ABSTRACT
Political parties loom large in present day's Congress. Increasingly, candidates in competitive districts are recruited, financed, and coached by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, the political arms of the congressional parties. Initially, David Eugene Price will elucidate congressional party and presidential relations by describing his own interactions with the Democratic Party while running for office and serving in the House—in the majority and the minority, under Democratic and Republican presidents. The election of Bill Clinton in 1992, ending twelve years of divided party control of the executive and legislative branches, both empowered the House Democratic leadership and reduced its autonomy in defining the party’s agenda. Those elections produced a new majority, a new Speaker, Newt Gingrich, and a major consolidation of leadership power. As long as Clinton was in the White House, Dennis Hastert was at pains to avoid a replay of the 1995–1996 government shutdowns that had been so damaging to Republicans.
