lose ground during midterm elections: since World War II, the President's party has lost an average of 26 seats in the House, and an average of four seats in the Senate. Moreover, since direct public midterm elections were introduced, in only eight of those (under presidents Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden) has the President's party gained seats in the House or the Senate, and of those only two (1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and 2002, George W. Bush) have seen the President's party gain seats in both houses. The losses suffered during a president's second midterm tend to be more pronounced than during their first midterm, in what is described as a "six-year itch". Comparison with other U.S. general elections Notes References External links Elections in the United States 1790 establishments in the United States