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Dean of the United States Senate

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The Dean of the United States Senate is an informal term for the Senator with the longest continuous service, regardless of party affiliation. This is not an official position within the Senate, although customarily (since 1945) the longest-serving member of the majority party serves as President pro tempore.

Contents

The current Dean is Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Party Deans

For additional information here is a list of most senior Democratic and Republican Senators.

Democratic

  • Patrick Leahy (Vermont), 2012–present
  • Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), 2010–2012
  • Robert Byrd (West Virginia), 1989–2010
  • John C. Stennis (Mississippi), 1981–1989
  • Warren Magnuson (Washington), 1978–1981
  • James Eastland (Mississippi), 1972–1978
  • Allen J. Ellender (Louisiana), 1971–1972
  • Richard B. Russell (Georgia), 1969–1971
  • Carl Hayden (Arizona), 1957–1969
  • Walter F. George (Georgia), 1953–1957
  • Kenneth McKellar (Tennessee), 1944–1953
  • Ellison D. Smith (South Carolina), 1931–1944
  • Furnifold McLendel Simmons (North Carolina), 1923–1931
  • Charles Allen Culberson (Texas), 1919–1923
  • Thomas S. Martin (Virginia), 1918–1919
  • Benjamin Tillman (South Carolina), 1910–1918
  • John W. Daniel (Virginia), 1909–1910
  • Henry M. Teller (Colorado), 1908–1909
  • William Pinkney Whyte (Maryland), 1907–1908
  • John Tyler Morgan (Alabama), 1905–1907
  • Francis Cockrell (Missouri), 1895–1905
  • Matt Whitaker Ransom (North Carolina), 1889–1895
  • Eli M. Saulsbury (Delaware), 1885–1889
  • Thomas F. Bayard (Delaware), 1873–1885
  • George Vickers (Maryland), 1872–1873
  • Garrett Davis (Kentucky), 1871–1872
  • Willard Saulsbury Sr. (Delaware), 1865–1871
  • John P. Hale (New Hampshire), 1864–1865
  • James A. Bayard Jr. (Delaware), 1862–1864
  • James Pearce (Maryland), 1856–1862
  • Jesse D. Bright (Indiana), 1855–1856
  • David Rice Atchison (Missouri), 1851–1855
  • Thomas Hart Benton (Missouri), 1844–1851
  • William R. King (Alabama), 1833–1844
  • Mahlon Dickerson (New Jersey), 1828–1833
  • Nathaniel Macon (North Carolina), 1826–1828

    • Republican

  • Orrin Hatch (Utah), 2013–present
  • Richard Lugar (Indiana), 2009–2013
  • Ted Stevens (Alaska), 2003–2009
  • Strom Thurmond (South Carolina), 1981–2003
  • Milton R. Young (North Dakota), 1975–1981
  • George Aiken (Vermont), 1963–1975
  • Alexander Wiley (Wisconsin), 1961–1963
  • Styles Bridges (New Hampshire), 1951–1961
  • Arthur Vandenberg (Michigan), 1949–1951
  • Arthur Capper (Kansas), 1945–1949
  • Hiram W. Johnson (California), 1940–1945
  • William E. Borah (Idaho) 1933–1940
  • Reed Smoot (Utah), 1929–1933
  • Francis E. Warren (Wyoming), 1924–1929
  • Henry Cabot Lodge (Massachusetts), 1918–1924
  • Jacob H. Gallinger (New Hampshire), 1913–1918
  • Shelby Moore Cullom (Illinois), 1911–1913
  • William P. Frye (Maine), 1911
  • Eugene Hale (Maine), 1908–1911
  • William B. Allison (Iowa), 1898–1908
  • Justin Smith Morrill (Vermont), 1891–1898
  • George F. Edmunds (Vermont), 1884–1891
  • Henry B. Anthony (Rhode Island), 1875–1884
  • Zachariah Chandler (Michigan), 1873–1875
  • Henry Wilson (Massachusetts), 1872–1873
  • Charles Sumner (Massachusetts), 1869–1872
  • Benjamin Wade (Ohio), 1866–1869
  • Solomon Foot (Vermont), 1861–1866
  • William H. Seward (New York), 1854–1861

    • Whig

  • Henry S. Geyer (Missouri), 1856–1857
  • James Pearce (Maryland), 1853–1856
  • Willie Person Mangum (North Carolina), 1851–1853
  • Samuel S. Phelps (Vermont), 1847–1851
  • Thomas Clayton (Delaware), 1845–1847
  • William Cabell Rives (Virginia), 1844–1845
  • Nathaniel P. Tallmadge (New York), 1842–1844
  • Samuel Prentiss (Vermont), 1841–1842
  • Nehemiah R. Knight (Rhode Island), 1833–1841

    • National Republican

  • Nehemiah R. Knight (Rhode Island), 1833
  • Benjamin Ruggles (Ohio), 1825–1833

    • Democratic-Republican

  • John Gaillard (South Carolina), 1815–1826
  • Joseph Anderson (Tennessee), 1805–1815
  • John Brown (Kentucky), 1801–1805
  • John Langdon (New Hampshire), 1799–1801

    • Federalist

  • Rufus King (New York), 1821–1825
  • Outerbridge Horsey (Delaware), 1813–1821
  • Chauncey Goodrich (Connecticut), 1813
  • James A. Bayard (Delaware), 1811–1813
  • Timothy Pickering (Massachusetts), 1810–1811
  • James Hillhouse (Connecticut), 1807–1810
  • Uriah Tracy (Connecticut), 1803–1807
  • Theodore Foster (Rhode Island), 1801–1803
  • James Gunn (Georgia), 1799–1801

    • Pro-Administration

  • James Gunn (Georgia), 1796–1799
  • Oliver Ellsworth (Connecticut), 1795–1796
  • Pierce Butler (South Carolina), 1789–1795

    • Anti-Administration

  • John Langdon (New Hampshire), 1796–1799
  • Pierce Butler (South Carolina), 1795–1796
  • John Langdon (New Hampshire), 1793–1795
  • Richard Bassett (Delaware), 1789–1793

    • References

    Dean of the United States Senate Wikipedia
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