# 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 (since 1945) the longest-serving member of the majority party serves as president pro tempore.
The dean as of 2023 is Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa. He has been in the Senate since 1981 and became dean in 2023 with the retirement of Patrick Leahy.

## List of deans

| Name | Party | State | Years | First served |
| James Gunn | Anti-Admin Democratic-Republican | GA | 1789–1797 | 1789 |
| John Langdon | Pro-Admin Democratic-Republican | NH | 1789–1797 | 1789 |
| 1789 |||
| James Gunn | Democratic-Republican | GA | 1797–1801 | 1789 |
| John Langdon | Democratic-Republican | NH | 1797–1801 | 1789 |
| 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 | 1862–1864 | 1851 |
| Solomon Foot | Republican | VT | 1864–1866 | 1851 |
| Benjamin F. Wade | Republican | OH | 1866–1869 | 1851 |
| Charles Sumner | Republican | MA | 1869–1874 | 1851 |
| 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 | 1975–1977 | 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 | 2012–2023 | 1975 |
| Chuck Grassley | Republican | IA | 2023–present | 1981 |

## Party deans
### Democratic

| 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 |
| Willard Saulsbury Sr. | DE | 1864–1871 |
| Garrett Davis | KY | 1871–1872 |
| George Vickers | MD | 1872–1873 |
| Thomas F. Bayard | DE | 1873–1885 |
| Eli 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 | 2012–2023 |
| Dianne Feinstein | CA | 2023 |
| Patty Murray | WA | 2023–present |

### Republican

| 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

| 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

| Name | State | Years |
| Benjamin Ruggles | OH | 1825–1833 |
| Nehemiah R. Knight | RI | 1833 |

### Democratic-Republican

| Name | State | Years |
| John Langdon | NH | 1799–1801 |
| John Brown | KY | 1801–1805 |
| Joseph Anderson | TN | 1805–1815 |
| John Gaillard | SC | 1815–1826 |

### Federalist

| 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

| Name | State | Years |
| Pierce Butler | SC | 1789–1795 |
| Oliver Ellsworth | CT | 1795–1796 |
| James Gunn | GA | 1796–1799 |

### Anti-Administration

| Name | State | Years |
| Richard Bassett | DE | 1789–1793 |
| John Langdon | NH | 1793–1795 |
| Pierce Butler | SC | 1795–1796 |
| John Langdon | NH | 1796–1799 |