Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee settled in the Boonslick area of Mid-Missouri. Soon after, heavy German immigration formed the Missouri Rhineland, Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States, as memorialized by the Gateway Arch. The Pony Express, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, as a border state, Missouris role in the American Civil War was complex and there were many conflicts within. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business, today, the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Missouris culture blends elements from the Midwestern and Southern United States, the musical styles of ragtime, Kansas City jazz, and St. Louis Blues, developed in Missouri. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and lesser known St. Louis-style barbecue can be found across the state, St. Louis is also a major center of beer brewing, Anheuser-Busch is the largest producer in the world. Missouri wine is produced in the nearby Missouri Rhineland and Ozarks, Missouris alcohol laws are among the most permissive in the United States. Outside of the large cities popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks, U. S. President Harry S. Truman is from Missouri. Other well known Missourians include Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Chuck Berry, some of the largest companies based in the state include Express Scripts, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, and OReilly Auto Parts. Missouri has been called the Mother of the West and the Cave State, however, Missouris most famous nickname is the Show Me State, the state is named for the Missouri River, which was named after the indigenous Missouri Indians, a Siouan-language tribe
5.
Folklore
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Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes and they include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles to handmade toys common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, the forms and rituals of celebrations like Christmas and weddings, folk dances, each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next, for folklore is not taught in a formal school curriculum or studied in the fine arts. Instead these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration, the academic study of folklore is called folkloristics. To fully understand folklore, it is helpful to clarify its component parts and it is well-documented that the term was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms. He fabricated it to replace the contemporary terminology of popular antiquities or popular literature, the second half of the compound word, lore, proves easier to define as its meaning has stayed relatively stable over the last two centuries. Coming from Old English lār instruction, and with German and Dutch cognates, it is the knowledge and traditions of a particular group, the concept of folk proves somewhat more elusive. When Thoms first created this term, folk applied only to rural, frequently poor, a more modern definition of folk is a social group which includes two or more persons with common traits, who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. Folk is a concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family. This expanded social definition of folk supports a view of the material, i. e. the lore. These now include all things people make with words, things they make with their hands, Folklore is no longer circumscribed as being chronologically old or obsolete. The folklorist studies the traditional artifacts of a group and how they are transmitted. Transmission is a part of the folklore process. Without communicating these beliefs and customs within the group over space and time, for folklore is also a verb. These folk artifacts continue to be passed along informally, as a rule anonymously, the folk group is not individualistic, it is community-based and nurtures its lore in community. As new groups emerge, new folklore is created… surfers, motorcyclists, in direct contrast to high culture, where any single work of a named artist is protected by copyright law, folklore is a function of shared identity within the social group. Having identified folk artifacts, the professional folklorist strives to understand the significance of these beliefs, customs, for these cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group
6.
United States presidential election, 1948
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The United States presidential election of 1948 was the 41st quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2,1948. Trumans victory is considered to be one of the greatest election upsets in American history, virtually every prediction indicated that he would be defeated by Dewey. The Democratic Party had a severe three-way ideological split, with both the far left and far right of the Party running third-party campaigns, with simultaneous success in the 1948 congressional elections, the Democrats regained control of both houses of Congress, which they had lost in 1946. Thus, Trumans election confirmed the Democratic Partys status as the majority party. As would be experienced by the Democrats, there was a boom for General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the most popular general of World War II, unlike the latter movement within the Democratic party, however, the Republican draft movement came largely from the grassroots of the party. With the first state primary approaching, Eisenhower was forced to make a quick decision, stating that soldiers should keep out of politics, Eisenhower declined to run and requested that the grassroots draft movement cease its activities. Dewey, who had been the Republican nominee in 1944, was regarded as the frontrunner when the primaries began, Dewey was the acknowledged leader of the Republican Partys Eastern Establishment. In 1946 he had been re-elected governor of New York by the largest margin in state history, Deweys handicap was that many Republicans disliked him on a personal level, he often struck observers as cold, stiff, and calculating. Taft was the leader of the Republican Partys conservative wing, which was strongest in the Midwest, Taft had two major weaknesses, He was a plodding, dull campaigner, and he was viewed by most party leaders as being too conservative and controversial to win a presidential election. Both Vandenberg and Warren were highly popular in their states, but each refused to campaign in the primaries. Their supporters, however, hoped that in the event of a Dewey-Taft-Stassen deadlock, General MacArthur, the famous war hero, was especially popular among conservatives. Since he was serving in Japan as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers occupying that nation and they chose to enter his name in the Wisconsin primary. The surprise candidate of 1948 was Stassen, a liberal from Minnesota, in 1938, Stassen had been elected governor of Minnesota at the age of 31, he resigned as governor in 1943 to serve in the wartime Navy. In 1945 he served on the committee created the United Nations. Stassen was widely regarded as the most liberal of the Republican candidates, Stassen stunned Dewey and MacArthur in the Wisconsin primary, Stassens surprise victory virtually eliminated General MacArthur, whose supporters had made a major effort on his behalf. Stassen defeated Dewey again in the Nebraska primary, thus making him the new frontrunner and he then made the strategic mistake of trying to beat Taft in Ohio, Tafts home state. Stassen believed that if he could defeat Taft in his state, Taft would be forced to quit the race. Taft defeated Stassen in his native Ohio, however, and Stassen earned the hostility of the partys conservatives, even so, Stassen was still leading Dewey in the polls for the upcoming Oregon primary
7.
