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Origins & Development of the United States Senate
The framers of the United States Constitution deliberated at length over the Senate's role in the new federal government. Since that time, the Senate has evolved into a complex legislative body, while remaining true to its constitutional origins.
Original Ledger Found
"Probably the oldest book of consecutive accounts kept by government officers," noted an 1885 newspaper article, "is a time-worn volume kept in the office of General Anson G. McCook, secretary of the senate." Marked S-1, this financial ledger records nearly a century of salary and mileage payments to senators, from 1790 to 1881. McCook, recognizing the ledger's importance, had it restored and rebound in 1884. Future employees were not so careful. In the early 1960s, S-1 and nearly sixty other financial ledgers were stored in the basement of the Capitol, and then forgotten. Rediscovered in late 2002, this collection is a unique treasure of Senate history. S-1 has been digitized by the Library of Congress and is now available online.
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This Week in Senate History
January 26, 1830
One of the most momentous debates in Senate history entered its final stage on this date. In a Senate chamber jammed beyond reasonable capacity, Daniel Webster (MA), using his organ-like voice to great effect, began a two-day speech -- known ever since as his "Second Reply to Hayne." In response to South Carolina Senator Robert Hayne's argument that the nation was simply an association of sovereign states, from which individual states could withdraw at will, Webster thundered that it was instead a "popular government, erected by the people; those who administer it are responsible to the people; and itself capable of being amended and modified, just as the people may choose it should be." Overnight, he became a major national figure, respected by his many friends and enemies alike.
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January 27, 1863
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Willard Saulsbury, Jr. (D-DE)
During a contentious Senate debate, Senator Willard Saulsbury (DE) referred to President Abraham Lincoln as a "weak and imbecile man." In the furor that followed these remarks, Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, as presiding officer, ordered Saulsbury to take his seat. After further discussion and resistance by the Delaware senator, Hamlin instructed the Sergeant at Arms to arrest him. Saulsbury responded, "Let him do it at his expense," as he drew a pistol and threatened to shoot the surprised officer. Tempers quickly cooled, however, and Saulsbury subsequently apologized, prompting the Senate set aside a pending resolution of expulsion.
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January 28, 1913
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Key Pittman (D-NV)
The May 1913 ratification of the Constitution's Seventeenth Amendment ended the system under which U.S. senators were elected by the legislatures of their respective states. Beginning in the 1890s, several states began conducting popular referendums with the expectation that their legislatures would formally elect the person who received the largest popular vote. Following this arrangement, the Nevada state legislature, on January 28, 1913, elected Key Pittman. In winning his Senate seat, Pittman set two records -- the smallest number of total votes (7,942) and the narrowest victory margin to date (89 votes). He served in the Senate for the next twenty-seven years. In 1948, a Texas Democrat would become known as "Landslide Lyndon" for winning a Senate primary by eighty-seven votes, and in a 1964 Nevada general election Howard Cannon defeated Paul Laxalt by just eighty-four votes.
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