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SENATORS OF THE UNITED STATES
1789-2009
A chronological list of senators from the
First Congress to the 111th Congress
Administrations come and go, Houses assemble and disperse, Senators change,
but the Senate is always there in the Capitol, and always organized, with an
existence unbroken since 1789. Henry Cabot Lodge, 1903.
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge stands among the most astute of the Senate=s twentieth-century
observer-participants. In the quotation noted above, he captures the fundamental continuity of
this singular legislative body. On September 30, 1788, Pennsylvania became the first state to
elect its United States senators. Since that distant election of William Maclay and Robert Morris,
the states of this nation have similarly honored nearly 1,900 Americans. As Senator Lodge
suggests, the most recently elected member shares a direct kinship with the entire line back to
Senators Maclay and Morris. This book is intended to remind current senators of that lineage by
listing all members in the order in which they arrived. Each senator has been assigned a number
to reflect his or her rank at the time of initial election. Up-to-date biographical information for all
of these senators is available at http://bioguide.congress.gov.
SENATORS' ORDER OF SERVICE
From 1789 to 1958, senators whose terms began on the same day are listed alphabetically.
Beginning in 1959, senators are listed according to commencement of first Senate term by order
of service, determined by former service in order as senator, vice president, House member,
cabinet secretary, governor, and then by state population. This latter system for calculating order
of service has been used by the modern Senate for many years for the purposes of office
assignment. It is unclear just when the Senate first began applying such criteria.
SENATOR=S PARTY AFFILIATION
A complete list of political parties identified in this list is included at the end. The Republican
(R) party affiliation may refer