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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
May 3, 1951
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Harry Truman (D-MO)
In what would turn out to be a highly successful use of the Senate's investigative powers, the committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations began a joint inquiry into President Harry Truman's firing of General Douglas MacArthur. Truman sparked a national outcry over American policy in the Far East by removing the popular general on grounds of insubordination during the unpopular Korean war. To defuse this emotional issue, Committee Chairman Richard Russell (D-GA) began a series of carefully structured closed hearings that balanced the public's right to know with the need to protect national security information. After seven weeks, the joint committee concluded its work, leaving a previously skeptical public reassured that MacArthur's conduct and U.S. policy in the Far East had received a thorough and fair review.
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May 5, 1789
The Senate of the First Congress passed its first bill, an act providing for the administration of oaths to federal officials, including members of Congress.
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May 6, 1935
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Dennis Chavez
New Mexico's progressive Republican Senator Bronson Cutting died in an airplane crash while en route to Washington to defend his recent reelection victory against charges of campaign irregularities. The New Mexico governor then appointed Cutting's challenger, Democrat Dennis Chavez, to serve until the next election. Chavez won that election and four subsequent ones, serving until his death in 1962.
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May 8, 1864
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Senate Chamber
The 1859 opening of the new Senate chamber, with its 600-seat gallery, brought requests to use that theater-like facility for performances other than those of a strictly legislative nature. Although the Senate originally agreed to some such requests, it decided in 1864 to end the practice. On May 8, members agreed to allow Mrs. M.C. Walling to deliver a public lecture on the subject of post-Civil War reconstruction, with the understanding that "hereafter the Senate chamber shall not be granted for any purpose than for the use of the Senate."
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