# States in the Senate | Connecticut Timeline

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**Introduction****Senators****Timeline**

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1787

## July 16

At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Connecticut delegates Roger Sherman of New Haven and Oliver Ellsworth of Windsor crafted the "Connecticut Compromise," also called "The Great Compromise," in which each state would be represented equally in the Senate and according to the relative size of its population in the House.

1789

## March 4

The new Congress convened at Federal Hall in New York City, with Connecticut's first two senators, Oliver Ellsworth and  William S. Johnson of Stratford, both present that day. Once a quorum of 12 senators had convened on April 6, out of the eligible 22, the Senate began its work.

1789

## May 15

The Senate drew lots to determine the three classes of senators. Oliver Ellsworth was assigned to Class 1 (with a two-year term to expire in 1791) and  William S. Johnson was assigned to Class 3 (with a six-year term to expire in 1795, although he resigned in 1791).

1789

## September 24

The Judiciary Act of 1789, which established the nation's federal court system, was adopted. Oliver Ellsworth was the principal author of the act. He also devised the Senate's first set of procedural rules.

1791

## June 13

Roger Sherman, coauthor of "The Connecticut Compromise," began his Senate service. Sherman was the only member of the Continental Congress to sign the Continental Association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence of 1776, the Articles of Confederation of 1777, and the Constitution of 1787. He was the grandfather of four subsequent members of Congress, including Senators Roger Sherman Baldwin and George Frisbie Hoar.

1796

## March 4

The Senate confirmed the nomination of Oliver Ellsworth as chief justice of the United States. He served as chief justice until December 15, 1800.

1800

## May 14

The Senate elected Uriah Tracy of Litchfield as its president pro tempore.

1817

## February 6

Congress commissioned Connecticut artist John Trumbull, a former Revolutionary War aide to General George Washington, to produce four large history murals for permanent display in the Capitol Rotunda. Trumbull completed all four (Declaration of Independence, *George Washington Resigning His Commission*, *Surrender of General Burgoyne*, and *Surrender of Lord Cornwallis*) within seven years.

1821

##  

Typically high rates of member turnover and death plagued the early Senate. In one glaring example, eight individuals successively occupied Connecticut's Class 1 Senate seat in the 30 years between 1821 and 1851. Three of those eight did not live to complete their terms.

1837

## September 8

Senator Perry Smith of New Milford became chairman of the Committee on Agriculture (today's Committee on Agriculture Nutrition, and Forestry), serving until 1839.

1841

## June 2

Senator Jabez Huntington of Norwich became chairman of the Committee on Commerce (today's Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation), serving until 1845.

1865

## March 7

The Senate elected Lafayette Sabine Foster of Norwich as its president pro tempore.

1872

## March 8

Congress accepted Connecticut's contributions to the National Statuary Hall Collection: an 8'1" marble statue of Jonathan Trumbull, and a 7'11" marble statue of Roger Sherman.

1873

## December 4

Senator William Buckingham of Norwich became chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs and served until his death in February 1875. Sixty years later, Frank Brandegee of New London chaired that panel.

1875

##  

Artist Seth Eastman's painting of Fort Trumbull in New London was presented to the House Committee on Military Affairs. Part of a series of 17 canvases depicting army forts commissioned by the committee, the painting now hangs in the first floor of the Capitol on the Senate side.

1879

## March 4

Orville Hitchcock Platt of Meriden took his seat in the Senate, beginning a 26-year-career.

1879

## March 19

Senator William W. Eaton of Hartford became chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, serving until 1881.

1881

## March 4

Joseph R. Hawley of Hartford began a 24-year Senate career. Hawley and Orville Platt represented Connecticut together in the Senate for 24 years, until their deaths in 1905.

1885

## February 19

The Senate accepted a marble portrait bust of former senator Lafayette Foster in honor of his service from 1865 to 1867 as "acting vice president." The bust, which suggests the classical image of an ancient Greek philosopher, is displayed in the vice president's formal office adjacent to the Senate Chamber.

1887

## December 12

Senator Joseph Hawley became chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs (today's Committee on Armed Services), serving until 1893 and again from 1894 to 1905.

1901

## February 28

After the Spanish-American War, Senator Orville Platt, chairman of the Committee on Relations with Cuba, introduced an amendment that established Cuba as a quasi-protectorate of the U.S. The Platt Amendment, in force until 1934, prohibited Cuba from making agreements with foreign powers impairing its independence or granting concessions without U.S. consent.

1905

## April 25

Senator Orville Platt died. Until 2007, his 26-year Senate career, beginning in 1879, established him as Connecticut's longest-serving senator. (Senator Chris Dodd broke that record in 2007.) Platt was among the group of four power brokers (including William Allison, Nelson Aldrich, and John Spooner) who largely controlled Senate legislative operations between 1897 and 1905.

