90th United States Congress

90th United States Congress
Public domain · source
Number	90th
Caption	The United States Capitol in 1967.
Start	January 3, 1967
End	January 3, 1969
Vice president	Hubert Humphrey (D)
Pro tempore	Carl Hayden (D)
Speaker	John W. McCormack (D)
Senate majority	Democratic
House majority	Democratic
Sessionnumber1	1st
Sessionstart1	January 10, 1967
Sessionend1	December 15, 1967
Sessionnumber2	2nd
Sessionstart2	January 15, 1968
Sessionend2	October 14, 1968

90th United States Congress

The 90th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1969. It convened during the final two years of President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, a period marked by significant social unrest and a shifting political climate. While the Great Society legislative agenda had largely been enacted by previous Congresses, the 90th Congress is notable for its role in passing landmark civil rights legislation, particularly the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and for its increasingly conservative response to urban riots and demands for social change.

Major legislation

The legislative output of the 90th Congress was substantial, though it reflected a pivot from the expansive social programs of the mid-1960s toward more targeted measures. Its most significant achievement was the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, and national origin. Other important laws passed include the Bilingual Education Act, which provided federal aid for school districts serving students with limited English proficiency. In response to growing crime concerns, Congress passed the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, which established the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration to provide grants to state and local police. The Air Quality Act of 1967 expanded federal authority over air pollution control. Congress also passed a major tax increase, the Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968, which included a 10% income tax surcharge to help finance the Vietnam War and curb inflation.

Civil rights and social issues

The civil rights landscape during the 90th Congress was dominated by the push for fair housing and the national reaction to urban unrest. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 came in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, which sparked riots in over 100 cities. President Johnson urged its passage as a tribute to Dr. King. However, the legislation faced fierce opposition, particularly from conservatives in both parties who argued it infringed on property rights. The final act was a compromise, and its enforcement mechanisms were initially weak. Simultaneously, the Congress grappled with the findings of the Kerner Commission, which had been appointed by President Johnson to investigate the causes of the 1967 riots. The Commission's report, issued in 1968, famously warned that the nation was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal." While the report called for massive new social spending, the 90th Congress, facing budgetary pressures and a conservative coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats, largely rejected these proposals in favor of the law-and-order approach embodied in the crime bill.

Leadership and party composition

The Democratic Party maintained control of both chambers, but with diminished majorities compared to the landslide 89th Congress. In the Senate, Democrats held 64 seats to the Republicans' 36. The Senate was led by Majority Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana and Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois. The President pro tempore was longtime Senator Carl Hayden of Arizona. In the House of Representatives, Democrats held 248 seats to the Republicans' 187. The Speaker was John W. McCormack of Massachusetts. The House Majority Leader was Carl Albert of Oklahoma, and the Minority Leader was Gerald Ford of Michigan. This Congress saw the rise of a powerful conservative coalition, as Southern Democrats, increasingly alienated by the national party's stance on civil rights, frequently voted with Republicans to block liberal initiatives, shaping the legislative outcomes on spending and social policy.

Key events and hearings

Beyond the legislative process, the 90th Congress was a forum for several pivotal national events. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by J. William Fulbright, held extensive hearings on the Vietnam War, which amplified public skepticism of the administration's policy. The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968, following his victory in the California Democratic primary, cast a pall over the Capitol and the presidential election year. Congress was also directly involved in the political turmoil of 1968; after the violent clashes at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) held hearings investigating the activities of protest groups like the Youth International Party ("Yippies"). Furthermore, the Congress received and debated the controversial report from the Kerner Commission, though as noted, it took little legislative action on its core economic recommendations.

Historical context and impact

The 90th Congress operated at a historical inflection point for both the Civil Rights Movement and American politics broadly. It marked the effective end of the liberal consensus that had powered the Great Society and the early civil rights era. The national mood was shifting toward conservatism, emphasizing public order, fiscal restraint, and a skepticism of large-scale federal social engineering. The passage of the Fair Housing Act represented the last major civil rights legislative victory of the 1960s, closing an era of landmark bills that began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. However, the Congress's emphasis on crime control and its resistance to the Kerner Commission's economic prescriptions signaled a new political alignment. This conservative trend, capitalizing on anxieties about urban riots and social disorder, would help propel Richard Nixon to the presidency in the 1968 election and define the policy debates of the subsequent decade. The 90th Congress thus stands as a transitional body, reflecting the nation's struggle to fulfill the promise of civil rights amid deepening political and cultural divisions.