This is a complete list of members of the United States Senate during the 82nd United States Congress listed by seniority, from January 3, 1951, to January 3, 1953.
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]
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 1952 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
| Class | Terms of service of senators that expired in years |
|---|---|
| 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.) [4] |
| 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.) [5] |
| Class 3 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1957 (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.) [6] |
| Rank | Senator (party-state) | Seniority date | Other factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenneth McKellar (D-TN) | March 4, 1917 | Former representative (6 years) |
| 2 | Walter F. George (D-GA) | November 22, 1922 | |
| 3 | Carl Hayden (D-AZ) | March 4, 1927 | Former representative (15 years) |
| 4 | Arthur H. Vandenberg [7] (R-MI) | March 31, 1928 | |
| 5 | Tom Connally (D-TX) | March 4, 1929 | Former representative (12 years) |
| 6 | Richard Russell Jr. (D-GA) | January 12, 1933 | Former governor |
| 7 | Harry F. Byrd Sr. (D-VA) | March 4, 1933 | Former governor |
| 8 | Pat McCarran (D-NV) | ||
| 9 | Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D-WY) | January 1, 1934 | |
| 10 | James Murray (D-MT) | November 7, 1934 | |
| 11 | Dennis Chavez (D-NM) | May 11, 1935 | Former representative (4 years) |
| 12 | Edwin C. Johnson (D-CO) | January 3, 1937 | Former governor, Colorado 33rd in population (1930) |
| 13 | Theodore F. Green (D-RI) | Former governor, Rhode Island 37th in population (1930) | |
| 14 | Styles Bridges (R-NH) | Former governor, New Hampshire 41st in population (1930) | |
| 15 | Allen J. Ellender (D-LA) | ||
| 16 | Joseph L. Hill (D-AL) | January 11, 1938 | Former representative (15 years) |
| 17 | Charles W. Tobey (R-NH) | January 3, 1939 | Former representative |
| 18 | Robert A. Taft (R-OH) | Ohio 4th in population (1930) | |
| 19 | Alexander Wiley (R-WI) | Wisconsin 13th in population (1930) | |
| 20 | Ralph Owen Brewster [8] (R-ME) | January 3, 1941 | Former governor, Maine 35th in population (1930) |
| 21 | William Langer (R-ND) | Former governor, North Dakota 38th in population (1930) | |
| 22 | Harley M. Kilgore (D-WV) | West Virginia 27th in population (1930) | |
| 23 | Hugh A. Butler (R-NE) | Nebraska 32nd in population (1930) | |
| 24 | Ernest McFarland (D-AZ) | Arizona 43rd in population (1930) | |
| 25 | George Aiken (R-VT) | January 10, 1941 | Former governor |
| 26 | Burnet R. Maybank (D-SC) | November 5, 1941 | |
| 27 | Eugene D. Millikin (R-CO) | December 20, 1941 | |
| 28 | James Eastland (D-MS) | January 3, 1943 | Previously a senator |
| 29 | Homer S. Ferguson (R-MI) | Michigan 7th in population (1940) | |
| 30 | John Little McClellan (D-AR) | Former representative (4 years), Arkansas 25th in population (1940) | |
| 31 | Kenneth S. Wherry [9] (R-NE) | Nebraska 32nd in population (1940) | |
| 32 | Guy Cordon (R-OR) | March 4, 1944 | |
| 33 | Howard A. Smith (R-NJ) | December 7, 1944 | |
| 34 | Warren G. Magnuson (D-WA) | December 14, 1944 | Former representative (7 years) |
| 35 | J. William Fulbright (D-AR) | January 3, 1945 | Former representative |
| 36 | Clyde R. Hoey (D-NC) | Former representative, Former governor | |
| 37 | Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R-IA) | Former governor, Iowa 20th in population (1940) | |
| 38 | Olin D. Johnston (D-SC) | Former governor, South Carolina 26th in population (1940) | |
| 39 | Homer E. Capehart (R-IN) | Indiana 12th in population (1940) | |
| 40 | Brien McMahon [10] (D-CT) | Connecticut 31st in population (1940) | |
| 41 | Wayne Morse (I/R-OR) | Oregon 34th in population (1940) | |
| 42 | Leverett Saltonstall (R-MA) | January 4, 1945 | Former governor |
| 43 | Milton Young (R-ND) | March 12, 1945 | |
| 44 | William F. Knowland (R-CA) | August 26, 1945 | |
