I'm not from the US but I looked up the presidents from that era and found that there's a period from 1969 to 1993, starting with Nixon, where the only Democratic term was Jimmy Carter. Twenty years of Republicanism and 4 years of Democraticism! The best us Brits could muster is 18 years of Conservatism between 1979 and 1997. Don't get me wrong though, we've managed to destroy our economy just as badly.

Congress was entirely controlled by Democrats for longer than that, I think 1956 to 1994. The US has liked divided government for a long time.

Wow, and Democrats controlled both houses for the entirety of Nixon's term. He must have been quite a diplomat for all his shortcomings. Makes sense why a lot of his key acts were actually quite progressive for the environment and workers' rights. I had it in my head that the US system allowed for more executive power than the UK's, but I guess it really depends on the outcomes of lots of different elections.