The 72nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1931, to March 4, 1933, during the last two years of Herbert Hoover's presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1910 United States census. The Senate had a Republican majority. The House started with a very slim Republican majority, but by the time it first met in December 1931, the Democrats had gained a majority through special elections.
Major events
Ongoing: Great Depression January 12, 1932: Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman elected to the United States Senate. (Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia had been appointed to fill a vacancy in 1922.) Caraway had won a special election to fill the remaining months of the term of her late husband, Senator Thaddeus H. Caraway. She won re-election to a full term in 1932 and again in 1938 and served in the Senate until January 1945. July 28, 1932: Bonus Army was dispersed. November 8, 1932: 1932 United States elections: 1932 United States presidential election: Incumbent Republicans Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis lost to Democrats Franklin Roosevelt as President, and John Nance Garner as Vice President. 1932 United States Senate elections: Democrats gained 12 seats for a 59–36 majority. 1932 United States House of Representatives elections: Democrats gained 97 seats for a 313–117 majority.
Major legislation
January 22, 1932: Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act, Sess. 1, ch. 8, February 27, 1932: Glass–Steagall Act of 1932, Sess. 1, ch. 58, March 23, 1932: Norris–LaGuardia Act, Sess. 1, ch. 90, June 6, 1932: Revenue Act of 1932, Sess. 1, ch. 209, June 22, 1932: Federal Kidnapping Act, Sess. 1, ch. 271, June 30, 1932: Economy Act of 1932, Sess. 1, ch. 314, July 21, 1932: Emergency Relief and Construction Act, Sess. 1, ch. 520, July 22, 1932: Federal Home Loan Bank Act, Sess. 1, ch. 522, January 17, 1933: Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act, Sess. 2, ch. 11, March 3, 1933: Buy American Act, Sess. 2, ch. 212, title III,
Constitutional amendments March 2, 1932: Approved an amendment to the United States Constitution moving the beginning and ending of the terms of the president and vice president from March 4 to January 20, and of members of Congress from March 4 to January 3, and also establishing what is to be done when there is no president-elect, and submitted it to the state legislatures for ratification January 23, 1933: The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states (then 36) to become part of the Constitution. February 20, 1933: Approved an amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealing the Eighteenth Amendment, and submitted it to state ratifying conventions for ratification Amendment was later ratified on December 5, 1933, becoming the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution
Party summary The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
Senate Republicans controlled the Senate through a VP-tie-breaking majority.
House of Representatives Affiliation Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) Total Democratic Farmer–Labor Republican Vacant End of previous Congress 166 1 265 432 3 Begin 216 1 217 434 1 March 16, 1931 215 433 2 April 9, 1931 216 432 3 May 12, 1931 216 216 433 2 May 26, 1931 215 216 432 3 May 29, 1931 214 431 4 July 4, 1931 215 430 5 July 13, 1931 213 429 6 July 18, 1931 214 428 7 July 28, 1931 212 427 8 September 9, 1931 213 428 7 September 29, 1931 214 214 429 6 October 13, 1931 215 430 5 October 18, 1931 214 429 6 October 22, 1931 214 213 428 7 November 3, 1931 217 215 433 2 November 6, 1931 214 432 3 November 24, 1931 218 433 2 December 1, 1931Beginning of first session 219 1 214 434 1 January 5, 1932 220 435 0 January 29, 1932 213 434 1 February 4, 1932 218 432 3 March 2, 1932 219 433 2 March 15, 1932 220 434 1 April 1, 1932 212 433 2 April 5, 1932 221 211 April 21, 1932 210 432 3 April 26, 1932 211 433 2 May 31, 1932 210 432 3 June 14, 1932 220 431 4 July 23, 1932 219 430 5 August 14, 1932 220 431 4 October 5, 1932 219 430 5 October 7, 1932 218 429 6 November 6, 1932 217 428 7 November 8, 1932 220 212 433 2 November 29, 1932 211 432 3 December 3, 1932 210 431 4 December 13, 1932 219 430 5 January 7, 1933 209 429 6 January 8, 1933 208 428 7 January 28, 1933 220 429 6 February 16, 1933 206 427 8 Final voting share 51.4% 0.2% 48.4% Non-voting members 0 0 2 5 0 Beginning of next Congress 311 5 117 433 2
Leadership
Senate President: Charles Curtis (R) President pro tempore: George H. Moses (R)
Majority (Republican) Majority Leader: James E. Watson Majority Whip: Simeon D. Fess Republican Conference Secretary: Frederick Hale National Senatorial Committee Chair: Daniel O. Hastings
Minority (Democratic) Minority Leader: Joseph T. Robinson Minority Whip: Morris Sheppard Democratic Caucus Secretary: Hugo Black
House of Representatives
Speaker: John N. Garner (D)
Note: Republican Nicholas Longworth, the Speaker of the House in the previous Congress, was Speaker-presumptive with his party's mere three-seat majority. However, Longworth died on April 9, 1931, and by the time the 72nd Congress convened in December 1931, Democrats had gained four seats from Republicans through special elections following deaths, thus becoming the majority party in the House. Democrat John Garner was subsequently elected as Speaker.
