This is a complete list of members of the United States Senate during the 84th United States Congress listed by seniority, from January 3, 1955, to January 3, 1957.
Order of service is based on the commencement of the senator's first term. Behind this is former service as a senator (only giving the senator seniority within his or her new incoming class), service as vice president, a House member, a cabinet secretary, or a governor of a state. The final factor is the population of the senator's state.
In this congress, Richard Russell, Jr. (D-Georgia) was the most senior junior senator and Roman Hruska (R-Nebraska) was the most junior senior senator.
Senators who were sworn in during the middle of the two-year congressional term (up until the last senator who was not sworn in early after winning the November 1956 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
Terms of service
This article is about the terms of service of senators that expired in years. For a list of special elections to the United States Senate, see List of special elections to the United States Senate.| Class | Terms of service of senators that expired in years |
|---|---|
| Class 3 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1957 (AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, NC, ND, NH, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, UT, VT, WA, and WI.) |
| Class 1 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1959 (AZ, CA, CT, DE, FL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, and WY.) |
| Class 2 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1961 (AL, AR, CO, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WV, and WY.) |
U.S. Senate seniority list
| Rank | Senator (party-state) | Seniority date | Other factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter F. George (D-GA) | November 22, 1922 | |
| 2 | Carl Hayden (D-AZ) | March 4, 1927 | Former Representative by Arizona (15 years) |
| 3 | Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA) | January 12, 1933 | Former Governor of Georgia |
| 4 | Harry F. Byrd, Sr. (D-VA) | March 4, 1933 | Former Governor of Virgínia |
| 5 | James Murray (D-MT) | November 7, 1934 | |
| 6 | Dennis Chavez (D-NM) | May 11, 1935 | Former United States Representative from New Mexico (4 years) |
| 7 | Theodore F. Green (D-RI) | January 3, 1937 | Former Governor, Rhode Island 37th in population (1930) |
| 8 | Styles Bridges (R-NH) | Former Governor, 41st in population (1930) | |
| 9 | Allen J. Ellender (D-LA) | ||
| 10 | Joseph L. Hill (D-AL) | January 11, 1938 | Former United States Representative from Alabama (15 years) |
| 11 | Alexander Wiley (R-WI) | January 3, 1939 | |
| 12 | William Langer (R-ND) | January 3, 1941 | Former Governor of North Dakota |
| 13 | Harley M. Kilgore (D-WV) | ||
| 14 | George Aiken (R-VT) | January 10, 1941 | Former Governor of Vermont |
| 15 | Eugene D. Millikin (R-CO) | December 20, 1941 | |
| 16 | James Eastland (D-MS) | January 3, 1943 | Previously a United States Senator from Mississippi |
| 17 | John Little McClellan (D-AR) | Former United States Representative from Arkansas (4 years) | |
| 18 | Howard A. Smith (R-NJ) | December 7, 1944 | |
| 19 | Warren G. Magnuson (D-WA) | December 14, 1944 | Former United States Representative com Washington (7 years) |
| 20 | J. William Fulbright (D-AR) | January 3, 1945 | Former United States Representative from Arkansas |
| 21 | Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R-IA) | Former Governor of Iowa 20th in population (1940) | |
| 22 | Olin D. Johnston (D-SC) | Former Governor of South Carolina 26th in population (1940) | |
| 23 | Homer E. Capehart (R-IN) | United States Senator from Indiana 12th in population (1940) | |
| 24 | Wayne Morse (D-OR) | United States from Oregon 34th in population (1940) | |
| 25 | Leverett Saltonstall (R-MA) | January 4, 1945 | Former Governor of Massachusetts |
| 26 | Milton Young (R-ND) | March 12, 1945 | |