Opinion poll
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An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions, since Jackson won the popular vote in that state and the whole country, such straw votes gradually became more popular, but they remained local, usually city-wide phenomena. In 1916, The Literary Digest embarked on a national survey, then, in 1936, its 2.3 million voters constituted a huge sample, but they were generally more affluent Americans who tended to have Republican sympathies. The Literary Digest was ignorant of this new bias, the week before election day, at the same time, George Gallup conducted a far smaller survey, in which he polled a demographically representative sample. Gallup correctly predicted Roosevelts landslide victory, the Literary Digest soon went out of business, while polling started to take off. Elmo Roper was another American pioneer in political forecasting using scientific polls and he predicted the reelection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt three times, in 1936,1940, and 1944. Louis Harris had been in the field of opinion since 1947 when he joined the Elmo Roper firm. Looking for popular support or dissent with this question asked by appeasement politician, the Allied occupation powers helped to create survey institutes in all of the Western occupation zones of Germany in 1947 and 1948 to better steer denazification. By the 1950s, various types of polling had spread to most democracies, in long-term perspective, advertising had come under heavy pressure in the early 1930s. The Great Depression forced businesses to cut back on their advertising spending. Layoffs and reductions were common at all agencies, the New Deal furthermore aggressively promoted consumerism, and minimized the value of advertising. Historian Jackson Lears argues that By the late 1930s, though, George Gallup, the vice president of Young and Rubicon, and numerous other advertising experts, led the way. Moving into the 1940s, the played a leading role in the ideological mobilization of the American people for fighting the Nazis. As part of effort, they redefined the American Way of Life in terms of a commitment to free enterprise. Advertisers, Lears concludes, played a crucial role in creating the consumer culture that dominated post-World War II American society. Opinion polls for many years were maintained through telecommunications or in person-to-person contact, Methods and techniques vary, though they are widely accepted in most areas. Over the years, technological innovations have also influenced survey methods such as the availability of electronic clipboards, verbal, ballot, and processed types can be conducted efficiently, contrasted with other types of surveys, systematics, and complicated matrices beyond previous orthodox procedures. Opinion polling developed into popular applications through popular thought, although rates for some surveys declined
8.
Republican Party (United States)
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The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party. The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution and it was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854. The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932, there have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one party. The Republican Partys current ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats more progressive platform, further, its platform involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defense, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions. In addition to advocating for economic policies, the Republican Party is socially conservative. As of 2017, the GOP is documented as being at its strongest position politically since 1928, in addition to holding the Presidency, the Republicans control the 115th United States Congress, having majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures, the main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil, the first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement where the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party was held on March 20,1854, in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. The name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jeffersons Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 6,1854, in Jackson and it oversaw the preserving of the union, the end of slavery, and the provision of equal rights to all men in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877. The Republicans initial base was in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, with the realignment of parties and voters in the Third Party System, the strong run of John C. Fremont in the 1856 United States presidential election demonstrated it dominated most northern states, early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan free labor, free land, free men, which had been coined by Salmon P. Chase, a Senator from Ohio. Free labor referred to the Republican opposition to labor and belief in independent artisans. Free land referred to Republican opposition to the system whereby slaveowners could buy up all the good farm land. The Party strove to contain the expansion of slavery, which would cause the collapse of the slave power, Lincoln, representing the fast-growing western states, won the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party took on the mission of preserving the Union, and destroying slavery during the American Civil War, in the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. The partys success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s and those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished and was continued mostly to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency. The Stalwarts defended Grant and the system, the Half-Breeds led by Chester A. Arthur pushed for reform of the civil service in 1883
9.
