In one election, the Democrats lost 72 seats in Congress

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During the 1930s, the United States, along with many countries in the world, lived through the impact of the Great Depression, which began after the collapse of the Wall Street Stock Exchange on October 29, 1929.

The crisis caused high rates of unemployment and poverty, a decline in global production and trade, as well as waves of displacement and migration witnessed in many American regions.

With his victory in the presidential elections in 1932, US President Franklin Roosevelt moved to adopt a new economic program to save the country from the repercussions of the crisis.

Initially, the program achieved some success, which boosted the popularity of the Democratic president and his party. But the 1938 midterm elections brought a big surprise, after the Democrats lost dozens of seats in Congress, despite their widespread control over both chambers during the previous years.

Since his arrival to the White House in 1933, Roosevelt began implementing the “New Deal” program, with the aim of reducing the repercussions of the Great Depression, reviving the economy, providing job opportunities, and helping the most affected groups.

The plan included launching projects to provide jobs and support affected farmers and institutions, in addition to banking reforms aimed at strengthening oversight of the financial sector and restoring confidence in banks.

These measures contributed to strengthening the popularity of the Democratic Party, which achieved significant electoral gains in the following years.

In 1936, Roosevelt won a second presidential term, while Democrats consolidated control of both chambers of Congress.

In the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party won 334 seats, compared to 88 for the Republicans. In the Senate, the Democrats won 75 seats, compared to 17 for the Republicans.

But by 1938, Democrats faced economic and political challenges that threatened their position in Congress.

After a period of recovery, the American economy entered a new recession between 1937 and 1938, which led to high unemployment and a decline in production, and weakened confidence in the administration’s ability to end the repercussions of the Great Depression.

At the same time, Roosevelt sparked widespread controversy in 1937, after he proposed a plan to reorganize the Supreme Court, which would have allowed him to appoint additional judges under certain conditions. His opponents considered that the move aimed to increase his influence within the court and facilitate the passage of New Deal legislation.

The Democratic Party also witnessed increasing divisions, after a number of its conservative members opposed some of Roosevelt's economic and reform policies.

During the party's primaries in 1938, the president tried to support Democratic candidates loyal to his policies in the face of a number of conservative representatives opposed to him, but his efforts did not achieve the results he had hoped for.

Amid these circumstances, Americans went to the polls on November 8, 1938, to choose members of the seventy-sixth Congress.

The elections included all seats in the House of Representatives, in addition to 35 out of 96 seats in the Senate.

With the announcement of the results, Republicans made significant gains at the expense of Democrats.

In the House of Representatives, the number of Republican seats increased to 169 seats, while the Democrats fell to 262 seats, a loss of 72 seats compared to the 1936 elections.

In the Senate, Democrats declined from 75 to 69 seats, while Republican representation increased from 17 to 23 seats.

These results constituted a political setback for Roosevelt, who faced increasing opposition within Congress, especially with the growing cooperation between Republicans and conservative Democrats.

This alliance contributed to slowing the expansion of New Deal legislation, after passing additional reforms became more difficult.

Thus, the 1938 elections revealed that the widespread popularity that Roosevelt enjoyed after his landslide victory in 1936 was not enough to protect his party from the repercussions of economic recession and internal divisions.