1911

## July 24

Future senator Hiram Bingham, a noted explorer traveling in Peru, discovered the ruins of the pre-Columbian city Machu Picchu. His book, *Lost City of the Incas*, became a best-seller when published in 1948, 15 years after he left the Senate.

1912

## May 25

In a mark of respect for his fairness and parliamentary skills, the Senate elected Frank Brandegee of New London as its president pro tempore. Thirteen years earlier, he had gained valuable presiding experience as speaker of the Connecticut house of representatives.

1913

## February 22

Senator Frank Brandegee delivered George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address on the floor of the Senate, a tradition dating to 1862.

1913

## April 8

The Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect allowing the election of senators by popular vote. In 1915 Frank Brandegee, a senator since 1905 and an opponent of direct election, became Connecticut's first directly elected senator.

1919

## May 28

Senator George P. McLean of Simsbury became chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency (today's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs), serving until 1927.

1923

## March 4

Frank Brandegee became chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. The 18-year Senate veteran held that influential chairmanship until his death in October 1924.

1924

## October 14

In financial difficulties and poor health, 20-year Senate veteran Frank Brandegee committed suicide. A New London newspaper described him as a plain-spoken man with much dry wit and a tendency toward cynicism. He was not given to flowery language and retained to the end in his speech and conversation many New England characteristic phrases.

1926

## February 22

Senator Hiram Bingham of New Haven delivered George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address on the floor of the Senate, a tradition dating to 1862.

1929

## November 4

The Senate censured Hiram Bingham of New Haven for employing a staff member who worked simultaneously as a paid lobbyist for the Manufacturers Association of Connecticut. Bingham served until March 1933.

1943

## January 7

Senate Democrats elected Francis T. Maloney of Meriden as their Conference secretary. He held that post until his death in February 1945. He was succeeded in that post by his Connecticut colleague, Brien McMahon of Norwalk.

1945

## January 

Senator Francis T. Maloney sponsored the Legislative Reorganization Act. Following its enactment in August 1946, that law helped to modernize Senate and House operations for the next quarter-century.

1945

## February 22

Senator Brien McMahon of Norwalk delivered George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address on the floor of the Senate, a tradition dating to 1862.

1945

## July 

Thomas J. Dodd of West Hartford, who would win a Senate seat in 1958, served as vice chairman, Board of Review, and later executive trial counsel, office of United States Chief of Counsel for War Crimes at the Nuremberg Military Tribunals. His son Christopher Dodd, also a future senator, later published his father's 1945?1946 correspondence to his mother, *Letters from Nuremberg* (2007).

1945

## July 27

Senator Brien McMahon was elected Democratic Conference secretary, a position he held until 1952.

1952

## November 4

Prescott Bush of Greenwich won election to the Senate following a defeat in the 1950 election. Reelected, he served until 1963. He was the father of President George Herbert Walker Bush and grandfather of President George W. Bush.

1955

## February 22

Senator Prescott Bush delivered George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address on the floor of the Senate, a tradition dating to 1862.

1967

## June 23

The Senate censured Thomas J. Dodd for use of his office to convert campaign funds to his personal benefit.

1975

## January 17

Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff of Hartford became chairman of the Committee on Government Operations and in 1977 continued to chair its successor, the Committee on Governmental Affairs (today's Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), until 1981. Joseph I. Lieberman of New Haven subsequently chaired that committee.

1981

## January 5

Senator Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., of Greenwich became chairman of the Committee on Small Business, a position he held until 1987.

2000

## August 16

Senator Joseph Lieberman became his party's nominee for vice president of the United States at the Democratic National Convention. Lieberman and presidential candidate (and former senator) Vice President Al Gore lost the November election.

2001

## January 3

Senator Christopher J. Dodd of East Haddam became chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration, serving until 2003.

2001

## January 3

Joseph Lieberman became chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs (today's Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), serving until 2003, and again from 2007 to 2012.

2006

## August 8

Senator Joseph Lieberman was defeated in the Democratic primary by challenger Ned Lamont. Lieberman ran in the November election, however, as an Independent Democrat, and won.

2006

## September 12

A mural by Bradley Stevens depicting the Connecticut Compromise was unveiled in the Capitol's Senate Reception Room, with speeches given by Senators Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman.

2007

## January 12

Senator Christopher J. Dodd became chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, a position he held until his retirement in 2011.

2007

## February 21

Senator Christopher J. Dodd became Connecticut's longest-serving senator, surpassing Senator Oliver Platt's record of 26 years, 1 month, and 18 days (or 9,545 days). Dodd went on to serve in the Senate for 30 years.

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