Thomas E. Dewey
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Thomas Edmund Dewey was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician. He served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954, in 1944, he was the Republican candidate for President, but lost to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the closest of Roosevelts four presidential elections. He was again the Republican candidate in 1948, but lost to President Harry S. Truman in one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history. As a New York City prosecutor early in his career, Dewey was relentless in his effort to curb the power of the American Mafia, most famously, he successfully prosecuted Mafioso kingpin Charles Lucky Luciano on charges of compulsory prostitution in 1936. Luciano was given a prison sentence. Dewey almost succeeded in apprehending Jewish mobster Dutch Schultz as well, Dewey led the moderate or progressive faction of the Republican Party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft. Dewey was an advocate for the professional and business community of the Northeastern United States, in addition he played a large part in the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President in 1952. Deweys successor as leader of the progressive Republicans was Nelson Rockefeller, the New York State Thruway is named in Deweys honor. Dewey was born and raised in Owosso, Michigan, where his father, George Martin Dewey, owned, edited, and published the local newspaper, the Owosso Times. His mother, Annie, whom he called Mater, bequeathed her son a healthy respect for common sense and the average man or woman who possessed it. One journalist noted that he did show leadership and ambition above the average, by the time he was thirteen and he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1923, and from Columbia Law School in 1925. While at the University of Michigan, he joined Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a fraternity for men of music. He was an excellent singer with a deep, baritone voice and he briefly considered a career as a professional singer, but decided against it after a temporary throat ailment convinced him that such a career would be risky. He then decided to pursue a career as a lawyer and he also wrote for The Michigan Daily, the universitys student newspaper. On June 16,1928, Dewey married Frances Eileen Hutt, a native of Sherman, Texas, she was a stage actress, after their marriage she dropped her acting career. They had two sons, Thomas E. Dewey Jr. and John Martin Dewey, in 1945, Dewey told a reporter that my farm is my roots. The heart of this nation is the small town. Dapplemere was part of a rural community called Quaker Hill
10.
White House
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The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D. C. It has been the residence of every U. S. president since John Adams in 1800, the term White House is often used to refer to actions of the president and his advisers, as in The White House announced that. The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style, construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior, reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semi-circular South portico in 1824, because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, in the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as an area for social events. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space, by 1948, the houses load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the rooms were completely dismantled. Once this work was completed, the rooms were rebuilt. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, the property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of the Presidents Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of Americas Favorite Architecture, in May 1790, New York began construction of Government House for his official residence, but he never occupied it. The national capital moved to Philadelphia in December 1790, the July 1790 Residence Act named Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the temporary national capital for a 10-year period while the Federal City was under construction. The City of Philadelphia rented Robert Morriss city house at 190 High Street for Washingtons presidential residence, the first president occupied the Market Street mansion from November 1790 to March 1797, and altered it in ways that may have influenced the design of the White House. As part of an effort to have Philadelphia named the permanent national capital, Pennsylvania built a much grander presidential mansion several blocks away. President John Adams also occupied the Market Street mansion from March 1797 to May 1800, on Saturday, November 1,1800, he became the first president to occupy the White House. The Presidents House in Philadelphia became a hotel and was demolished in 1832, the Presidents House was a major feature of Pierre Charles LEnfants plan for the newly established federal city, Washington, D. C
11.
