A century of fighting for control of Congress


500m 0.2 miles
White House
Reflecting Pool
National Mall
South Lawn
The Ellipse

House Chamber
Capitol Building*
Senate Chamber

WASHINGTON D.C.
MAIN MAP 
5km 3 miles

Lincoln Memorial
World War II Memorial
Washington Monument


REPUBLICANS VERSUS DEMOCRATS: BATTLE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS

Wilson Harding† Coolidge Hoover Roosevelt Truman Eisenhower Kennedy† Johnson Nixon† Ford
Carter Reagan GHW Bush  Clinton GW Bush  Obama Trump

% of Senate or House seats
2  14 years  14  2  4  2  26  6
16 years  14  2  4  2  40  12  4  8

Majority party in Senate
Majority party in House


1919-21 1923-25
1927-29 1931-33
1935-37 1939-41
1943-45 1947-49
1951-53 1955-57
1959-61 1963-65
1967-69 1971-73
1975-77 1979-81
1983-85 1987-89
1991-93 1995-97
1999-01 2003-05
2007-09 2011-13
2015-17 2019-21
2018 midterms 2018 midterms

Every other session of Congress labelled – each horizontal segment represents two years

Democrats     Republicans     Democrats in White House    Republicans in White House


Midterm elections 2018: All 435 seats in House of Representatives and 35 of 100 seats in Senate to be contested. 34 of 50 states to elect governors to four-year terms, Vermont and New Hampshire to elect them for two-year terms

*Home to Congress – parliament of Federal government, consisting of House of Representatives and Senate 

†Died in office or resigned


Sources: Party in Power – A Visual Guide to the Balance of Power in Congress Pictures: Wikimedia Commons, Apple Maps    © GRAPHIC NEWS