Majority (Democratic) Majority Leader: Henry T. Rainey Majority Whip: John McDuffie Democratic Caucus Chairman: William W. Arnold Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Joseph W. Byrns Sr.
Minority (Republican) Minority Leader: Bertrand H. Snell Minority Whip: Carl G. Bachmann Republican Conference Chairman: Willis C. Hawley Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: William R. Wood
Members This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.
Senate
Senators were elected every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1934; Class 2 meant their term began with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1936; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1932.
Alabama 2. John H. Bankhead II (D) 3. Hugo Black (D)
Arizona 1. Henry F. Ashurst (D) 3. Carl Hayden (D)
Arkansas 2. Joseph Taylor Robinson (D) 3. Thaddeus H. Caraway (D), until November 6, 1931 Hattie Caraway (D), from November 13, 1931
California 1. Hiram W. Johnson (R) 3. Samuel M. Shortridge (R)
Colorado 2. Edward P. Costigan (D) 3. Charles W. Waterman (R), until August 27, 1932 Walter Walker (D), September 16, 1932 – December 6, 1932 Karl C. Schuyler (R), from December 7, 1932
Connecticut 1. Frederic C. Walcott (R) 3. Hiram Bingham III (R)
Delaware 1. John G. Townsend Jr. (R) 2. Daniel O. Hastings (R)
Florida 1. Park Trammell (D) 3. Duncan U. Fletcher (D)
Georgia 2. William J. Harris (D), until April 18, 1932 John S. Cohen (D), April 25, 1932 – January 11, 1933 Richard Russell Jr. (D), from January 12, 1933 3. Walter F. George (D)
Idaho 2. William E. Borah (R) 3. John Thomas (R)
Illinois 2. James Hamilton Lewis (D) 3. Otis F. Glenn (R)
Indiana 1. Arthur R. Robinson (R) 3. James E. Watson (R)
Iowa 2. Lester J. Dickinson (R) 3. Smith W. Brookhart (R)
Kansas 2. Arthur Capper (R) 3. George McGill (D)
Kentucky 2. Marvel M. Logan (D) 3. Alben W. Barkley (D)
Louisiana 2. Huey Long (D), from January 25, 1932 3. Edwin S. Broussard (D)
Maine 1. Frederick Hale (R) 2. Wallace H. White Jr. (R)
Maryland 1. Phillips Lee Goldsborough (R) 3. Millard Tydings (D)
Massachusetts 1. David I. Walsh (D) 2. Marcus A. Coolidge (D)
Michigan 1. Arthur H. Vandenberg (R) 2. James J. Couzens (R)
Minnesota 1. Henrik Shipstead (FL) 2. Thomas D. Schall (R)
Mississippi 1. Hubert D. Stephens (D) 2. Pat Harrison (D)
Missouri 1. Roscoe C. Patterson (R) 3. Harry B. Hawes (D), until February 3, 1933 Bennett Champ Clark (D), from February 3, 1933
Montana 1. Burton K. Wheeler (D) 2. Thomas J. Walsh (D), until March 2, 1933
Nebraska 1. Robert B. Howell (R) 2. George W. Norris (R)
Nevada 1. Key Pittman (D) 3. Tasker Oddie (R)
New Hampshire 2. Henry W. Keyes (R) 3. George H. Moses (R)