Article Two of the United States Constitution
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Article Two of the United States Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government, which carries out and enforces federal laws. It includes the President, the Vice President, the Cabinet, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards, commissions, the executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. Similar clauses are found in Article I and Article III, the former bestows federal legislative power exclusively to Congress, and the latter grants judicial power solely to the Supreme Court. These three articles create a separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government, the Presidents executive power is subject to two important limitations. First, the President lacks executive authority explicitly granted to Congress, hence the President cannot declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, or regulate commerce, even though executives had often wielded such authority in the past. In these instances, Congress retained portions of the power that the Continental Congress had wielded under the Articles of Confederation. Nor were they retained by the U. S. Congress as leftovers from the Articles of Confederation, government considers itself at war with a foreign political entity. By U. S. law, the limitation on that power is a requirement to notify specific members of Congress within 48 hours after the beginning of military operations. Once proper legal notification is given to the members of Congress, military action can continue. Second, specific constitutional provisions may check customary executive authority, notwithstanding his executive power, the President cannot make treaties or appointments without the advice and consent of the Senate. Likewise, the Presidents pardon power is limited to offenses against the United States and does not extend to impeachments or violations of state law. As treaties are by U. S. law official agreements with foreign governments recognized as only after Senate ratification. Additionally, since official treaties are specifically created under and by constitutional U. S. S. as far as presidential appointments, as with treaties a person is not officially and legally appointed to a position until their appointment is approved by the Senate. And again, the President nominates people for positions at his pleasure. Senate consent occurs when a supermajority of votes to approve. The head of the Executive Branch is the President, although also named in this first clause, the Vice President is not constitutionally vested with any executive power. Nonetheless, the Constitution dictates that the President and Vice President are to be elected at the time, for the same term. The framers intent was to preserve the independence of the branch should the person who was Vice President succeed to the duties of the presidency
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United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government, Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure used by the thirteen States to ratify it. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, the majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures, Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages of the original U. S, according to the United States Senate, The Constitutions first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. From September 5,1774 to March 1,1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the government of the United States. The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in establishing a governing body. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States and it was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the governments power was quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers, implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was worthless, Congress could borrow money, but couldnt pay it back. No state paid all their U. S. taxes, some paid nothing, some few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their citizens, but no more. No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments, by 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due. Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little to enhance the United States ability to defend its sovereignty, most of the troops in the 625-man United States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British forts on American soil. They had not been paid, some were deserting and others threatening mutiny, spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, U. S. officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the Treasury had no funds to pay their ransom, if any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response. Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing to bring unity to the sentiments and interests of the various states
13.
United States presidential nominating convention
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Other delegates to these conventions include political party members who are seated automatically, and are called unpledged delegates because they can choose for themselves for whom they vote for. Generally, usage of “presidential campaign nominating convention” refers to the two major parties’ quadrennial events, the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. Some minor parties also select their nominees by convention, including the Green Party, the Socialist Party USA, the Libertarian Party, the Constitution Party, the convention cycle begins with the Call to Convention. Usually issued about 18 months in advance, the Call is an invitation from the party to the state. It also sets out the number of delegates to be awarded to each, the conventions are usually scheduled for four days of business, with the exception of the 1972 Republican and 2012 Democratic conventions, which were three days each. There is no rule dictating the order of the conventions, between 1864 and 1952, the Democrats went second every year. In 1956, when Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower was the incumbent, the Democrats went first, since 1952, all major party conventions have been held in the months of July, August or, early September. In 1996, both were held in August to accommodate the Atlanta Olympics in July, the last Summer Olympics to date to be played in the U. S, in 2000, both conventions preceded the Sydney Olympics in late September. In 2008 and 2012, the Democratic and Republican conventions were moved to back-to-back weeks following the conclusion of the Olympics, finally, the parties also did not want to schedule their conventions around the Olympics. But moving the conventions later into early September led to conflicts with the National Football Leagues season kickoff game, however, the NFL accommodated the conventions and moved its games to an earlier start time in 2008, and an earlier date in 2012. In 2016, both the Republican and Democratic conventions moved to July, before the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August. The Democrats then followed suit so they could provide a response to the Republicans. Each party sets its own rules for the participation and format of the convention, broadly speaking, each U. S. state and territory party is apportioned a select number of voting representatives, individually known as delegates and collectively as the delegation. The selection of delegates and their alternates, too, is governed by the bylaws of each state party. The 2004 Democratic National Convention counted 4,353 delegates and 611 alternates, the 2004 Republican National Convention had 2,509 delegates and 2,344 alternates. But these individuals are dwarfed by other attendees who do not participate in the business of the convention. The convention is held in a major city selected by the national party organization 18–24 months before the election is to be held. In the present day, political symbolism affects the selection of the host city as much as economic or logistical ones do, a particular city might be selected to enhance the standing of a favorite son, or in an effort to curry favor with residents of that state
