# List of United States senators in the 79th Congress

This is a complete list of members of the United States Senate during the 79th United States Congress listed by seniority, from January 3, 1945, to January 3, 1947.
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 1946 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
In this Congress, Richard Russell was the most senior junior senator. The distinction of most junior senior senator passed between four different individuals in this Congress, due to various deaths and resignations: Guy Cordon, from January 3 to 10, 1945; Warren Magnuson from January 10 to 17, 1945; Forrest Donnell from January 17 to November 10, 1945; and Glen Taylor from November 10, 1945 through the end of the 79th Congress.

## Terms of service

| Class | Terms of service of senators that expired in years |
| Class 1 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1947 (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 1949 (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.) |
| 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.) |

## 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 | Hiram Johnson (R-CA) | March 16, 1917 | |
| 3 | Arthur Capper (R-KS) | March 4, 1919 | |
| 4 | Carter Glass (D-VA) | February 2, 1920 | |
| 5 | Walter F. George (D-GA) | November 22, 1922 | |
| 6 | Henrik Shipstead (R-MN) | March 4, 1923 | Minnesota 17th in population (1920) |
| 7 | Burton K. Wheeler (D-MT) | March 4, 1923 | Montana 39th in population (1920) |
| 8 | Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (WP-WI) | September 30, 1925 | |
| 9 | David I. Walsh (D-MA) | December 6, 1926 | |
| 10 | Carl Hayden (D-AZ) | March 4, 1927 | Former United States representative from Arizona (15 years) |
| 11 | Alben W. Barkley (D-KY) | March 4, 1927 | Former United States representative from Kentucky (14 years) |
| 12 | Elmer Thomas (D-OK) | March 4, 1927 | Former representative (4 years), Oklahoma 21st in population (1920) |
| 13 | Millard Tydings (D-MD) | March 4, 1927 | Former representative (4 years), Maryland 28th in population (1920) |
| 14 | Robert F. Wagner (D-NY) | March 4, 1927 | |
| 15 | Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI) | March 31, 1928 | |
| 16 | Tom Connally (D-TX) | March 4, 1929 | |
| 17 | Wallace H. White, Jr. (R-ME) | March 4, 1931 | Former representative |
| 18 | Josiah W. Bailey (D-NC) | March 4, 1931 | North Carolina 12th in population (1930) |
| 19 | John H. Bankhead II (D-AL) | March 4, 1931 | Alabama 15th in population (1930) |
| 20 | Warren Austin (R-VT) | April 1, 1931 | |
| 21 | Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA) | January 12, 1933 | |
| 22 | John H. Overton (D-LA) | March 4, 1933 | Former representative |
| 23 | Harry F. Byrd, Sr. (D-VA) | March 4, 1933 | Former governor |
| 24 | Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) | March 4, 1933 | Utah 40th in population (1930) |
| 25 | Pat McCarran (D-NV) | March 4, 1933 | Nevada 48th in population (1930) |
| 26 | Carl Hatch (D-NM) | October 10, 1933 | |
| 27 | Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D-WY) | January 1, 1934 | |
| 28 | James Murray (D-MT) | November 7, 1934 | |
| 29 | Peter G. Gerry (D-RI) | January 3, 1935 | Former senator |
| 30 | George L. P. Radcliffe (D-MD) | January 3, 1935 | Former representative |
