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Seniority of senators in the "Best" Congress

Majority (51)

  Democratic (42)

  Democratic (DFL) (2)

  Independent Democrat (5)

  Independent (caucusing) (2)

Minority (49)

  Republican (33)

  Independent Republican (6)

  States' Rights (Dixiecrats) (7)

  Wisconsin Progressive (1)

  Independent (caucusing) (2)

List of United States senators by seniority

Rank	Senator	Party		State	Seniority date	Other factors	Committee and leadership positions
1	Oliver Ellsworth		Democratic	Connecticut	March 4, 1789	Former chief justice	President pro tempore Chair: Judiciary
2	Robert Morris		Republican	Pennsylvania			Emeritus Ranking Member: Banking
3	Henry Clay			Kentucky	December 29, 1806		President pro tempore emeritus Ranking Member: Union
4	Thomas Hart Benton		Democratic	Missouri	August 10, 1821		Emeritus Chair: Armed Services
5	Daniel Webster		Republican	Massachusetts	June 8, 1827		Honorary Advisor: Republican Conference Ranking Member: Judiciary
6	John C. Calhoun		Dixiecrat	South Carolina	December 29, 1832	Former vice president	Deputy president pro tempore emeritus Emeritus Chair: Dixiecrat Caucus
7	Sam Houston		Independent	Texas	February 21, 1846		Chair: Union
8	Stephen A. Douglas			Illinois	March 4, 1847	Former representative (4 years)
9	John P. Hale		Republican	New Hampshire		Former representative (2 years)
10	William P. Fessenden			Maine	February 10, 1854		Ranking Member: Environment
11	John Sherman			Ohio	March 21, 1861		Emeritus Chair: Republican Conference
12	Justin S. Morrill			Vermont	March 4, 1867		Emeritus Ranking Member: Finance
13	Thomas F. Bayard		Democratic	Delaware	March 4, 1869		Chair: Finance
14	William B. Allison		Republican	Iowa	March 4, 1873		Vice Chair: Appropriations
15	Henry M. Teller		Democratic	Colorado	November 15, 1876		Chair: Agriculture
16	Arthur P. Gorman			Maryland	March 4, 1881		Emeritus Chair: Democratic Caucus
17	Nelson W. Aldrich		Republican	Rhode Island	October 5, 1881		Ranking Member: Finance
18	Reed Smoot			Utah	March 4, 1903
19	Robert M. La Follette		Wisconsin Progressive	Wisconsin	January 4, 1906		Co-Chair: Progressive Caucus Ranking Member: Small Business
20	William Borah		Independent Republican	Idaho	March 4, 1907		Ranking Member: Energy Emeritus Ranking Member: Foreign Relations
21	Thomas Gore		Independent Democrat	Oklahoma	December 11, 1907		Chair: Environment Emeritus Chair: Agriculture
22	George W. Norris		Independent	Nebraska	March 4, 1913		Ranking Member: Agriculture
23	Hiram Johnson		Independent Republican	California	March 16, 1917		Co-Chair: Progressive Caucus
24	Matthew M. Neely		Democratic	West Virginia	March 4, 1923	Former representative, former governor	Chair: Rules
25	Burton K. Wheeler		Independent Democrat	Montana			Policy Chair: Progressive Caucus
26	Gerald Nye		Independent Republican	North Dakota	November 14, 1925		Whip: Progressive Caucus
27	Carl Hayden		Democratic	Arizona	March 4, 1927	Former representative	Chair: Appropriations
28	Robert F. Wagner			New York			Vice Chair: Democratic Caucus Chair: Banking
29	Arthur Vandenberg		Republican	Michigan	March 31, 1928		Chair: Republican Policy Committee Ranking Member: Foreign Relations
30	Huey Long		Independent Democrat	Louisiana	January 25, 1932		Finance Chair: Progressive Caucus
31	Richard Russell Jr.		Dixiecrat	Georgia	January 12, 1933		Chair: Dixiecrat Caucus Ranking Member: Rules Emeritus Ranking Member: Armed Services
32	Harry F. Byrd			Virginia	March 4, 1933	Former governor	Campaign Chair: Dixiecrat Caucus
33	Pat McCarran			Nevada
34	Joseph C. O'Mahoney		Independent Democrat	Wyoming	January 1, 1934
35	Claude Pepper		Democratic	Florida	November 4, 1936	Chair: Aging
36	J. Lister Hill			Alabama	January 11, 1938	Emeritus Chair: HELP
37	Robert A. Taft		Republican	Ohio	January 3, 1939	Ranking Member: Banking
38	John L. McClellan		Democratic	Arkansas	January 3, 1943	Chair: Homeland Security
39	Warren Magnuson			Washington	December 14, 1944	Chair: Commerce
40	J. William Fulbright			Arkansas	January 3, 1945	Former representative	Chair: Foreign Relations
41	Wayne Morse		Independent Democrat	Oregon			Co-Chair: Progressive Caucus
42	Milton Young		Republican	North Dakota	March 12, 1945		Chair: Republican Conference
43	John Sherman Cooper			Kentucky	November 6, 1946		Ranking Member: Narcotics Caucus
44	John C. Stennis		Dixiecrat	Mississippi	November 5, 1947		Policy Chair: Dixiecrat Caucus Ranking Member: Armed Services
45	Russell B. Long		Democratic	Louisiana	December 31, 1948		Chair: DSCC
