Dean of the United States Senate

The Dean of the United States Senate is an informal term used to refer to 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.

The current Dean is Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

List of Deans

Dean(s)	Party	State	Years	First served
James Gunn	Anti-Admin, Democratic-Republican	Georgia	1789–1797	1789
John Langdon	Pro-Admin, Democratic-Republican	New Hampshire
and others
James Gunn	Democratic-Republican	Georgia	1797–1801
John Langdon	Democratic-Republican	New Hampshire	1797–1801
Theodore Foster	Democratic-Republican	Rhode Island	1801–1803	1790
John Brown	Democratic-Republican	Kentucky	1803–1805	1791
James Hillhouse	Federalist	Connecticut	1805–1810	1796
Joseph Anderson	Democratic-Republican	Tennessee	1810–1815	1797
John Gaillard	Democratic-Republican	South Carolina	1815–1826	1804
Benjamin Ruggles	National Republican	Ohio	1826–1833	1815
William R. King	Democratic	Alabama	1833–1844	1819
Thomas Hart Benton	Democratic	Missouri	1844–1851	1821
Willie Person Mangum	Whig	North Carolina	1851–1853	1831, 1840
James Pearce	Whig	Maryland	1853–1862	1843
James A. Bayard, Jr.	Democratic	Delaware	1862–1864	1851
Solomon Foot	Republican	Vermont	1862–1864
Solomon Foot	Republican	Vermont	1864–1866
Benjamin F. Wade	Republican	Ohio	1866–1869
Charles Sumner	Republican	Massachusetts	1869–1874
Zachariah Chandler	Republican	Michigan	1874–1875	1857
Henry B. Anthony	Republican	Rhode Island	1875–1884	1859
George F. Edmunds	Republican	Vermont	1884–1891	1866
Justin Smith Morrill	Republican	Vermont	1891–1898	1867
William B. Allison	Republican	Iowa	1898–1908	1873
Eugene Hale	Republican	Maine	1908–1911	1881
William P. Frye	Republican	Maine	1911	1881
Shelby Moore Cullom	Republican	Illinois	1911–1913	1883
Jacob Harold Gallinger	Republican	New Hampshire	1913–1918	1891
Henry Cabot Lodge	Republican	Massachusetts	1918–1924	1893
Francis E. Warren	Republican	Wyoming	1924–1929	1895
Furnifold M. Simmons	Democratic	North Carolina	1929–1931	1901
Reed Smoot	Republican	Utah	1931–1933	1903
William E. Borah	Republican	Idaho	1933–1940	1907
Ellison D. Smith	Democratic	South Carolina	1940–1944	1909
Kenneth McKellar	Democratic	Tennessee	1944–1953	1917
Walter F. George	Democratic	Georgia	1953–1957	1922
Carl Hayden	Democratic	Arizona	1957–1969	1927
Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	Georgia	1969–1971	1933
Allen J. Ellender	Democratic	Louisiana	1971–1972	1937
George D. Aiken	Republican	Vermont	1972–1975	1941
James Eastland	Democratic	Mississippi	1975–1977	1941, 1943
John L. McClellan	Democratic	Arkansas	1975–1977	1943
James Eastland	Democratic	Mississippi	1977–1978	1941, 1943
Warren G. Magnuson	Democratic	Washington	1978–1981	1944
John C. Stennis	Democratic	Mississippi	1981–1989	1947
J. Strom Thurmond	Republican	South Carolina	1989–2003	1954, 1956
Robert C. Byrd	Democratic	West Virginia	2003–2010	1959
Daniel Inouye	Democratic	Hawaii	2010–2012	1963
Patrick Leahy	Democratic	Vermont	2012–present	1975

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

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), 1961–1975
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

References

Senators of the United States

United States Congress

Members and leaders

Members

Current	By length of service Freshmen Youngest members Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Delegates Longest-serving members ever

Senate	Current by seniority by age Dean of the Senate Former senators Living Earliest serving Earliest living Expelled or censured Classes Born outside the U.S.

House	Current by seniority Dean of the House Former representatives Living Oldest living Earliest serving Expelled, censured, and reprimanded Deaths by year

Leaders

Senate	President (list) President pro tempore Majority and minority leaders Assistant party leaders Democratic Caucus (Chair Secretary Policy Committee Chair) Republican Conference (Chair Vice-Chair Policy Committee Chair)

House	Speaker Leaders Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group Democratic Caucus Republican Conference

Districts

Caucuses,
women and
minorities

Offices, employees, services, and the Capitol Complex

Legislative
offices

Offices

Senate	Curator Historical Library

House	Congressional Ethics Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations Interparliamentary Affairs Law Revision Counsel Library

Employees

Senate	Secretary Chaplain Curator Historian Librarian Pages Parliamentarian Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper

House	Chaplain Chief Administrative Officer Clerk Doorkeeper Floor Operations Floor Services Chief Historian Pages (Page Board) Parliamentarian Postmaster Reading Clerk Sergeant at Arms

Library of
Congress

Government
Publishing Office

Capitol

Office
buildings

Senate	Dirksen Hart Russell

House	Building Commission Cannon Ford Longworth O'Neill Rayburn

Other
facilities

Powers, privileges, procedure, committees, history, and media

Powers	Article I Copyright Commerce (Dormant) Contempt of Congress Declaration of war Impeachment Naturalization "Necessary and Proper" Power of enforcement Taxing/spending

Privileges and benefits	Salaries Franking Immunity

Procedure	Act of Congress (list) Appropriation bill Budget resolution Closed sessions (House) Closed sessions (Senate) Cloture Concurrent resolution Continuing resolution Dear colleague letter Discharge petition Engrossed bill Enrolled bill Expulsion Joint resolution Joint session (list) Lame-duck session Majority of the majority (Hastert Rule) Multiple referral Procedures (House) Reconciliation Rider Saxbe fix Sponsorship Suspension of the rules Unanimous consent Veto Line-item veto Pocket veto Veto override

Senate-specific	Advice and consent Classes Executive communication Executive session Filibuster Jefferson's Manual Journal Nuclear option Presiding Officer Recess appointment Riddick's Senate Procedure Senate hold Senatorial courtesy Seniority Standing Rules Tie-breaking votes Traditions Treaty Clause

Committees	Chairman and ranking member Of the Whole Conference Discharge petition Hearings Markup Oversight List (Joint) List (House) List (Senate) Select and special Standing Subcommittees

Items	Gavels Mace of the House

History	Divided government House Gerrymandering Party control Senate Senate election disputes

Media	C-SPAN Congressional Quarterly The Hill Politico Roll Call

Websites: House of Representatives; Senate

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