Word: 90th
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There was no conflict between the two loyalties during the expansive days of 1965 and 1966, when Congress and President were committed to an eradication of domestic ills. The 90th Congress, which is far less inclined toward constructive action, brought a different mood to Capitol Hill, and Johnson appeared ready to bend with the prevailing breezes of caution and negativism. While the President pointedly avoided ringing the alarm bell after last summer's riots-or indeed doing much of anything at all-Gardner, always the most candid man in the Administration, eloquently voiced his own concern...
That, by and large, seemed to be the mood of the 90th Congress as it began its second session last week. The superficial conviviality of reunion coloring the first couple of days faded even faster than the suntans and windburns some members had brought back from Southern resorts and Northern ski slopes. The residual climate was grey, portending six or seven months of bilious dissension both among Democrats and between the parties, leading up to a rugged election season. Predicted Mike Mansfield, the spare-spoken Senate majority leader: "It will be a difficult session...
However, as with much of the 90th Congress' output, Johnson found the nectar laced with pickle juice. Congress attached provisions aimed at curbing the ever-growing welfare rolls, and though the Administration considers them severe, Johnson could not veto the restrictions without rejecting the entire...
...Congress, Johnson was hobbled by the "stop, look and listen" approach advocated by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield. Engorged with costly programs enacted by the 89th Congress, the 90th cast a jaundiced eye on Johnson's new requests. According to Congressional Quarterly, from the time Johnson took office until the end of 1966, he got 655 of his 1,057 proposals enacted into law a sensational 62% average. (By C.Q.'s reckoning, Dwight Eisenhower batted 46%, John F. Kennedy only 39%.) But in 1967, Johnson was defeated on his tax-surcharge, civil rights, anticrime, East-West trade and legislative-reorganization...
Along with its legislative record, each Congress writes its own short hand label: innovative or standpat, Micawberish or Scroogian, spineless or rebellious. The 90th's first session fell somewhere in between on each count. It reflected rather too faithfully the national condition of confusion and contention over Viet Nam and the urban crisis. Unable to change the course of either, its mood was often one of angry frustration. The fight over the proposed tax increase and efforts to curb federal spending flavored the entire session, giving it a bitter taste-but no tax bill and only marginal savings...