46	Lyndon B. Johnson			Texas	January 3, 1949	Former president, former representative (11 years)	Senate Majority Leader
47	Hubert Humphrey			Minnesota		Former vice president	Deputy president pro tempore Co-Chair: Democratic Policy Committee Chair: HELP
48	Estes Kefauver			Tennessee		Former representative (9 years)	Chair: Narcotics Caucus
49	Margaret Chase Smith		Republican	Maine		Former representative (8 years)	Senate Minority Whip
50	Clinton Anderson		Democratic	New Mexico		Former representative (4 years), former cabinet member
51	Everett Dirksen		Republican	Illinois	January 3, 1951		Senate Minority Leader
52	Henry M. Jackson		Democratic	Washington	January 3, 1953	Former representative (12 years)	Chair: Armed Services
53	Mike Mansfield			Montana		Former representative (10 years)	Senate Majority Whip
54	Stuart Symington			Missouri		Missouri 15th in population (1990)
55	Barry Goldwater		Independent Republican	Arizona		Arizona 24th in population (1990)	Vice Chair: Intelligence
56	Sam Ervin		Democratic	North Carolina	June 5, 1954		Co-Chair: Democratic Policy Committee
57	Strom Thurmond		Dixiecrat	South Carolina	December 24, 1954		Whip: Dixiecrat Caucus
58	Clifford P. Case		Independent Republican	New Jersey	January 3, 1955
59	Frank Church		Democratic	Idaho	January 3, 1957		Chair: Intelligence
60	Jacob Javits		Independent Republican	New York	January 9, 1957		Ranking Member: HELP
61	William Proxmire		Democratic	Wisconsin	August 28, 1957		Chair: Budget
62	Robert Byrd			West Virginia	January 3, 1959	Former representative (6 years)	Secretary: Democratic Caucus
63	Bob Bartlett			Alaska			Chair: Energy
64	Hiram Fong		Republican	Hawaii	August 21, 1959		Ranking Member: Homeland Security
65	Claiborne Pell		Democratic	Rhode Island	January 3, 1961
66	Ted Kennedy			Massachusetts	November 7, 1962		Co-Chair: Democratic Outreach Committee
67	Daniel Inouye			Hawaii	January 3, 1963	Former representative (4 years), Hawaii 41st in population (1990)	Vice Chair: Democratic Policy Committee Ranking Member: Veterans' Affairs
68	George McGovern			South Dakota		Former representative (4 years), South Dakota 45th in population (1990)	Chair: Indian Affairs
69	Birch Bayh			Indiana
70	Howard Baker		Republican	Tennessee	January 3, 1967		Chair: Republican Steering Committee
71	Ted Stevens			Alaska	December 24, 1968		Chair: NRSC Ranking Member: Commerce
72	Bob Dole			Kansas	January 3, 1969		Vice Chair: Republican Conference
73	Sam Nunn		Democratic	Georgia	November 8, 1972
74	Jesse Helms		Dixiecrat	North Carolina	January 3, 1973	North Carolina 10th in population (1990)	Outreach Chair: Dixiecrat Caucus
75	Pete Domenici		Republican	New Mexico		New Mexico 37th in population (1990)	Republican Chief Deputy Whip
76	Joe Biden		Democratic	Delaware		Delaware 46th in population (1990)	Chair: Democratic Steering Committee
77	Patrick Leahy			Vermont	January 3, 1975		Chair: Ethics
78	Richard Lugar		Republican	Indiana	January 3, 1977	Indiana 14th in population (1990)
79	Orrin Hatch			Utah		Utah 35th in population (1990)
80	Nancy Kassebaum			Kansas	December 23, 1978
81	Alan Simpson			Wyoming	January 1, 1979
82	John Warner			Virginia	January 2, 1979		Ranking Member: Veterans' Affairs
83	Carl Levin		Democratic	Michigan	January 3, 1979
84	Warren Rudman		Republican	New Hampshire	December 29, 1980		Vice Chair: Ethics
85	Chuck Grassley			Iowa	January 3, 1981	Former representative (6 years)	Ranking Member: Budget
86	Arlen Specter		Independent	Pennsylvania
87	Frank Lautenberg		Democratic	New Jersey	December 27, 1982
88	Barbara Mikulski			Maryland	January 3, 1987	Former representative (10 years)	Vice Chair: Democratic Caucus
89	Richard Shelby		Republican	Alabama		Former representative (8 years), Alabama 22nd in population (1990)
90	Tom Daschle		Democratic	South Dakota		Former representative (8 years), South Dakota 45th in population (1990)	Vice Chair: Democratic Policy Committee
91	Harry Reid			Nevada		Former representative (4 years)	Democratic Chief Deputy Whip
92	Bob Graham			Florida
93	Trent Lott		Republican	Mississippi	January 3, 1989	Former representative
94	Joe Lieberman		Independent Democrat	Connecticut			Vice Chair: Democratic Outreach Committee
95	Paul Wellstone		Democratic	Minnesota	January 3, 1991
96	Dianne Feinstein			California	November 4, 1992
97	Ben Nighthorse Campbell		Republican	Colorado	January 3, 1993		Ranking Member: Indian Affairs
98	Jim Inhofe			Oklahoma	November 17, 1994
99	Ron Wyden		Democratic	Oregon	February 6, 1996
100	Chuck Hagel		Republican	Nebraska	January 3, 1997

References