The American Presidency Project

Seats in Congress Gained or Lost by the President's Party in Presidential Election Years

F. Roosevelt - Biden

 

Year President Party House Seats Senate Seats
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic +90 +9
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic +12 +7
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic +7 -3
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic +24 -2
1948 Harry S. Truman Democratic +75 +9
1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican +22 +1
1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican -2 -1
1960 John F. Kennedy Democratic -22 +2
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic +37 +1
1968 Richard Nixon Republican +5 +6
1972 Richard Nixon Republican +12 -2
1976 Jimmy Carter Democratic +1 0
1980 Ronald Reagan Republican +34 +12
1984 Ronald Reagan Republican +14 -2
1988 George Bush Republican -2 0
1992 William J. Clinton Democratic -10 0
1996 William J. Clinton Democratic -9 -2
2000 George W. Bush Republican -3 -4
2004 George W. Bush Republican +3 +4
2008 Barack Obama Democratic +23 +8
2012 Barack Obama Democratic +8 +1
2016 Donald J. Trump Republican -6 -2
2020 Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Democratic -13 +3

Source:  "Party Division of the House of Representatives, 1789 to Present," https://history.house.gov/Institution/Party-Divisions/Party-Divisions/

 

Last Updated

August 23, 2021

Citations

Gerhard Peters. "Seats in Congress Gained or Lost by the President's Party in Presidential Election Years." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2025.