| 27 | William F. Knowland (R-CA) | August 26, 1945 | |
| 28 | Spessard Holland (D-FL) | September 25, 1946 | Former Governor of Florida |
| 29 | Ralph Flanders (R-VT) | November 1, 1946 | |
| 30 | A. Willis Robertson (D-VA) | November 6, 1946 | Former United States Representative from Virgínia (13 years and 10 months) |
| 31 | John Sparkman (D-AL) | Former United States Representative from Alabama (9 years and 10 months) | |
| 32 | William E. Jenner (R-IN) | January 3, 1947 | Previously a United States senator from Indiana |
| 33 | Edward Martin (R-PA) | Former Governor of Pennsylvania 2nd in population (1940) | |
| 34 | John W. Bricker (R-OH) | Former Governor of Ohio 4th in population (1940) | |
| 35 | Edward John Thye (R-MN) | Former Governor of Minnesota 18th in population (1940) | |
| 36 | Irving Ives (R-NY) | United States Senator from New York 1st in population (1940) | |
| 37 | Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) | United States Senator from Wisconsin 13th in population (1940) | |
| 38 | Arthur Vivian Watkins (R-UT) | United States Senator from Utah 40th in population (1940) | |
| 39 | John J. Williams (R-DE) | United States from Delaware 47th in population (1940) | |
| 40 | George W. Malone (R-NV) | United States Senator from Nevada 48th in population (1940) | |
| 41 | John C. Stennis (D-MS) | November 17, 1947 | |
| 42 | Karl Mundt (R-SD) | December 31, 1948 | Former United States Representative from South Dakota |
| 43 | Russell B. Long (D-LA) | ||
| 44 | Matthew M. Neely (D-WV) | January 3, 1949 | Former representative (twice), Former Governor of West Virgínia and Previously a United States senator from West Virgínia (twice) |
| 45 | Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) | Former United States Representative from Texas (12 years) and Previously a Vice President of the United States | |
| 46 | Estes Kefauver (D-TN) | Former United States Representative from Tennessee (10 years) | |
| 47 | Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) | Former United States Representative from Maine (8 years and 7 months) | |
| 48 | Clinton Anderson (D-NM) | Former cabinet secretary, Former Representative from New Mexico (4 years) | |
| 49 | Robert S. Kerr (D-OK) | Former Governor of Oklahoma 22nd in population (1940) | |
| 50 | Andrew F. Schoeppel (R-KS) | Former Governor of Kansas 29th in population (1940) | |
| 51 | Paul Douglas (D-IL) | United States Senator from Illinois 3rd in population (1940) | |
| 52 | Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) | Minnesota 18th in population (1940) | |
| 53 | Joseph Frear, Jr. (D-DE) | Delaware 47th in population (1940) | |
| 54 | Henry Dworshak (R-ID) | October 14, 1949 | Previously a United States senator from Idaho |
| 55 | Herbert H. Lehman (D-NY) | November 9, 1949 | Former Governor of New York |
| 56 | Frank Carlson (R-KS) | November 27, 1950 | Former United States Representative from Kansas (12 years) and Former governor of Kansas |
| 57 | Earle C. Clements (D-KY) | Former United States Representative from Kentucky (3 years) and Former Governor of Kentucky | |
| 58 | John O. Pastore (D-RI) | December 19, 1950 | |
| 59 | Everett Dirksen (R-IL) | January 3, 1951 | Former United States Representative from Illinois (16 years) |
| 60 | Francis H. Case (R-SD) | Former United States Representative from South Dakota (14 years) | |
| 61 | Almer Monroney (D-OK) | Former United States Representative from Oklahoma (12 years) | |
| 62 | Thomas C. Hennings, Jr. (D-MO) | Former United States Representative from Missouri (6 years) | |
| 63 | George Smathers (D-FL) | Former United States Representative from Florida (4 years) | |
| 64 | John M. Butler (R-MD) | Maryland 28th in population (1940) | |
| 65 | Wallace F. Bennett (R-UT) | Utah 40th in population (1940) | |
| 66 | Herman Welker (R-ID) | Idaho 43rd in population (1940) | |
| 67 | James H. Duff (R-PA) | January 16, 1951 | |