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Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center
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There were two important buildings on the site. The Commercial Museum, built in 1899, was one of the exposition buildings. The Municipal Auditorium was built in 1931, Philip H. Johnson was the architect, the site was host to national political conventions in 1900,1936,1940 and 1948. The Convention Hall arena was located at 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, on the edge of the campus of the University of Pennsylvania and it was built in 1930 and its highest capacity was approximately 12,000. The building was an Art Deco landmark, notable for its many friezes, thus the building became known as Convention Hall. Pope John Paul II, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela all spoke there, and The Beatles, the Philadelphia Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers both played many of their games in the arena, the 1960 NBA All-Star Game was played there. President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke at an appearance on August 29,1964 at Convention Hall. He appeared at the Hall alongside many notable Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Democratic leaders, four days later, The Beatles played the venue on September 2,1964 during their first tour of the United States. Tickets went on sale in May 1964 and sold out within 90 minutes, the Rolling Stones played Convention Hall on May 1,1965 during their third American tour. After the opening of the Spectrum in South Philadelphia in 1967, on February 5,1970, The Jackson 5 played their first official concert for Motown Records there. The building was used for Atlantic 10 Conference and Big Five basketball games. World Championship Wrestling also staged professional wrestling there, which included three events, Halloween Havoc in 1989 and 1992 and the 1994 Slamboree event. The Civic Center also hosted the World Hockey Associations Philadelphia Blazers, the University of Pennsylvania used the building for commencements, as did Drexel University, Temple University, and La Salle University. Convention Hall was torn down in 2005, after more than a decade without a regular tenant. The 1996 Atlantic 10 Mens basketball tournament was the last event ever held there, prior to this, afterwards, it served as a soundstage for movies and the TV series Hack starring David Morse. The Championship fight scene for Tommy the machine Gun played by real life boxer Tommy Morrison for the 1990 movie Rocky V was shot there. The Auditoriums M. P. Moller 86-rank pipe organ, built in 1931, was removed just prior to the buildings demolition and placed in Pennsylvania Hall in temporary storage. In October 2006 the organ was donated to the University of Oklahomas, American Organ Institute where it will be restored, the last remnant of the Civic Center, Pennsylvania Hall, was imploded on March 5,2007
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Camera
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Thumb|A2016 Nikon D810 A camera is an optical instrument for recording or capturing images, which may be stored locally, transmitted to another location, or both. The images may be individual still photographs or sequences of images constituting videos or movies, the camera is a remote sensing device as it senses subjects without physical contact. The word camera comes from camera obscura, which means dark chamber and is the Latin name of the device for projecting an image of external reality onto a flat surface. The modern photographic camera evolved from the camera obscura, the functioning of the camera is very similar to the functioning of the human eye. A camera may work with the light of the spectrum or with other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A still camera is a device which creates a single image of an object or scene. All cameras use the basic design, light enters an enclosed box through a converging lens/convex lens. A shutter mechanism controls the length of time that light can enter the camera, a display, often a liquid crystal display, permits the user to view scene to be recorded and settings such as ISO speed, exposure, and shutter speed. A movie camera or a video camera operates similarly to a camera, except it records a series of static images in rapid succession. When the images are combined and displayed in order, the illusion of motion is achieved, the forerunner to the photographic camera was the camera obscura. The oldest known record of this principle is a description by Han Chinese philosopher Mozi, Mozi correctly asserted that the camera obscura image is inverted because light travels in straight lines from its source. In the 11th century Arab physicist Ibn al-Haytham s wrote very influential essays about experiments with light through an opening in a darkened room. The use of a lens in the opening of a wall or closed window shutter of a room to project images used as a drawing aid has been traced back to circa 1550. Since the late 17th century portable camera obscura devices in tents, before the development of the photographic camera, it had been known for hundreds of years that some substances, such as silver salts, darkened when exposed to sunlight. The first person to use this chemistry to create images was Thomas Wedgwood, to create images, Wedgwood placed items, such as leaves and insect wings, on ceramic pots coated with silver nitrate, and exposed the set-up to light. These images werent permanent, however, as Wedgwood didnt employ a fixing mechanism and he ultimately failed at his goal of using the process to create fixed images created by a camera obscura. The first permanent photograph of an image was made in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce using a sliding wooden box camera made by Charles. Niépce had been experimenting with ways to fix the images of a camera obscura since 1816, the photograph Niépce succeeded in creating shows the view from his window
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1948 Republican National Convention
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The 1948 Republican National Convention was held at the Municipal Auditorium, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from June 21 to 25,1948. In all Republican conventions since 1948, the nominee has been selected on the first ballot, Warren was nominated for Vice President. The Republican ticket of Dewey and Warren surprisingly went on to lose the election to the Democratic ticket of Harry S. Truman. Elimination of unnecessary federal bureaus, and duplication of functions of governmental agencies. Federal aid to states for slum clearance and low-cost housing Extension of Social Security benefits A federal anti-lynching law Federal civil rights legislation, texas delegate Orville Bullington led a successful protest demanding southern representation on the platform panel considering the civil rights proposals. Abolition of the poll tax A crackdown on domestic Communism Recognition of the state of Israel International arms control on basis of reliable disciplines against bad faith, the admissions of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico as states to the union
17.