New Jersey 1. Hamilton Fish Kean (R) 2. Dwight Morrow (R), until October 5, 1931 William Warren Barbour (R), from December 1, 1931
New Mexico 1. Bronson M. Cutting (R) 2. Sam G. Bratton (D)
New York 1. Royal S. Copeland (D) 3. Robert F. Wagner (D)
North Carolina 2. Josiah William Bailey (D) 3. Cameron A. Morrison (D), until December 4, 1932 Robert R. Reynolds (D), from December 5, 1932
North Dakota 1. Lynn Frazier (R-NPL) 3. Gerald Nye (R)
Ohio 1. Simeon D. Fess (R) 3. Robert J. Bulkley (D)
Oklahoma 2. Thomas P. Gore (D) 3. Elmer Thomas (D)
Oregon 2. Charles L. McNary (R) 3. Frederick Steiwer (R)
Pennsylvania 1. David A. Reed (R) 3. James J. Davis (R)
Rhode Island 1. Felix Hebert (R) 2. Jesse H. Metcalf (R)
South Carolina 2. James F. Byrnes (D) 3. Ellison D. Smith (D)
South Dakota 2. William J. Bulow (D) 3. Peter Norbeck (R)
Tennessee 1. Kenneth McKellar (D) 2. Cordell Hull (D)
Texas 1. Tom T. Connally (D) 2. Morris Sheppard (D)
Utah 1. William H. King (D) 3. Reed Smoot (R)
Vermont 1. Porter H. Dale (R) 3. Frank C. Partridge (R), until March 31, 1931 Warren Austin (R), from April 1, 1931
Virginia 1. Claude A. Swanson (D) 2. Carter Glass (D)
Washington 1. Clarence Cleveland Dill (D) 3. Wesley L. Jones (R), until November 19, 1932 Elijah S. Grammer (R), from November 22, 1932
West Virginia 1. Henry D. Hatfield (R) 2. Matthew M. Neely (D)
Wisconsin 1. Robert M. La Follette Jr. (R) 3. John J. Blaine (R)
Wyoming 1. John B. Kendrick (D) 2. Robert D. Carey (R)
House of Representatives
The names of representatives elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise at-large, are preceded by an "At-large," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.
Alabama . John McDuffie (D) . J. Lister Hill (D) . Henry B. Steagall (D) . Lamar Jeffers (D) . LaFayette L. Patterson (D) . William B. Oliver (D) . Miles C. Allgood (D) . Edward B. Almon (D) . George Huddleston (D) . William B. Bankhead (D)
Arizona . Lewis W. Douglas (D)
Arkansas . William J. Driver (D) . John E. Miller (D) . Claude A. Fuller (D) . Effiegene L. Wingo (D) . Heartsill Ragon (D) . David D. Glover (D) . Tilman B. Parks (D)
California . Clarence F. Lea (D) . Harry L. Englebright (R) . Charles F. Curry Jr. (R) . Florence P. Kahn (R) . Richard J. Welch (R) . Albert E. Carter (R) . Henry E. Barbour (R) . Arthur M. Free (R) . William E. Evans (R) . Joe Crail (R) . Philip D. Swing (R)
Colorado . William R. Eaton (R) . Charles Bateman Timberlake (R) . Guy U. Hardy (R) . Edward T. Taylor (D)
Connecticut . Augustine Lonergan (D) . Richard P. Freeman (R) . John Q. Tilson (R), until December 3, 1932 . William L. Tierney (D) . Edward W. Goss (R)
Delaware . Robert G. Houston (R)
Florida . Herbert J. Drane (D) . Robert A. Green (D) . Tom A. Yon (D) . Ruth Bryan Owen (D)