Curio Cabinet

Let's face it: presidential election cycles can be a hot mess. Even before 2020's Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference, certain lame duck elected officials were infamous for their late-term ineffectiveness. Luckily in 1933, a constitutional amendment was passed to remedy that… the 20th, to be precise.
 
Before the 20th Amendment passed, the duration of presidential and congressional terms were ambiguous. Article 1 of the Constitution mandated Congress meet at least once a year, usually in December to perform their federal duties: all went as planned during odd years, but in even (election) years, lame duck sessions ensured little was accomplished. While such inaction during the year might make us think of them as the precursor to a "do nothing Congress," the reality was that in the 18th and 19th century, politicians often had to set their affairs in order at home over several months before undergoing travel to the nation's capital. It also didn't help that Congress and the new president had to wait between Election Day in November and March 4th the next year to start their new jobs. That date was chosen by the 1789 Congress of the Confederation (the original unicameral legislative and executive body) as the beginning of new elected terms. The four-month long delays heavily tested the country's mettle during events like the secession of the Southern states in February 1861, which proved national emergencies wait for no man or new body politic to come into power.
 
The one-month Congress became a bigger and bigger problem as it failed to meet the needs of a growing nation transformed by trains, planes, and automobiles. Among the champions of progressive politics in the Senate was Republican George W. Norris of Nebraska, who advocated for labor rights, direct election of senators, and isolationism in foreign policy. In 1923, Norris proposed a resolution to shorten the lame duck session of the legislative and executive bodies. The resolution didn't pick up much steam during the roaring 20s, however the onset of the Great Depression demanded New Deal reforms in the social safety net, and the way Washington did business. The 72nd Congress proposed the 20th Amendment on March 2, 1932, with Section 1 addressing much needed changes to the four-month lame duck period:

Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

After being ratified by three-fourths of the states, the 20th Amendment was passed on January 23, 1933, incidentally during a lame duck period. Franklin D. Roosevelt would become the last president to take office on March 4th in 1933, and also the first to be inaugurated on January 20th in 1937 under the 20th Amendment changes. In 1935 Clerk of the House South Trimble noted “This is the first time in 146 years that an old Congress dies and a new one is born on the 3d day of January…today we inaugurate the first session of the Seventy-fourth Congress.”
 

While the 20th Amendment also outlines other important procedural actions in the executive and legislative branches, like the chain of succession to the presidency, it's mostly known these days for setting the date for the Inauguration Day ceremony and celebrations at the Capitol Building and National Mall. And in these days of high speed internet and other forms of instant gratification, some are upset about the lame duck delay between Election Day and January 20th! Not to worry though, the president elect and his transition team are, by all accounts, kept incredibly busy during the transition period between presidents. We might even say it's a time for the newly-elected ducklings to get to work and start quacking!

 
Image credit & copyright: Alex Wong, Getty Images

 
Written by: Esther P.

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

These men are tight-lipped, but their signs say it all. There was no better rallying cry than the affirmative "I am a man" for the African-American sanitation workers of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. Tensions between low-income waste collectors and Memphis mayor Henry Loeb were already high when a malfunctioning truck killed two workers in February. 1,300 workers staged a strike to call attention to poor working conditions and low wages. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. showed his solidarity by marching with protesters on March 28, when this photo was taken. In a chillingly foretelling speech given a week later, on the eve of his assassination, King inspired persistence and hope: "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life—longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now… I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land." The strike ended on April 16 when negotiators agreed to recognize unions and increase wages. But "I am a man" would stay relevant as a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. In the continuing fight for equality, the phrase is still salient—along with its updated, hashtagged relatives.

 
Image credit: Richard Copley
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

Gesundheit, MLK. One of the darkest days in American history was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. But the world almost lost him ten years earlier. On September 20, 1958, a mentally disturbed woman named Izola Ware Curry stabbed King while he signed copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom at Blumstein’s Department Store in Harlem, New York. Curry stabbed King with a seven-inch steel letter opener, striking him in the upper left chest area. He was rushed to a local hospital where doctors performed several hours of surgery to repair the wound. One of his surgeons later remarked that “had Dr. King sneezed or coughed the weapon would have penetrated the aorta.” This quote formed the foundation of King’s “I have been to the mountaintop” speech which he delivered on the last evening of his life. He was speaking at the Mason Temple Church in Memphis. In the climax of that speech, Dr. King told the story of his attack ten years earlier, recounting the well-wishings he had received during his recovery:

I had received one from the president and the vice president; I've forgotten what those telegrams said. I'd received a visit and a letter from the governor of New York, but I've forgotten what that letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl… I looked at that letter and I'll never forget it. It said simply,

"Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School." She said, "While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I'm a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze."