Civil and political rights
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Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure ones ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society, Civil and political rights form the original and main part of international human rights. They comprise the first portion of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the phrase civil rights is a translation of Latin ius civis. Roman citizens could be either free or servile, but they all had rights in law. After the Edict of Milan in 313, these included the freedom of religion. Roman legal doctrine was lost during the Middle Ages, but claims of rights could still be made based on religious doctrine. According to the leaders of Ketts Rebellion, all men may be made free. In the 17th century, English common law judge Sir Edward Coke revived the idea of rights based on citizenship by arguing that Englishmen had historically enjoyed such rights, the Parliament of England adopted the English Bill of Rights in 1689. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, by George Mason and James Madison, was adopted in 1776, the Virginia declaration is the direct ancestor and model for the U. S. Bill of Rights. The removal by legislation of a civil right constitutes a civil disability, in early 19th century Britain, the phrase civil rights most commonly referred to the issue of such legal discrimination against Catholics. In the House of Commons support for civil rights was divided, the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 restored their civil rights. In the 1860s, Americans adapted this usage to newly freed blacks, congress enacted civil rights acts in 1866,1871,1875,1957,1960,1964,1968, and 1991. Marshall notes that civil rights were among the first to be recognized and codified, followed later by political rights, in many countries, they are constitutional rights and are included in a bill of rights or similar document. They are also defined in human rights instruments, such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Civil and political rights need not be codified to be protected, although most democracies worldwide do have formal written guarantees of civil, Civil rights are considered to be natural rights. Thomas Jefferson wrote in his A Summary View of the Rights of British America that a free people their rights as derived from the laws of nature, the question of to whom civil and political rights apply is a subject of controversy. According to political scientist Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr. Custom also plays a role, the United States Declaration of Independence states that people have unalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. It is considered by some that the purpose of government is the protection of life. Ideas of self-ownership and cognitive liberty affirm rights to choose the food one eats, the one takes
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Social Security (United States)
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In the United States, Social Security is the commonly used term for the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program. Social Security is funded primarily through taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax or Self Employed Contributions Act Tax. With a few exceptions, all salaried income, up to an amount specifically determined by law, is subject to the Social Security payroll tax, all income over said amount is not taxed. In 2017, the amount of taxable earnings was $127,200. With few exceptions, all legal residents working in the United States now have an individual Social Security number. Indeed, nearly all working residents since Social Securitys 1935 inception have had a Social Security number because it is required to do a range of things, e. g. paying the IRS. In 2015, Social Security expenditures totaled $750.5 billion for OASDI, Social Security Timeline 1935 The 37-page Social Security Act signed August 14 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Landmark U. S. Supreme Court ruling that gave Congress the power to amend, the Court also ruled that recipients have no contractual right to receive payments. 