United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
Search the website

Congress Profiles

Choose which Congress to display:

78th Congress (1943–1945)

Congressional Profile

Total Membership:

  • 435 Representatives
  • 2 Delegates
  • 2 Resident Commissioners

Party Divisions:*

  • 222 Democrats
  • 209 Republicans
  • 2 Progressives
  • 1 American-Labor
  • 1 Farmer-Labor

*Party division totals are based on election day results.

  • Election Statistics, 1942 [PDF]
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn/tiles/non-collection/s/speaker_rayburn_seated_2005_016_043.xml Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
About this object The longest serving Speaker in House History, Sam Rayburn of Texas presided over 10 Congresses as Speaker.

Congress Overview

The 1942 elections reduced Democratic majorities in Congress. To mobilize and coordinate the country’s wartime economy, the 78th Congress (1943–1945) recruited foreign farm laborers and seized vital manufacturing sectors. It repealed the Chinese Exclusion Acts in recognition of its wartime ally and expanded civil programs for its military: authorizing absentee voting; establishing the system of veterans’ preference for government jobs; and creating a network of benefits to assist in their readjustment to civilian life with the G.I. Bill of Rights.

Member Information

  • Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, (1774–2005), Official Annotated Membership Roster by State with Vacancy and Special Election Information for the 78th Congress [PDF]
  • Learn more about the House of Representatives with an interactive map

Learn more about the People of the People's House

Committee Information

Leadership & Officers

Speaker of the House:
Sam Rayburn (D–Texas)
Majority Leader:
John W. McCormack (D–Massachusetts)
Minority Leader:
Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (R–Massachusetts)
Democratic Whip:
Robert Ramspeck (D–Georgia)
Republican Whip:
Harry L. Englebright (R–California) 1
Leslie C. Arends (R–Illinois)
Democratic Caucus Chairman:
Harry R. Sheppard (D–California)
Republican Conference Chairman:
Roy O. Woodruff (R–Michigan)
Clerk of the House:
South Trimble
Sergeant at Arms:
Kenneth Romney
Chaplain of the House:
James Shera Montgomery – Methodist
Doorkeeper:
Joseph J. Sinnot
Postmaster:
Finis E. Scott
Parliamentarian:
Lewis Deschler

To view complete lists of individuals who have served in these leadership and official positions since the 1st Congress, visit the People section

Session Dates

Saturday/Sunday Sessions

Joint Meetings, Joint Sessions, & Inaugurations

Related Collection Object

William Levi Dawson
William Levi Dawson
1943-1955
William L. Dawson, who served in Congress from 1943 through 1970, was the first African American to chair a standing House committee—the Expenditures in the Executive Departments Committee, later renamed …

Related House Records

Equal Pay for Equal Work Bill
Equal Pay for Equal Work Bill
June 19, 1944
When Winifred Stanley of New York introduced H.R. 5056 in 1944, the United States was nearing the end of World War II. The war mobilized women into the workforce in unprecedented numbers. Stanley had the …

Related Historical Highlights

The Override of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Revenue Act of 1943
The Override of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Revenue Act of 1943
February 24, 1944
The House voted 299 to 95 to override President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s veto of the Revenue Act of 1943.
The Resolution to Permit Live Radio Broadcasts of House Proceedings
The Resolution to Permit Live Radio Broadcasts of House Proceedings
September 19, 1944
Representative John Coffee of Washington introduced H.J. Res. 311 which called for live radio broadcasts of House proceedings.

Footnotes

1Died in office, May 13, 1943.

Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov