# List of United States senators in the 81st Congress

This is a complete list of members of the United States Senate during the 81st United States Congress listed by seniority, from January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1951.
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.
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 1950 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.

## Terms of service

| Class | Terms of service of senators that expired in years |
| Class 3 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1951 (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 1953 (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 1955 (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

U.S. Senate seniority :
| Rank | Senator (party-state) | Seniority date | Other factors |
| 1 | Kenneth McKellar (D-TN) | March 4, 1917 | |
| 2 | Walter F. George (D-GA) | November 22, 1922 | |
| 3 | Carl Hayden (D-AZ) | March 4, 1927 | Former representative (15 years) |
| 4 | Alben W. Barkley (D-KY) | March 4, 1927 | Former representative (14 years) |
| 5 | Elmer Thomas (D-OK) | March 4, 1927 | Former representative (4 years), Oklahoma 21st in population (1920) |
| 6 | Millard Tydings (D-MD) | March 4, 1927 | Former representative (4 years), Maryland 28th in population (1920) |
| 7 | Robert F. Wagner (D-NY) | March 4, 1927 | |
| 8 | Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI) | March 31, 1928 | |
| 9 | Tom Connally (D-TX) | March 4, 1929 | |
| 10 | Richard Russell Jr. (D-GA) | January 12, 1933 | |
| 11 | Harry F. Byrd Sr. (D-VA) | March 4, 1933 | Former governor |
| 12 | Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) | March 4, 1933 | Utah 40th in population (1930) |
| 13 | Pat McCarran (D-NV) | March 4, 1933 | Nevada 48th in population (1930) |
| 14 | Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D-WY) | January 1, 1934 | |
| 15 | James Murray (D-MT) | November 7, 1934 | |
| 16 | Dennis Chavez (D-NM) | May 11, 1935 | |
| 17 | Claude Pepper (D-FL) | November 4, 1936 | |
| 18 | Edwin C. Johnson (D-CO) | January 3, 1937 | Former governor, Colorado 33rd in population (1930) |
| 19 | Theodore F. Green (D-RI) | January 3, 1937 | Former governor, Rhode Island 37th in population (1930) |
| 20 | Styles Bridges (R-NH) | January 3, 1937 | Former governor, New Hampshire 41st in population (1930) |
| 21 | Allen J. Ellender (D-LA) | January 3, 1937 | |
| 22 | Joseph L. Hill (D-AL) | January 11, 1938 | |
| 23 | Scott W. Lucas (D-IL) | January 3, 1939 | Former representative (4 years) |
| 24 | Charles W. Tobey (R-NH) | January 3, 1939 | Former representative (2 years) |
| 25 | Clyde M. Reed (R-KS) | January 3, 1939 | Former governor |
| 26 | Robert A. Taft (R-OH) | January 3, 1939 | Ohio 4th in population (1930) |
| 27 | Sheridan Downey (D-CA) | January 3, 1939 | California 6th in population (1930) |
| 28 | Alexander Wiley (R-WI) | January 3, 1939 | Wisconsin 13th in population (1930) |
| 29 | John Chandler Gurney (R-SD) | January 3, 1939 | South Dakota 36th in population (1930) |
| 30 | Ralph Owen Brewster (R-ME) | January 3, 1941 | Former governor, Maine 35th in population (1930) |
| 31 | William Langer (R-ND) | January 3, 1941 | Former governor, North Dakota 38th in population (1930) |
| 32 | Harley M. Kilgore (D-WV) | January 3, 1941 | West Virginia 27th in population (1930) |
| 33 | Hugh A. Butler (R-NE) | January 3, 1941 | Nebraska 32nd in population (1930) |
| 34 | Ernest McFarland (D-AZ) | January 3, 1941 | Arizona 43rd in population (1930) |
| 35 | George Aiken (R-VT) | January 10, 1941 | |
| 36 | Burnet R. Maybank (D-SC) | November 5, 1941 | |
| 37 | Eugene D. Millikin (R-CO) | December 20, 1941 | |
| 38 | James Eastland (D-MS) | January 3, 1943 | Previously a senator |
| 39 | John Little McClellan (D-AR) | January 3, 1943 | Former representative |
| 40 | Homer S. Ferguson (R-MI) | January 3, 1943 | Michigan 7th in population (1940) |
| 41 | Kenneth S. Wherry (R-NE) | January 3, 1943 | Nebraska 32nd in population (1940) |
| 42 | Guy Cordon (R-OR) | March 4, 1944 | |
| 43 | Howard A. Smith (R-NJ) | December 7, 1944 | |
| 44 | Warren G. Magnuson (D-WA) | December 14, 1944 | |
| 45 | Francis J. Myers (D-PA) | January 3, 1945 | Former representative (6 years) |
| 46 | J. William Fulbright (D-AR) | January 3, 1945 | Former representative (2 years) |
| 47 | Clyde R. Hoey (D-NC) | January 3, 1945 | Former representative (1 year, 2 months) |
| 48 | Forrest C. Donnell (R-MO) | January 3, 1945 | Former governor, Missouri 10th in population (1940) |
| 49 | Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R-IA) | January 3, 1945 | Former governor, Iowa 20th in population (1940) |
| 50 | Olin D. Johnston (D-SC) | January 3, 1945 | Former governor, South Carolina 26th in population (1940) |
| 51 | Homer E. Capehart (R-IN) | January 3, 1945 | Indiana 12th in population (1940) |