1961 Early retirement age lowered to age 62 at reduced benefits 1965 Medicare health care benefits added to Social security—20 million joined in three years 1966 Medicare tax of 0, the Earnings limit doubled exemption amount for retired Social Security beneficiaries. The Act was an attempt to limit unforeseen and unprepared for dangers in the life, including old age, disability, poverty, unemployment. Opponents, however, decried the proposal as socialism, in a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Senator Thomas Gore asked Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, Isnt this socialism. She said that it was not, but he continued, Isnt this a bit of socialism. By 1950, debates moved away from which occupational groups should be included to get enough taxpayers to fund Social Security to how to provide more benefits, changes in Social Security have reflected a balance between promoting equality and efforts to provide adequate and affordable protection for low wage workers. These retirement benefits are a form of insurance that is heavily biased toward lower paid workers to make sure they do not have to retire in relative poverty. The OASI accounts plus trust funds are the only Social Security funding source that brings in more than it sends out, Social Security revenues exceeded expenditures, between 1983 and 2009. The disability insurance taxes of 1. 4% are included in the OASDI rate of 6. 2% for workers and employers or 12. 4% for the self-employed, the additional retirees expected under the baby boom bulge will hasten this trust fund depletion. Medicare expenses, tied to medical costs growth rates, have traditionally increased much faster than GDP growth rates, for workers the Social Security tax rate is 6. 2% on income under $127,200 through the end of 2017. The worker Medicare tax rate is 1. 45% of all income—employers pay another 1. 45%, employers pay 6. 2% up to the wage ceiling and the Medicare tax of 1.45 percent on all income
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Arthur Vandenberg
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Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg was a Republican Senator from the U. S. state of Michigan who participated in the creation of the United Nations. He is best known for leading the Republican Party from a policy of isolationism to one of internationalism, and supporting the Cold War, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan. Vandenberg was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Alpha and Aaron Vandenberg, Vandenberg attended public schools there and studied law at the University of Michigan, where he was a member of Delta Upsilon. After a brief stint working in New York at Colliers magazine, he returned home in 1906 to marry his childhood sweetheart and she died in 1917, and in 1918 Vandenberg married Hazel Whitaker. From 1906 to 1928, he worked as a newspaper editor and it was owned by William Alden Smith, who served as a Republican in the U. S. Senate from 1907 to 1919. Vandenberg as publisher made the highly profitable, he was well paid. Vandenberg wrote most of the editorials, calling for more Progressivism in the spirit of his hero Theodore Roosevelt, however he supported President William Howard Taft over Roosevelt in 1912. He was well known for his biography Alexander Hamilton, The Greatest American, Vandenberg was a Mason, Shriner, Elk, and Woodman. On March 31,1928, Governor Fred W. Green appointed 44-year-old Vandenberg, a Republican, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Woodbridge Nathan Ferris, Green made the appointment reluctantly under considerable political pressure. Vandenberg immediately declared his intention to stand for election to both the short, unexpired term and the full six-year term and he became the fifth journalist in the U. S. Senate. Fellow Republican publishers to whom he can look from behind his glasses for encouragement in his maiden speech are Cutting of New Mexico, Capper of Kansas. Senator-publisher Carter Glass of Virginia sits across the aisle among the Democrats, in November 1928, Vandenberg was handily elected for a full term. In the Senate, he piloted into law the Reapportionment Act of 1929 and he was at first an ardent supporter of President Herbert Hoover but he became discouraged by Hoovers intransigence and failures in dealing with the Great Depression. After the election of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, Vandenberg went along with most of the early New Deal measures, except for the NIRA, by the 1934 election, his own political position was precarious, he was still reelected by 52,443 votes. When the new Congress convened in 1935, there were only twenty-five Republican senators and he voted against most Roosevelt-sponsored measures, notable exceptions being the Banking Act of 1935 and the Social Security Act. He pursued a policy of what he called fiscal responsibility, a budget, states rights. He felt that Franklin Roosevelt had usurped the powers of Congress, but at the 1936 Republican National Convention, Vandenberg refused to permit the party to nominate him for Vice President, anticipating Roosevelts victory that year. As part of the coalition of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate
20.