| 31 | Theodore G. Bilbo (D-MS) | January 3, 1935 | Former governor |
| 32 | Joseph F. Guffey (D-PA) | January 3, 1935 | Pennsylvania 2nd in population (1930) |
| 33 | Harry S. Truman (D-MO) | January 3, 1935 | Missouri 10th in population (1930) |
| 34 | Francis T. Maloney (D-CT) | January 3, 1935 | Connecticut 29th in population (1930) |
| 35 | Dennis Chavez (D-NM) | May 11, 1935 | |
| 36 | Charles O. Andrews (D-FL) | November 4, 1936 | "A" 1st in alphabet |
| 37 | Claude Pepper (D-FL) | November 4, 1936 | "P" 16th in alphabet |
| 38 | Edwin C. Johnson (D-CO) | January 3, 1937 | Former governor, Colorado 33rd in population (1930) |
| 39 | Theodore F. Green (D-RI) | January 3, 1937 | Former governor, Rhode Island 37th in population (1930) |
| 40 | Styles Bridges (R-NH) | January 3, 1937 | Former governor, New Hampshire 41st in population (1930) |
| 41 | Allen J. Ellender (D-LA) | January 3, 1937 | |
| 42 | Joseph L. Hill (D-AL) | January 11, 1938 | |
| 43 | Tom Stewart (D-TN) | November 9, 1938 | |
| 44 | James M. Mead (D-NY) | December 3, 1938 | |
| 45 | Scott W. Lucas (D-IL) | January 3, 1939 | Former representative (4 years) |
| 46 | Charles W. Tobey (R-NH) | January 3, 1939 | Former representative (2 years) |
| 47 | Clyde M. Reed (R-KS) | January 3, 1939 | Former governor |
| 48 | Robert A. Taft (R-OH) | January 3, 1939 | Ohio 4th in population (1930) |
| 49 | Sheridan Downey (D-CA) | January 3, 1939 | California 6th in population (1930) |
| 50 | Alexander Wiley (R-WI) | January 3, 1939 | Wisconsin 13th in population (1930) |
| 51 | John Chandler Gurney (R-SD) | January 3, 1939 | South Dakota 36th in population (1930) |
| 52 | Albert B. Chandler (D-KY) | October 9, 1939 | |
| 53 | John Thomas (R-ID) | January 27, 1940 | |
| 54 | C. Wayland Brooks (R-IL) | November 22, 1940 | |
| 55 | Monrad C. Wallgren (D-WA) | December 19, 1940 | |
| 56 | Abe Murdock (D-UT) | January 3, 1941 | Former representative (8 years) |
| 57 | Ralph Owen Brewster (R-ME) | January 3, 1941 | Former representative (6 years) |
| 58 | William Langer (R-ND) | January 3, 1941 | Former governor |
| 59 | Harold H. Burton (R-OH) | January 3, 1941 | Ohio 4th in population (1940) |
| 60 | Raymond E. Willis (R-IN) | January 3, 1941 | Indiana 12th in population (1940) |
| 61 | Harley M. Kilgore (D-WV) | January 3, 1941 | West Virginia 24th in population (1940) |
| 62 | Hugh A. Butler (R-NE) | January 3, 1941 | Nebraska 32nd in population (1940) |
| 63 | Ernest McFarland (D-AZ) | January 3, 1941 | Arizona 43rd in population (1940) |
| 64 | James M. Tunnell (D-DE) | January 3, 1941 | Delaware 47th in population (1940) |
| 65 | George Aiken (R-VT) | January 10, 1941 | |
| 66 | W. Lee O'Daniel (D-TX) | August 4, 1941 | |
| 67 | Burnet R. Maybank (D-SC) | November 5, 1941 | |
| 68 | Eugene D. Millikin (R-CO) | December 20, 1941 | |
| 69 | James G. Scrugham (D-NV) | December 7, 1942 | |
| 70 | Joseph H. Ball (R-MN) | January 3, 1943 | Former senator (2 years) |
| 71 | James Eastland (D-MS) | January 3, 1943 | Former senator (1 year) |
| 72 | John Little McClellan (D-AR) | January 3, 1943 | Arkansas 25th in population (1940) |
| 73 | Harlan J. Bushfield (R-SD) | January 3, 1943 | Former governor, South Dakota 37th in population (1940) |
| 74 | C. Douglass Buck (R-DE) | January 3, 1943 | Former governor, Delaware 47th in population (1940) |
