This is a complete list of members of the United States Senate during the 34th United States Congress listed by seniority, from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857.
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C.
The Thirty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1855, to March 4, 1857, during the last two years of Franklin Pierce's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Seventh Census of the United States in 1850. The Whig Party, one of the two major parties of the era, had largely collapsed, although many former Whigs ran as Republicans or as members of the "Opposition Party." The Senate had a Democratic majority, and the House was controlled by a coalition of Representatives led by Nathaniel P. Banks, a member of the American Party.
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. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The vice president of the United States is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch, as President of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president presides over Senate deliberations, but may not vote except to cast a tie-breaking vote. The vice president also presides over joint sessions of Congress.
The United States House of Representatives is the lower house of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper house. Together they compose the national legislature of the United States.
In the United States, a governor serves as the chief executive officer and commander-in-chief in each of the fifty states and in the five permanently inhabited territories, functioning as both head of state and head of government therein. As such, governors are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. As state leaders, governors advance and pursue new and revised policies and programs using a variety of tools, among them executive orders, executive budgets, and legislative proposals and vetoes. Governors carry out their management and leadership responsibilities and objectives with the support and assistance of department and agency heads, many of whom they are empowered to appoint. A majority of governors have the authority to appoint state court judges as well, in most cases from a list of names submitted by a nominations committee.
Senators who were sworn in during the middle of the Congress (up until the last senator who was not sworn in early after winning the November 1856 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
Class | Terms of service of senators that will expire in years |
---|---|
Class 1 | Terms of service of senators that will expire in 1857 [5] |
Class 2 | Terms of service of senators that will expire in 1859 [6] |
Class 3 | Terms of service of senators that will expire in 1861 [7] |
Rank | Senator (party-state) | Seniority date | Other factors |
---|---|---|---|
1 | James Pearce (D-MD) | March 4, 1843 | Former representative |
2 | Jesse D. Bright (D-IN) | March 4, 1845 | Former lieutenant governor |
3 | Thomas Jefferson Rusk (D-TX) | February 21, 1846 | |
4 | Sam Houston (D-TX) | February 26, 1846 | Former representative, former governor |
5 | Andrew Pickens Butler (D-SC) | December 4, 1846 | |
6 | James M. Mason (D-VA) | January 21, 1847 | |
7 | Stephen A. Douglas (D-IL) | March 4, 1847 | Former governor |
8 | Robert M. T. Hunter (D-VA) | Former representative | |
9 | John Bell (D-TN) | November 22, 1847 | Former representative |
10 | William K. Sebastian (D-AR) | May 12, 1848 | |
11 | Henry Dodge (D-WI) | June 8, 1848 | Former delegate |
12 | Hannibal Hamlin (D-ME) | Former representative | |
13 | Augustus C. Dodge (D-IA) | December 7, 1848 | Former representative |
14 | George Wallace Jones (D-IA) | Former delegate | |
15 | William H. Seward (R-NY) | March 4, 1849 | Former governor |
16 | Lewis Cass (D-MI) | ||
17 | Thomas Pratt (D-MD) | January 12, 1850 | |
18 | Solomon Foot (R-VT) | March 4, 1851 | Former representative |
19 | James A. Bayard, Jr. (D-DE) | ||
20 | Stephen Mallory (D-FL) | ||
21 | Henry S. Geyer (W-MO) | ||
22 | Richard Brodhead(D-PA) | Former representative | |
23 | Charles T. James (D-RI) | ||
24 | James C. Jones (D-TN) | Former governor | |
25 | Benjamin Wade (R-OH) | March 15, 1851 | |
26 | Charles Sumner (LR-MA) | April 11, 1851 | |
27 | John M. Clayton (R-NY) | December 1, 1851 | |
28 | John B. Weller (LD-CA) | January 30, 1852 | |
29 | Stephen Adams (D-MS) | March 17, 1852 | Former representative |
30 | Isaac Toucey (D-CT) | May 12, 1852 | |
31 | John R. Thomson (D-NJ) | March 4, 1853 | |
32 | Robert Toombs (D-GA) | Former representative | |
33 | Judah P. Benjamin (D-LA) | ||
34 | Josiah J. Evans (D-SC) | ||
35 | Charles E. Stuart (D-MI) | Former representative | |
36 | John B. Thompson (A-KY) | Former representative | |
37 | John M. Clayton (W-DE) | ||
38 | William Wright (D-NJ) | ||
39 | Robert Ward Johnson (D-AR) | July 6, 1853 | |
40 | Philip Allen (D-RI) | July 20, 1853 | |
41 | Clement Claiborne Clay (D-AL) | November 29, 1853 | |
42 | John Slidell (D-LA) | December 5, 1853 | |
43 | Albert G. Brown (D-MS) | January 7, 1854 | |
44 | William P. Fessenden (R-ME) | February 10, 1854 | |
45 | David Settle Reid (D-NC) | December 6, 1854 | |
46 | Henry Wilson (R-MA) | January 31, 1855 | |
47 | Lyman Trumbull (R-IL) | March 4, 1855 | |
48 | Jacob Collamer (R-VT) | ||
49 | Lafayette S. Foster (R-CT) | ||
50 | James Harlan (R-IA) | ||
51 | David Levy Yulee (D-FL) | ||
52 | Alfred Iverson, Sr. (D-GA) | ||
53 | John J. Crittenden (A-KY) | ||
54 | George E. Pugh (D-OH) | ||
55 | Charles Durkee (R-WI) | ||
56 | Asa Biggs (D-KY) | ||
57 | James Bell (R-NE) | ||
John P. Hale (D-NH) | July 30, 1855 | ||
Benjamin Fitzpatrick (D-AL) | November 26, 1855 | ||
William Bigler (D-PA) | January 14, 1856 | ||
Joseph P. Comegys (W-DE) | November 19, 1856 | ||
James S. Green (D-MO) | January 12, 1857 | ||
William M. Gwin (D-CA) | January 13, 1857 | ||
Martin W. Bates (D-DE) | January 14, 1857 | ||
Amos Nourse (R-ME) | January 16, 1857 | ||
Graham N. Fitch (D-IN) | February 4, 1857 | ||