Robert A. Taft
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Robert Alphonso Taft was a conservative American politician, statesman, and presidential hopeful who served as a United States Senator from Ohio from 1939 until his death in 1953. A member of the Republican Taft political family, he was the son of William Howard Taft. Taft was the Senates main opponent of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal domestic policies, after the presidents death, Taft successfully led the conservative coalitions efforts to curb the power of labor unions. Taft was an advocate of non-interventionism in foreign policy. He failed in his quests to win the Republican Partys presidential nomination in 1940,1948, throughout that period he battled New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey for control of the party. A1957 Senate committee named Taft as one of Americas five greatest senators, along with Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, la Follette, Sr. Taft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, a product of one of Americas most prominent political families. He was the grandson of Attorney General and Secretary of War Alphonso Taft, and his younger brother, Charles Phelps Taft II, served as the Mayor of Cincinnati and was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Ohio Governor in 1952. As a boy he spent four years in the Philippines, where his father was governor and he was first in his class at the Taft School, at Yale College, and at Harvard Law School. He was a member of Psi Upsilon, his fathers fraternity and Skull and Bones, in 1913, Taft scored the highest in the state on the Ohio bar exam. He then practiced for four years with the firm of Maxwell and Ramsey in Cincinnati, after a two-year stint in Washington working for the Food and Drug Administration, he returned to Cincinnati and opened his own law office. In 1924 he and his brother, Charles, helped form the law partnership Taft, Stettinius, on October 17,1914, he married Martha Wheaton Bowers, daughter of Lloyd Wheaton Bowers and Louisa Bennett Wilson. Two of Robert and Marthas grandsons are Robert Alphonso Bob Taft III, Governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007, in 1917, Taft and his wife bought a 46-acre farm in Indian Hill, a well-to-do suburb of Cincinnati. Called Sky Farm, it would serve as Tafts primary residence for the rest of his life, the Tafts gradually made extensive renovations that turned the small farmhouse into a sixteen-room mansion. On the farm Taft enjoyed growing strawberries, asparagus, and potatoes for profit, during the summer, Taft often vacationed with his wife and children at the Taft familys summer home at Murray Bay, in Quebec, Canada. When reporters asked his wife Martha what church he attended, she replied, Id have to say the Burning Tree. When the United States entered World War I in April,1917 Taft attempted to join the army but was rejected due to his poor eyesight, instead, he joined the legal staff of the Food and Drug Administration where he met Herbert Hoover, who became his idol. In 1918 and 1919, he was in Paris as legal adviser for the American Relief Administration and he came to distrust governmental bureaucracy as inefficient and detrimental to the rights of the individual, a principle he promoted throughout his career. He urged membership in the League of Nations but generally distrusted European politicians and he endorsed the idea of a powerful world court to enforce international law, but no such idealized court ever existed during his lifetime
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80th United States Congress
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It met in Washington, DC from January 3,1947 to January 3,1949, during the third and fourth years of Harry S. Trumans presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Sixteenth Census of the United States in 1940, republicans gained a majority in both chambers for this Congress having gained thirteen Senate seats and fifty-seven House seats. The 80th Congress passed several significant pro-business bills, most famously the Taft–Hartley Act, January 3,1947, Proceedings of Congress were televised for the first time. March 12,1947, In a Joint Session of Congress, July 18,1947, The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands entered into a trusteeship with the United Nations and administered by the United States. July 20,1947, President Truman issued the second peacetime draft in the United States amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union. November 24,1947, The House of Representatives approved citations of contempt of Congress against the so-called Hollywood 10, July 26,1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces. August 25,1948, House Un-American Activities Committee held the first-ever televised congressional hearing, 80–75,61 Stat.103 June 23,1947, Taft–Hartley Act, Sess. 80–101,61 Stat.136 July 18,1947, Presidential Succession Act, 80–199,61 Stat.380 July 26,1947, National Security Act of 1947, Sess. 80–253,61 Stat.495 August 7,1947, Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands, 80–382,61 Stat.913 January 27,1948, United States Information and Educational Exchange Act, Sess. 80–402,62 Stat.6 April 3,1948, Foreign Assistance Act,169,62 Stat.137 April 3,1948, Greek-Turkish Assistance Act of 1948, Sess. 80–472, Title III,62 Stat.157 May 26,1948, Civil Air Patrol Act, 80–557,62 Stat.274 June 12,1948, Womens Armed Services Integration Act, Sess. 80–625,62 Stat.356 June 17,1948, Reed-Bulwinkle Act, 80–662,62 Stat.472 June 25,1948, Title 3 of the United States Code, Sess. 80–771,62 Stat.672 June 28,1948, Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act of 1948, 80–806,62 Stat.1070 June 30,1948, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Sess. 80–845,62 Stat.1155 July 3,1948, War Claims Act of 1948, 80–896,62 Stat.1240 July 3,1948, Agricultural Act of 1948, Sess. The Democrats lost one seat, which remained vacant until the next Congress, the congressional district numbers are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the article may only describe the district as it exists today. The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress There were 3 deaths,2 resignations, There were 9 deaths and 7 resignations. Official Congressional Directory for the 80th Congress, 1st Session, official Congressional Directory for the 80th Congress, 1st Session
