Dean of the United States Senate
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 the longest-serving member of the majority party serves as President pro tempore.
The current Dean is Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.Party Deans
For additional information here is a list of most senior Democratic and Republican Senators.Democratic
- Patrick Leahy, 2012–present
- Daniel Inouye, 2010–2012
- Robert Byrd, 1989–2010
- John C. Stennis, 1981–1989
- Warren Magnuson, 1978–1981
- James Eastland, 1972–1978
- Allen J. Ellender, 1971–1972
- Richard B. Russell, 1969–1971
- Carl Hayden, 1957–1969
- Walter F. George, 1953–1957
- Kenneth McKellar, 1944–1953
- Ellison D. Smith, 1931–1944
- Furnifold McLendel Simmons, 1923–1931
- Charles Allen Culberson, 1919–1923
- Thomas S. Martin, 1918–1919
- Benjamin Tillman, 1910–1918
- John W. Daniel, 1909–1910
- Henry M. Teller, 1908–1909
- William Pinkney Whyte, 1907–1908
- John Tyler Morgan, 1905–1907
- Francis Cockrell, 1895–1905
- Matt Whitaker Ransom, 1889–1895
- Eli M. Saulsbury, 1885–1889
- Thomas F. Bayard, 1873–1885
- George Vickers, 1872–1873
- Garrett Davis, 1871–1872
- Willard Saulsbury Sr., 1865–1871
- John P. Hale, 1864–1865
- James A. Bayard Jr., 1862–1864
- James Pearce, 1856–1862
- Jesse D. Bright, 1855–1856
- David Rice Atchison, 1851–1855
- Thomas Hart Benton, 1844–1851
- William R. King, 1833–1844
- Mahlon Dickerson, 1828–1833
- Nathaniel Macon, 1826–1828
Republican
- Chuck Grassley, 2019–present
- Orrin Hatch, 2013–2019
- Richard Lugar, 2009–2013
- Ted Stevens, 2003–2009
- Strom Thurmond, 1981–2003
- Milton R. Young, 1975–1981
- George Aiken, 1963–1975
- Alexander Wiley, 1961–1963
- Styles Bridges, 1951–1961
- Arthur Vandenberg, 1949–1951
- Arthur Capper, 1945–1949
- Hiram W. Johnson, 1940–1945
- William E. Borah 1933–1940
- Reed Smoot, 1929–1933
- Francis E. Warren, 1924–1929
- Henry Cabot Lodge, 1918–1924
- Jacob H. Gallinger, 1913–1918
- Shelby Moore Cullom, 1911–1913
- William P. Frye, 1911
- Eugene Hale, 1908–1911
- William B. Allison, 1898–1908
- Justin Smith Morrill, 1891–1898
- George F. Edmunds, 1884–1891
- Henry B. Anthony, 1875–1884
- Zachariah Chandler, 1873–1875
- Henry Wilson, 1872–1873
- Charles Sumner, 1869–1872
- Benjamin Wade, 1866–1869
- Solomon Foot, 1861–1866
- William H. Seward, 1854–1861
Whig
- Henry S. Geyer, 1856–1857
- James Pearce, 1853–1856
- Willie Person Mangum, 1851–1853
- Samuel S. Phelps, 1847–1851
- Thomas Clayton, 1845–1847
- William Cabell Rives, 1844–1845
- Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, 1842–1844
- Samuel Prentiss, 1841–1842
- Nehemiah R. Knight, 1833–1841
National Republican
- Nehemiah R. Knight, 1833
- Benjamin Ruggles, 1825–1833
Democratic-Republican
- John Gaillard, 1815–1826
- Joseph Anderson, 1805–1815
- John Brown, 1801–1805
- John Langdon, 1799–1801
Federalist
- Rufus King, 1821–1825
- Outerbridge Horsey, 1813–1821
- Chauncey Goodrich, 1813
- James A. Bayard, 1811–1813
- Timothy Pickering, 1810–1811
- James Hillhouse, 1807–1810
- Uriah Tracy, 1803–1807
- Theodore Foster, 1801–1803
- James Gunn, 1799–1801
Pro-Administration
- James Gunn, 1796–1799
- Oliver Ellsworth, 1795–1796
- Pierce Butler, 1789–1795
Anti-Administration
- John Langdon, 1796–1799
- Pierce Butler, 1795–1796
- John Langdon, 1793–1795
- Richard Bassett, 1789–1793
