The 86th Congress passed away whimpering. The short, post-convention summer session ordered by the Democratic leadership to make campaign hay turned into a Democratic fiasco. Bill after bill was either stopped dead or hacked to pieces by a disciplined coalition of Republicans and conservative Southern Democrats. Dick Nixon would not have to explain away any awkward presidential vetoes during his campaign, because President Eisenhower had not had to use his veto.* Although on adjourning Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and House Speaker Sam Rayburn pointed with customary pride, they could not camouflage the failure.
Jack Kennedy, angry and frustrated by...
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