*Party division totals are based on election day results.
Democrats retained control of the House, captured the Senate, and ramped up their efforts to undercut Reconstruction legislation protecting African-American voting rights in the 46th Congress (1879–1881). Congress continued to challenge President Rutherford B. Hayes by attaching “riders”—substantive amendments—to Army appropriations bills prohibiting federal funding from being used to protect voting places in the former Confederacy. Democrats tried this tactic seven times—and Hayes vetoed each attempt—before Congress abandoned its efforts.
Learn more about the People of the People's House
To view complete lists of individuals who have served in these leadership and official positions since the 1st Congress, visit the People section