In the parliamentary systems of Europe, national leaders whose parties lose their majorities are swiftly ejected. Even Winston Churchill lost his job as prime minister when his party lost elections held the year after the end of World War II. But, under the United States Constitution, the president and Congress are elected independently – the president remains in office despite any kind of disaster in the midterm elections. This is why, when in 1947, the Republicans were setting the agenda on Capitol Hill but Harry Truman was alive and well in the Oval Office. Truman’s first few months in office were distressing. Roosevelt had done little to prepare his successor and even kept him ignorant of vital developments abroad and political responsibilities around the world. He had been chosen for vice president only because Henry Wallace had already begun to express far-left views and an alternative had to be found. Truman was seen as a pliable and safe choice that would not offend the American people too much. When Roosevelt passed away in April of 1945, Truman was understandably in for a rude awakening and found himself engulfed by another wave of problems – this time on the domestic front. To make matters worse, in the 1946 midterms the unpopular rookie president, pummeled by sets of economic disturbances such as the massive labor strikes, watched his party lose both chambers of Congress to a …show more content…
Congressional scholar Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute mentioned that, “1946 was a historic midterm when Republicans captured majorities