US Senator with longest continuous service
| Dean of the United States Senate |
 Incumbent
Patrick Leahy
since December 17, 2012 |
| Member of | United States Senate |
| Formation | March 4, 1789 |
| First holder | James Gunn |
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.
The current dean is Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. He has been in the Senate since 1975 and became dean in 2012 with the death in office of Daniel Inouye.
List of deans [edit]
| Name | Party | State | Years | First served |
| James Gunn | Anti-Admin,
Democratic-Republican | GA | 1789–1797 | 1789 |
| John Langdon | Pro-Admin,
Democratic-Republican | NH |
| and others |
| James Gunn | Democratic-Republican | GA | 1797–1801 |
| John Langdon | Democratic-Republican | NH |
| Theodore Foster | Democratic-Republican | RI | 1801–1803 | 1790 |
| John Brown | Democratic-Republican | KY | 1803–1805 | 1791 |
| James Hillhouse | Federalist | CT | 1805–1810 | 1796 |
| Joseph Anderson | Democratic-Republican | TN | 1810–1815 | 1797 |
| John Gaillard | Democratic-Republican | SC | 1815–1826 | 1804 |
| Benjamin Ruggles | Anti-Jacksonian | OH | 1826–1833 | 1815 |
| William R. King | Democratic | AL | 1833–1844 | 1819 |
| Thomas Benton | Democratic | MO | 1844–1851 | 1821 |
| Willie Person Mangum | Whig | NC | 1851–1853 | 1831, 1840 |
| James Pearce | Whig | MD | 1853–1862 | 1843 |
| James A. Bayard Jr. | Democratic | DE | 1862–1864 | 1851 |
| Solomon Foot | Republican | VT |
| Solomon Foot | Republican | VT | 1864–1866 |
| Benjamin F. Wade | Republican | OH | 1866–1869 |
| Charles Sumner | Republican | MA | 1869–1874 |
| Zachariah Chandler | Republican | MI | 1874–1875 | 1857 |
| Henry B. Anthony | Republican | RI | 1875–1884 | 1859 |
| George F. Edmunds | Republican | VT | 1884–1891 | 1866 |
| Justin Smith Morrill | Republican | VT | 1891–1898 | 1867 |
| William B. Allison | Republican | IA | 1898–1908 | 1873 |
| Eugene Hale | Republican | ME | 1908–1911 | 1881 |
| William P. Frye | Republican | ME | 1911 | 1881 |
| Shelby Moore Cullom | Republican | IL | 1911–1913 | 1883 |
| Jacob Harold Gallinger | Republican | NH | 1913–1918 | 1891 |
| Henry Cabot Lodge | Republican | MA | 1918–1924 | 1893 |
| Francis E. Warren | Republican | WY | 1924–1929 | 1895 |
| Furnifold McLendel Simmons | Democratic | NC | 1929–1931 | 1901 |
| Reed Smoot | Republican | UT | 1931–1933 | 1903 |
| William Edgar Borah | Republican | ID | 1933–1940 | 1907 |
| Ellison D. Smith | Democratic | SC | 1940–1944 | 1909 |
| Kenneth McKellar | Democratic | TN | 1944–1953 | 1917 |
| Walter F. George | Democratic | GA | 1953–1957 | 1922 |
| Carl Hayden | Democratic | AZ | 1957–1969 | 1927 |
| Richard Russell Jr. | Democratic | GA | 1969–1971 | 1933 |
| Allen J. Ellender | Democratic | LA | 1971–1972 | 1937 |
| George D. Aiken | Republican | VT | 1972–1975 | 1941 |
| James Eastland | Democratic | MS | 1975–1977 | 1941, 1943 |
| John L. McClellan | Democratic | AR | 1943 |
| James Eastland | Democratic | MS | 1977–1978 | 1941, 1943 |
| Warren G. Magnuson | Democratic | WA | 1978–1981 | 1944 |
| John C. Stennis | Democratic | MS | 1981–1989 | 1947 |
| Strom Thurmond | Republican | SC | 1989–2003 | 1954, 1956 |
| Robert Byrd | Democratic | WV | 2003–2010 | 1959 |
| Daniel Inouye | Democratic | HI | 2010–2012 | 1963 |
| Patrick Leahy | Democratic | VT | 2012–present | 1975 |
Party deans [edit]
For additional information, here is a list of most senior senators by party, listed in reverse chronological order.