| 68 | Charles E. Potter (R-MI) | November 5, 1952 | Former United States Representative from Michigan |
| 69 | Prescott Bush (R-CT) | ||
| 70 | Thomas Kuchel (R-CA) | January 2, 1953 | |
| 71 | William A. Purtell (R-CT) | January 3, 1953 | Previously a United States senator from Connecticut |
| 72 | Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) | Former United States Representative from Tennessee (14 years) | |
| 73 | Henry M. Jackson (D-WA) | Former United States Representative from Washington (12 years) | |
| 74 | James Glenn Beall (R-MD) | Former United States Representative from Maryland (10 years), Maryland 24th in population (1950) | |
| 75 | Mike Mansfield (D-MT) | Former United States Representative from Montana (10 years), Montana 42nd in population (1950) | |
| 76 | John F. Kennedy (D-MA) | Former United States Representative from Massachusetts (6 years) | |
| 77 | Frederick G. Payne (R-ME) | Former Governor, Maine 35th in population (1950) | |
| 78 | Frank A. Barrett (R-WY) | Former Governor, Wyoming 48th in population (1950) | |
| 79 | Price Daniel (D-TX) | Texas 6th in population (1950) | |
| 80 | Stuart Symington (D-MO) | Missouri 12th in population (1950) | |
| 81 | Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) | Arizona 37th in population (1950) | |
| 82 | Sam Ervin (D-NC) | June 5, 1954 | |
| 83 | Norris Cotton (R-NH) | November 8, 1954 | Former United States Representative from New Hampshire (7 years and 10 months) |
| 84 | Roman Hruska (R-NE) | Former United States Representative from Nebraska (1 year and 10 months) | |
| 85 | Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D-WY) | November 29, 1954 | Previously a United States senator from Wyoming |
| 86 | W. Kerr Scott (D-NC) | ||
| 87 | Alan Bible (D-NV) | December 2, 1954 | |
| 88 | George H. Bender (R-OH) | December 16, 1954 | |
| 89 | Strom Thurmond (I-SC) | December 24, 1954 | |
| 90 | Carl Curtis (R-NE) | January 1, 1955 | Former United States Representative from Nebraska (15 years) |
| 91 | Alben W. Barkley (D-KY) | January 3, 1955 | Previously a United States senator from Kentucky; former Vice President of the United States |
| 92 | Clifford P. Case (R-NJ) | Former United States Representative from New Jersey (8 years) | |
| 93 | Thomas Martin (R-IA) | Former United States Representative from Iowa (6 years) | |
| 94 | Patrick V. McNamara (D-MI) | Maryland 24th in population (1950) | |
| 95 | Richard L. Neuberger (D-OR) | Oregon 31st in population (1950) | |
| 96 | Gordon L. Allott (R-CO) | Colorado 32nd in population (1950) | |
| William R. Laird, III (D-WV) | March 13, 1956 | ||
| Thomas A. Wofford (D-SC) | April 5, 1956 | ||
| Robert Humphreys (R-KY) | June 21, 1956 | ||
| W. Chapman Revercomb (R-WV) | November 7, 1956 | Previously a United States senator from West Virgínia (6 years) | |
| John Sherman Cooper (R-KY) | Previously a senator (twice) (total tenure 4 years and 4 months) | ||
| Strom Thurmond (D-SC) | Former governor, Previously a United States senator from South Carolina (1 year and 3 months) |
See also
- 84th United States Congress
- List of members of the United States House of Representatives in the 84th Congress by seniority
Notes
- A Chronological List of United States Senators 1789-Present, via www.Senate.gov
- 1931 U.S Census Report Contains 1930 Census results
- 1941 U.S Census Report Contains 1940 Census results
- 1951 U.S Census Report Contains 1950 Census results
- Terms of service of senators that expired in 1957.
- Terms of service of senators that expired in 1959.
- Terms of service of senators that expired in 1961.
- Senator Kilgore died on February 28, 1956.
- Senator Thurmond was elected as a write in candidate but he vowed to step down and run as a Democrat which he did on April 4, 1956, however, he was later re-elected to a second term and returned to the Senate seven months later on November 7.
- Senator Barkley died on April 30, 1956.