| 52 | Brien McMahon (D-CT) | January 3, 1945 | Connecticut 31st in population (1940) |
| 53 | Wayne Morse (R-OR) | January 3, 1945 | Oregon 34th in population (1940) |
| 54 | Glen H. Taylor (D-ID) | January 3, 1945 | Idaho 42nd in population (1940) |
| 54 | Leverett Saltonstall (R-MA) | January 4, 1945 | |
| 56 | Milton Young (R-ND) | March 12, 1945 | |
| 57 | William F. Knowland (R-CA) | August 26, 1945 | |
| 58 | Spessard Holland (D-FL) | September 24, 1946 | |
| 59 | Ralph Flanders (R-VT) | November 1, 1946 | |
| 60 | A. Willis Robertson (D-VA) | November 6, 1946 | Former representative (13 years, 10 months) |
| 61 | John Sparkman (D-AL) | November 6, 1946 | Former representative (9 years, 10 months) |
| 62 | Harry P. Cain (R-WA) | December 26, 1946 | |
| 63 | Raymond E. Baldwin (R-CT) | December 27, 1946 | |
| 64 | Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (R-MA) | January 3, 1947 | Previously a senator (7 years, 1 month) |
| 65 | William E. Jenner (R-IN) | January 3, 1947 | Previously a senator (2 months) |
| 66 | Edward Martin (R-PA) | January 3, 1947 | Former governor, Pennsylvania 2nd in population (1940) |
| 67 | John W. Bricker (R-OH) | January 3, 1947 | Former governor, Ohio 4th in population (1940) |
| 68 | Edward John Thye (R-MN) | January 3, 1947 | Former governor, Minnesota 18th in population (1940) |
| 69 | Herbert O'Conor (D-MD) | January 3, 1947 | Former governor, Maryland 28th in population (1940) |
| 70 | Irving Ives (R-NY) | January 3, 1947 | New York 1st in population (1940) |
| 71 | James P. Kem (R-MO) | January 3, 1947 | Missouri 10th in population (1940) |
| 72 | Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) | January 3, 1947 | Wisconsin 13th in population (1940) |
| 73 | J. Howard McGrath (D-RI) | January 3, 1947 | Rhode Island 36th in population (1940) |
| 74 | Zales Ecton (R-MT) | January 3, 1947 | Montana 39th in population (1940) |
| 75 | Arthur Vivian Watkins (R-UT) | January 3, 1947 | Utah 40th in population (1940) |
| 76 | John J. Williams (R-DE) | January 3, 1947 | Delaware 47th in population (1940) |
| 77 | George W. Malone (R-NV) | January 3, 1947 | Nevada 48th in population (1940) |
| 78 | John C. Stennis (D-MS) | November 17, 1947 | |
| 79 | Karl Mundt (R-SD) | December 31, 1948 | Former representative |
| 80 | J. Melville Broughton (D-NC) | December 31, 1948 | Former governor |
| 81 | Russell B. Long (D-LA) | December 31, 1948 | |
| 82 | Matthew M. Neely (D-WV) | January 3, 1949 | Previously a senator (twice) (total tenure 15 years, 10 months) |
| 83 | Guy Mark Gillette (D-IA) | January 3, 1949 | Previously a senator (8 years, 2 months) |
| 84 | Virgil Chapman (D-KY) | January 3, 1949 | Former representative (24 years) |
| 85 | Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) | January 3, 1949 | Former representative (12 years) |
| 86 | Estes Kefauver (D-TN) | January 3, 1949 | Former representative (10 years) |
| 87 | Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) | January 3, 1949 | Former representative (8 years, 7 months) |
| 88 | Clinton Anderson (D-NM) | January 3, 1949 | Former representative (4 years) |
| 89 | Robert S. Kerr (D-OK) | January 3, 1949 | Former governor, Oklahoma 22nd in population (1940) |
| 90 | Andrew F. Schoeppel (R-KS) | January 3, 1949 | Former governor, Kansas 29th in population (1940) |
| 91 | Lester C. Hunt (D-WY) | January 3, 1949 | Former governor, Wyoming 46th in population (1940) |
| 92 | Paul Douglas (D-IL) | January 3, 1949 | Illinois 3rd in population (1940) |
| 93 | Robert C. Hendrickson (R-NJ) | January 3, 1949 | New Jersey 9th in population (1940) |
| 94 | Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) | January 3, 1949 | Minnesota 18th in population (1940) |
| 95 | Bert H. Miller (D-ID) | January 3, 1949 | Idaho 42nd in population (1940) |
| 96 | Joseph Frear Jr. (D-DE) | January 3, 1949 | Delaware 47th in population (1940) |
| — | Garrett L. Withers (D-KY) | January 20, 1949 | |
| — | Frank Porter Graham (D-NC) | March 29, 1949 | |
| — | John Foster Dulles (R-NY) | July 8, 1949 | |
| — | Edward L. Leahy (D-RI) | August 24, 1949 | |
| — | Henry Dworshak (R-ID) | October 14, 1949 | |
| — | Herbert H. Lehman (D-NY) | November 9, 1949 | |
| — | Harry Darby (R-KS) | December 2, 1949 | |
| — | William Benton (D-CT) | December 17, 1949 | |
| — | Frank Carlson (R-KS) | November 27, 1950 | Former representative (12 years) |
| — | Earle C. Clements (D-KY) | November 27, 1950 | Former representative (3 years) |
| — | Willis Smith (D-NC) | November 27, 1950 | |
| — | Richard Nixon (R-CA) | December 1, 1950 | |
| — | John O. Pastore (D-RI) | December 19, 1950 | |
The most senior senators by class were Kenneth McKellar (D-Tennessee) from Class 1, Richard Russell Jr. (D-Georgia) from Class 2, and Walter F. George (D-Georgia) from Class 3. Russell was the most senior senator from his class being the junior senator from his state.