The nation's capital was still a sleepy, segregated Southern town in 1953, the last time Republicans opened a session in control of both chambers of Congress.
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower had succeeded Harry Truman as president, the popularity of the World War II allied commander helping ensure a one-vote majority of 48 in the Senate (there was one independent) and 221 in the House. There were only 96 Senate seats then, Alaska and Hawaii not yet having been admitted to the Union.Vice President Richard Nixon was on hand to settle any ties.
Joseph W. Martin Jr. of Massachusetts was speaker of the House; Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio led the GOP in the Senate. Waiting in the wings were two Texans - House Democratic leader Sam Rayburn and Senate Democratic leader Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., was chairman of the Senate's Government Operations Committee; the House still maintained a standing committee on Un-American Activities.
A panel of appointed commissioners governed the District of Columbia. Seven men, including the postmaster general, made up the president's Cabinet (there are 22 members today). Third-rail streetcars served much of the city.
To assist with the courtesies of personal notes and social invitations, the Congressional Directory listed the names and home addresses of all staff on the Capitol Hill.
Among others serving in the Senate during that 83rd Congress: John F. Kennedy, Hubert H. Humphrey, Everett M. Dirksen, Barry Goldwater and Albert Gore Sr. Members of the House included Lloyd Bentsen, Gerald Ford, John Dingell Sr. and Carl Albert.
Included in the freshman class in that last Republican year was a young Texas Democrat, Jack Brooks, who went on to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. On Tuesday, he was swept from office after 21 terms as his district was caught in the GOP tide.