Democratic [edit]
| Name | State | Years |
| Nathaniel Macon | NC | 1826–1828 |
| Mahlon Dickerson | NJ | 1828–1833 |
| William R. King | AL | 1833–1844 |
| Thomas Benton | MO | 1844–1851 |
| David Rice Atchison | MO | 1851–1855 |
| Jesse D. Bright | IN | 1855–1856 |
| James Pearce | MD | 1856–1862 |
| James A. Bayard Jr. | DE | 1862–1864 |
| John P. Hale | NH | 1864–1865 |
| Willard Saulsbury Sr. | DE | 1865–1871 |
| Garrett Davis | KY | 1871–1872 |
| George Vickers | MD | 1872–1873 |
| Thomas F. Bayard | DE | 1873–1885 |
| Eli M. Saulsbury | DE | 1885–1889 |
| Matt Whitaker Ransom | NC | 1889–1895 |
| Francis Cockrell | MO | 1895–1905 |
| John Tyler Morgan | AL | 1905–1907 |
| William Pinkney Whyte | MD | 1907–1908 |
| Henry M. Teller | CO | 1908–1909 |
| John W. Daniel | VA | 1909–1910 |
| Benjamin Tillman | SC | 1910–1918 |
| Thomas S. Martin | VA | 1918–1919 |
| Charles Allen Culberson | TX | 1919–1923 |
| Furnifold McLendel Simmons | NC | 1923–1931 |
| Ellison D. Smith | SC | 1931–1944 |
| Kenneth McKellar | TN | 1944–1953 |
| Walter F. George | GA | 1953–1957 |
| Carl Hayden | AZ | 1957–1969 |
| Richard Russell | GA | 1969–1971 |
| Allen J. Ellender | LA | 1971–1972 |
| James Eastland | MS | 1972–1978 |
| Warren Magnuson | WA | 1978–1981 |
| John C. Stennis | MS | 1981–1989 |
| Robert Byrd | WV | 1989–2010 |
| Daniel Inouye | HI | 2010–2012 |
| Patrick Leahy | VT | 2012–present |
Republican [edit]
| Name | State | Years |
| William H. Seward | NY | 1854–1861 |
| Solomon Foot | VT | 1861–1866 |
| Benjamin Wade | OH | 1866–1869 |
| Charles Sumner | MA | 1869–1872 |
| Henry Wilson | MA | 1872–1873 |
| Zachariah Chandler | MI | 1873–1875 |
| Henry B. Anthony | RI | 1875–1884 |
| George F. Edmunds | VT | 1884–1891 |
| Justin Smith Morrill | VT | 1891–1898 |
| William B. Allison | IA | 1898–1908 |
| Eugene Hale | ME | 1908–1911 |
| William P. Frye | ME | 1911 |
| Shelby Moore Cullom | IL | 1911–1913 |
| Jacob H. Gallinger | NH | 1913–1918 |
| Henry Cabot Lodge | MA | 1918–1924 |
| Francis E. Warren | WY | 1924–1929 |
| Reed Smoot | UT | 1929–1933 |
| William E. Borah | ID | 1933–1940 |
| Hiram W. Johnson | CA | 1940–1945 |
| Arthur Capper | KS | 1945–1949 |
| Arthur Vandenberg | MI | 1949–1951 |
| Styles Bridges | NH | 1951–1961 |
| Alexander Wiley | WI | 1961–1963 |
| George Aiken | VT | 1963–1975 |
| Milton R. Young | ND | 1975–1981 |
| Strom Thurmond | SC | 1981–2003 |
| Ted Stevens | AK | 2003–2009 |
| Richard Lugar | IN | 2009–2013 |
| Orrin Hatch | UT | 2013–2019 |
| Chuck Grassley | IA | 2019–present |
Whig [edit]
| Name | State | Years |
| Nehemiah R. Knight | RI | 1833–1841 |
| Samuel Prentiss | VT | 1841–1842 |
| Nathaniel P. Tallmadge | NY | 1842–1844 |
| William Cabell Rives | VA | 1844–1845 |
| Thomas Clayton | DE | 1845–1847 |
| Samuel S. Phelps | VT | 1847–1851 |
| Willie Person Mangum | NC | 1851–1853 |
| James Pearce | MD | 1853–1856 |
| Henry S. Geyer | MO | 1856–1857 |
National Republican [edit]
| Name | State | Years |
| Benjamin Ruggles | OH | 1825–1833 |
| Nehemiah R. Knight | RI | 1833 |
Democratic-Republican [edit]
| Name | State | Years |
| John Langdon | NH | 1799–1801 |
| John Brown | KY | 1801–1805 |
| Joseph Anderson | TN | 1805–1815 |
| John Gaillard | SC | 1815–1826 |
Federalist [edit]
| Name | State | Years |
| James Gunn | GA | 1799–1801 |
| Theodore Foster | RI | 1801–1803 |
| Uriah Tracy | CT | 1803–1807 |
| James Hillhouse | CT | 1807–1810 |
| Timothy Pickering | MA | 1810–1811 |
| James Bayard | DE | 1811–1813 |
| Chauncey Goodrich | CT | 1813 |
| Outerbridge Horsey | DE | 1813–1821 |
| Rufus King | NY | 1821–1825 |
Pro-Administration [edit]
| Name | State | Years |
| Pierce Butler | SC | 1789–1795 |
| Oliver Ellsworth | CT | 1795–1796 |
| James Gunn | GA | 1796–1799 |
Anti-Administration [edit]
| Name | State | Years |
| Richard Bassett | DE | 1789–1793 |
| John Langdon | NH | 1793–1795 |
| Pierce Butler | SC | 1795–1796 |
| John Langdon | NH | 1796–1799 |
See also [edit]
- Baby of the United States Senate
- Oldest living United States president
- Dean of the United States House of Representatives
- List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service
References [edit]
- Senators of the United States
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