Fact check: How often one party has controlled the federal government
THE MEDIA: Print.
WHO SAID IT: A Republic reader.
THE COMMENT: "With the inauguration of the next president and his appointment to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, this will be the first time since 1929 that one party controlled the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government at the same time."
THE FORUM: A letter to the editor in the Nov. 20 edition of The Republic.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT: Whether 1929 was the last year one party controlled all three branches of the federal government.
The letter to the editor was written after November's election determined Republican Donald Trump would win the White House, giving the party control of the executive branch, and the GOP would continue in the majority in the U.S. House and Senate, thus controlling the legislative branch. A vacancy on the Supreme Court will allow Republicans to also gain a majority there and control of the judicial branch.
The letter implied that one-party dominance of all three branches of the federal government led to the Great Depression. A letter responding to that reader questioned the claim, saying Democrats controlled all three branches from 2009 to 2011.
It turns out both letter-writers are wrong. Here's what records kept by the White House and Congress, and InsideGov.com's analysis of Supreme Court divisions show:
- Between 2001 and 2007, Republicans controlled at certain points all three branches while President George W. Bush occupied the White House. GOP control was interrupted between 2001 and 2003, as the Senate majority flipped to the Democrats as one senator switched his party affiliation, one senator died, and when the 2002 midterm elections shifted control of the upper chamber.
- From 1961-1969, Democrats controlled all three branches during the administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
- The 83rd Congress (1953-1955), during the presidency of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, saw the deaths of nine senators and the resignation of one. These changes shifted the balance of power in the Senate with each new replacement, according to the U.S. Senate website. When Republicans held the Senate majority during those years, all branches of government were under Republican-control, as the party also held the White House and Supreme Court.
- From 1937-1945, Democrats controlled all three branches of government during the administrations of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.
- And from 1927-1933, Republicans controlled all three branches of the government when Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover occupied the White House.
The other letter-writer's claim about one-party domination of all branches between 2009 and 2011 is also incorrect. Democrats did control the White House and Congress during those years, but the Supreme Court had at least five Republican justices, even after Democrat Elena Kagan replaced Republican John Paul Stevens in 2010.
It’s worth noting that although presidents appoint Supreme Court justices, their appointees don’t always perform as presidents expect. As a result, the Supreme Court is not as partisan as the other branches.
Two famous examples are Justices Earl Warren and William Brennan, who were appointed by Republican Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s.
Those justices took consistently liberal stances in the court, much to Eisenhower’s dismay. Eisenhower is sometimes said to have complained, "I have made two mistakes, and they are both sitting on the Supreme Court." Biographers have long debated whether Eisenhower actually said it.
BOTTOM LINE: The last year one party controlled all three branches of the federal government was 2007, when Republicans held the White House, both chambers of Congress and a majority on the Supreme Court. Democrats or Republicans have controlled all three branches at various other points since 1929.
THE FINDING: No stars: False.
SOURCES: List of presidents, U.S. White House website; Party divisions, U.S. House of Representatives website; InsideGov.com information on party divisions in the Supreme Court; Party divisions, U.S. Senate website; "Anecdotes are dangerous to biographers and truth Mistakes: When essential little stories are distorted, vast damage is done," Baltimore Sun.