I want to say tonight that I… am happy that I didn't sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream and taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy, which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in interstate travel.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great movement there.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze… I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.

I don’t think we have gotten to the Promised Land yet, but we would be a lot further away if MLK had sneezed on September 20, 1958!

Disney. AirBnB. BlueCross BlueShield. Marriott. What do these corporations have in common? They suspended donations to Republicans who objected to the certification of the Electoral College's votes on January 6, 2021. These corporations are holding Ted Cruz (Texas), Josh Hawley (Missouri), Tommy Tuberville (Alabama), and 144 other congresspersons responsible for the violence at the Capitol, which interrupted certification proceedings. Other corporations have followed suit with some suspending all political donations and others reviewing their current policies. To be clear, corporations cannot donate directly to candidates or their campaigns, per Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations. Instead, all money must be funneled through other channels, such as separate segregated funds (SSFs), political committees financially supported by a corporation or labor group. SSFs are better known as PACs or political action committees. PACs are defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as 527 organizations, and are tax-exempt. Traditional PACs may directly donate to a campaign, but are subject to federal and state limitations.
 
In 1907, Congress passed the Tillman Act prohibiting corporations and banks from donating to political candidates in federal elections. In 1943, the Smith-Connally Act extended those restrictions to include labor unions. That year, union leaders responded by forming the Congress of Industrial Organizations to support the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other pro-labor candidates. In 1971, the Federal Election Campaign Act (amended in 1974 and 1976), further regulated political campaign spending. The most influential change to PAC spending, however, came in 2010. In a landmark decision (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission), the Supreme Court reversed federal campaign donation restrictions for corporations and other groups. Currently, PACs can spend an unlimited amount on federal campaign advertising, provided they are not directly coordinating with a specific party or candidate. This has led to the creation of super PACs, and an increase in dark money, contributions made to a trade or social welfare organization whose primary purpose is not influencing elections. Donors do not have to disclose these contributions, and typically benefit from the anonymity. In recent federal elections, including the 2020 presidential election, corporations have funneled billions of dollars into PACs on behalf of both political parties. While the effects of these donation freezes remain to be seen, one thing is certain—corporations are being pressured to address their role in electing candidates who, directly or indirectly, have threatened America's democratic processes.
 
Image credit & copyright: Opensecrets.org

What happens when dozens of lawmakers vow to overturn a democratic election? Chaos, as it turns out. January 6 is marked in the 12th Amendment to the United States Constitution as the day that Congress, presided over by the Vice President, meets in a joint session to count certified votes from each state. In accordance with the 1887 Electoral Count Act, lawmakers have the opportunity to object to a state's certified votes, and even to debate and vote on whether to count them as legitimate. Still, "counting day" has historically been a ceremonial or pro forma affair. Not this year. In the weeks leading up to January 6, in a move which many criticized as an act of political theatre, over 100 Republican House representatives and a handful of Republican senators were planning to raise objections to the electoral votes in several swing states. Their objections, according to Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, had to do with concerns about election integrity in the 2020 Presidential election. Despite a lack of evidence, these claims were also being pushed by President Trump, on Twitter and other media platforms. (These claims have been repeatedly rejected by the judicial system.) This unprecedented attempt to overturn the results of a U.S. election made January 6th into a must-watch event, for many Americans, and an unfortunate target for violence.
 

When an objection to a state's certified votes is supported by both a House Representative and a Senator, a two-hour debate is triggered in Congress. Congresspeople objected to electoral votes in 1969, 2001, 2005 and, most recently, in 2017, when several House democrats objected to Trump's election. No debates were triggered in 2017, however, since none of the House Representatives could find senators to sign on to their cause. This year's joint session was poised to be the most contentious in history. However, on January 6, 2021, in the middle of a debate over Arizona's certified votes, lawmakers were suddenly interrupted. Police officers entered the Congressional chamber to announce that pro-Trump rioters had breached the Capitol building. Vice-President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were ushered to secure locations, while other lawmakers were given evacuation hoods—plastic head coverings meant to filter out chemicals—and told to shelter in place. A gunshot rang out as one rioter, Ashli Babbit, of California, was fatally shot by police. Eventually, members of Congress were led from the chamber into an undisclosed, secure room in the Capitol complex. The images that followed, of domestic terrorists parading and looting their way through the halls and chambers of the Capitol building and lawmaker's offices, were shocking. Once the National Guard was deployed, and the building cleared of rioters, Congress re-convened to continue their work. As for the lawmakers who originally planned to object to states' votes, a handful changed their minds, after the day's unprecedented events. Joe Biden's victory was confirmed around 3:40 a.m., January 7.

 
Image credit & copyright: REUTERS

 
Written by: Maria C.