"FOR REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS"

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR DISTRICT PROPOSED BY REP. DYER OF MISSOURI

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 22, 1926, The Evening Star reports "a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for national representation for the people of the District of Columbia was introduced today by Rep. (Leonidas C.) Dyer*."

The proposal, introduced by the Republican congressman from Missouri, states that...

 "The Congress shall have the power to admit to the status of citizens of a State the residents of the District constituting the seat of government of the United States...for the purpose of representation in Congress and among the electors of President and Vice-President."

JFK+50 NOTE

Citizens residing in the District of Columbia were granted the right to vote in presidential elections by the 23rd amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified in 1961.  The District, however, does not have representation in Congress.  A reminder of that fact is evidenced on residents license plates.

*Leonidas C. Dyer (1871-1957) was born in Warrenton, Missouri and attended Central Wesleyan College & Washington University (St. Louis).  LCD served in the US Army during the Spanish-American War & represented Missouri in the US House of Representatives 1911-1933.  He championed civil rights & sponsored an anti-lynching bill in 1926.

SOURCES

"23rd Amendment Ratified (1961): Washington, D.C. Residents Voting Rights," League of Women Voters of Texas, www.lwvtx.clubexpress.com/

"Vote For District Proposed In House," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., March 22, 1926, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

Rep. Leonidas C. Dyer

R-Missouri

U.S. Congress

"LARGEST EXPENDITURE MADE AT ONE TIME FOR NEW BOOKS"

D.C. HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY TEXTBOOKS IN CURRENT USE WILL BE REPLACED

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On August 28, 1925, The Evening Star reports that new history and geography books are being ordered by the District of Columbia school system to replace those outdated by the end of the world war.

$89,000 worth of textbooks will be purchased "as a result of the letting of contracts by the Commissioners."

R.L. Haycock, assistant school superintendent, says this is "the largest expenditure ever made at one time for new books."

JFK+50 NOTE

The textbooks in use at the time of this announcement were made obsolete "due to changes in the map of the world" following WW I.

SOURCE

"Pre-War History Ousted By Board," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., August 28, 1925, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

History Textbook

www.picryl.com/

"PLATFORM LIKELY WILL NOT INCLUDE D.C. PLANKS"

DEMOCRATS TURN DOWN PLANKS TO GIVE PEOPLE OF D.C. VOICE IN GOVERNMENT

New York City (JFK+50) On June 26, 1924, The Evening Star reports the subcommittee drafting the Democratic national platform have turned down "plans for a suffrage plank and for a national representation plank for the District of Columbia."

G. Gould Lincoln writes...

"Unless the full committee should decide to revive the District's plank, it is doomed to failure."

Lincoln adds...

"Too many members of the Senate are determined not to grant the right of a voice and a vote in their own government to the people of the District."

SOURCE

"Senators Bar D.C. Suffrage Planks," by G. Gould Lincoln, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., June 26, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

District of Columbia License Plate

Photo by Krokodyl

"HARDING WILL NOT LIVE IN OHIO AFTER PRESIDENCY"

HARDINGS WILL LIVE IN NATION'S CAPITAL AFTER LEAVING WHITE HOUSE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On June 24, 1923, the Sunday Star reports that President Warren G. Harding is "unlikely" to live in Marion, Ohio after he leaves the White House.

Robert T. Small says that whether Mr. Harding departs the Executive Mansion in 1925 or 1929, "he will follow the example of Woodrow Wilson and become a resident of Washington, D.C."

The President and "his closest political friends" do expect a second term followed by a couple of years touring Europe.  After that, however, the Hardings will be living in the Nation's Capital, although not in the White House.

Mr. Small writes that Harding's plan to make the District of Columbia his future home "was reached when he was first elected to the Senate."

JFK+50 NOTE

Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama, both Democrats, lived/live in Washington, D.C. after leaving the White House.  Warren Harding, a Republican, never got the opportunity dying in office in August 1923.

SOURCE

"Hardings Are Expected To Make Home Here," by Robert T. Smalls, The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., June 24, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 President Warren G. Harding & 

former President William H. Taft

The White House

Washington, D.C. 

Library of Congress

www.picryl.com/

"23RD AMENDMENT RATIFIED"

D.C. RESIDENTS MAY VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 29, 1961 the 23rd amendment* to the Constitution of the United States allowing the residents of the District of Columbia to vote in presidential elections became the law of the land with ratification by Kansas and Ohio.

The 23rd amendment states...

"A number of electors of President and Vice-President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress which the District would be entitled if it were a state."

The amendment was proposed as a result of the growing population in Washington, D.C.

*The 23rd amendment was passed by Congress on June 16, 1960.  

SOURCE

"Presidential Vote for D.C.," Interactive Constitution, www.constitutioncenter.org/

 

 

United States Capitol

Washington, D.C.

Photo by John White (2011)

"THE ONLY NON-STATE WHERE U.S. CITIZENS MAY VOTE FOR PRESIDENT"

VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS GRANTED TO D.C. RESIDENTS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 29, 1961, the 23rd Amendment* to the United States Constitution granting residents of the District of Columbia the vote in Presidential elections became law with ratification by Kansas and Ohio.

The District of Columbia is the only non-state whose residents who are U.S. citizens may vote in presidential elections.  The District is assigned 3 electoral votes in the Electoral College.

The Democratic presidential candidate has carried the District in every presidential election 1964 through 2016.

The Twenty-third Amendment states...

"The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; 

they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the 12th...amendment."

*The 23rd Amendment passed Congress on June 17, 1960. 

JFK+50 NOTE

Tennessee ratified the 23rd Amendment on March 6, 1961.  Arkansas rejected the amendment.  Nine Southern states never ratified it.  

SOURCE

"District of Columbia," www.270towin.com/