| 75 | Homer S. Ferguson (R-MI) | January 3, 1943 | Michigan 7th in population (1940) |
| 76 | Albert W. Hawkes (R-NJ) | January 3, 1943 | New Jersey 9th in population (1940) |
| 77 | Edward H. Moore (R-OK) | January 3, 1943 | Oklahoma 22nd in population (1940) |
| 78 | W. Chapman Revercomb (R-WV) | January 3, 1943 | West Virginia 24th in population (1940) |
| 79 | Kenneth S. Wherry (R-NE) | January 3, 1943 | Nebraska 32nd in population (1940) |
| 80 | Edward V. Robertson (R-WY) | January 3, 1943 | Wyoming 46th in population (1940) |
| 81 | George A. Wilson (R-IA) | January 14, 1943 | |
| 82 | Guy Cordon (R-OR) | March 4, 1944 | |
| 83 | Howard A. Smith (R-NJ) | December 7, 1944 | |
| 84 | Warren G. Magnuson (D-WA) | December 14, 1944 | |
| 85 | Francis J. Myers (D-PA) | January 3, 1945 | Former representative (6 years) |
| 86 | J. William Fulbright (D-AR) | January 3, 1945 | Former representative (2 years) |
| 87 | Clyde R. Hoey (D-NC) | January 3, 1945 | Former representative (1 year, 2 months) |
| 88 | Forrest C. Donnell (R-MO) | January 3, 1945 | Former governor, Missouri 10th in population (1940) |
| 89 | Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R-IA) | January 3, 1945 | Former governor, Iowa 20th in population (1940) |
| 90 | Olin D. Johnston (D-SC) | January 3, 1945 | Former governor, South Carolina 26th in population (1940) |
| 91 | John Moses (D-ND) | January 3, 1945 | Former governor, North Dakota 38th in population (1940) |
| 92 | Homer E. Capehart (R-IN) | January 3, 1945 | Indiana 12th in population (1940) |
| 93 | Brien McMahon (D-CT) | January 3, 1945 | Connecticut 31st in population (1940) |
| 94 | Wayne Morse (R-OR) | January 3, 1945 | Oregon 34th in population (1940) |
| 95 | Glen H. Taylor (D-ID) | January 3, 1945 | Idaho 42nd in population (1940) |
| 96 | Leverett Saltonstall (R-MA) | January 4, 1945 | |
| — | Hugh Mitchell (D-WA) | January 10, 1945 | |
| — | Frank P. Briggs (R-MO) | January 18, 1945 | |
| — | Thomas C. Hart (R-CT) | February 15, 1945 | |
| — | Milton Young (R-ND) | March 12, 1945 | |
| — | Edward P. Carville (D-NV) | July 24, 1945 | |
| — | William F. Knowland (R-CA) | August 26, 1945 | |
| — | James W. Huffman (D-OH) | October 8, 1945 | |
| — | Charles C. Gossett (D-ID) | November 17, 1945 | |
| — | William A. Stanfill (R-KY) | November 19, 1945 | |
| — | Thomas G. Burch (D-VA) | May 31, 1946 | |
| — | George R. Swift (D-AL) | June 15, 1946 | |
| — | Spessard Holland (D-FL) | September 25, 1946 | |
| — | Ralph Flanders (R-VT) | November 1, 1946 | |
| — | A. Willis Robertson (D-VA) | November 6, 1946 | Former representative (13 years) |
| — | John Sparkman (D-AL) | November 6, 1946 | Former representative (9 years) |
| — | Henry Dworshak (R-ID) | November 6, 1946 | Former representative (7 years) |
| — | Kingsley A. Taft (R-OH) | November 6, 1946 | Ohio 4th in population (1940) |
| — | John Sherman Cooper (R-KY) | November 6, 1946 | Kentucky 16th in population (1940) |
| — | William B. Umstead (D-NC) | December 18, 1946 | |
| — | Harry P. Cain (R-WA) | December 26, 1946 | |
| — | Raymond E. Baldwin (R-CT) | December 27, 1946 | |
The most senior senators by class were Kenneth McKellar (D-Tennessee) from Class 1, Arthur Capper (R-Kansas) from Class 2, and Walter F. George (D-Georgia) from Class 3.