| 45 | Spessard Holland (D-FL) | September 24, 1946 | Former governor |
| 46 | Ralph Flanders (R-VT) | November 1, 1946 | |
| 47 | A. Willis Robertson (D-VA) | November 6, 1946 | Former representative (13 years, 10 months) |
| 48 | John Sparkman (D-AL) | Former representative (9 years, 10 months) | |
| 49 | Harry P. Cain (R-WA) | December 26, 1946 | |
| 50 | Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (R-MA) | January 3, 1947 | Previously a senator (7 years, 1 month) |
| 51 | William E. Jenner (R-IN) | Previously a senator (2 months) | |
| 52 | Edward Martin (R-PA) | Former governor, Pennsylvania 2nd in population (1940) | |
| 53 | John W. Bricker (R-OH) | Former governor, Ohio 4th in population (1940) | |
| 54 | Edward John Thye (R-MN) | Former governor, Minnesota 18th in population (1940) | |
| 55 | Herbert O'Conor (D-MD) | Former governor, Maryland 28th in population (1940) | |
| 56 | Irving Ives (R-NY) | New York 1st in population (1940) | |
| 57 | James P. Kem (R-MO) | Missouri 10th in population (1940) | |
| 58 | Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) | Wisconsin 13th in population (1940) | |
| 59 | Zales Ecton (R-MT) | Montana 39th in population (1940) | |
| 60 | Arthur Vivian Watkins (R-UT) | Utah 40th in population (1940) | |
| 61 | John J. Williams (R-DE) | Delaware 47th in population (1940) | |
| 62 | George W. Malone (R-NV) | Nevada 48th in population (1940) | |
| 63 | John C. Stennis (D-MS) | November 17, 1947 | |
| 64 | Karl Mundt (R-SD) | December 31, 1948 | Former representative |
| 65 | Russell B. Long (D-LA) | ||
| 66 | Matthew M. Neely (D-WV) | January 3, 1949 | Former representative (twice), Former governor, Previously a senator (twice) (total tenure 15 years, 10 months) |
| 67 | Guy Mark Gillette (D-IA) | Former representative, Previously a senator (8 years, 2 months) | |
| 68 | Virgil Chapman [11] (D-KY) | Former representative (24 years) | |
| 69 | Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) | Former representative (12 years) | |
| 70 | Estes Kefauver (D-TN) | Former representative (10 years) | |
| 71 | Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) | Former representative (8 years, 7 months) | |
| 72 | Clinton Anderson (D-NM) | Former cabinet secretary, Former representative (4 years, 5 months) | |
| 73 | Robert S. Kerr (D-OK) | Former governor, Oklahoma 22nd in population (1940) | |
| 74 | Andrew F. Schoeppel (R-KS) | Former governor, Kansas 29th in population (1940) | |
| 75 | Lester C. Hunt (D-WY) | Former governor, Wyoming 46th in population (1940) | |
| 76 | Paul Douglas (D-IL) | Illinois 3rd in population (1940) | |
| 77 | Robert C. Hendrickson (R-NJ) | New Jersey 9th in population (1940) | |
| 78 | Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) | Minnesota 18th in population (1940) | |
| 79 | Joseph Frear Jr. (D-DE) | Delaware 47th in population (1940) | |
| 80 | Henry Dworshak (R-ID) | October 14, 1949 | Previously a senator |
| 81 | Herbert H. Lehman (D-NY) | November 9, 1949 | Former governor |
| 82 | William Benton (D-CT) | December 17, 1949 | |
| 83 | Frank Carlson (R-KS) | November 27, 1950 | Former representative (12 years), Former governor |
| 84 | Earle C. Clements (D-KY) | Former representative (3 years), Former governor | |
| 85 | Willis Smith (D-NC) | ||
| 86 | Richard Nixon [12] (R-CA) | December 1, 1950 | Former representative (3 years) |
| 87 | John O. Pastore (D-RI) | December 19, 1950 | |
| 88 | Everett Dirksen (R-IL) | January 3, 1951 | Former representative (16 years) |
| 89 | Francis H. Case (R-SD) | Former representative (14 years) | |
| 90 | Almer Monroney (D-OK) | Former representative (12 years) | |
| 91 | Thomas C. Hennings Jr. (D-MO) | Former representative (6 years) | |
| 92 | George Smathers (D-FL) | Former representative (4 years) | |
| 93 | John M. Butler (R-MD) | Maryland 28th in population (1940) | |
| 94 | Wallace F. Bennett (R-UT) | Utah 40th in population (1940) | |
| 95 | Herman Welker (R-ID) | Idaho 43rd in population (1940) | |
| 96 | James H. Duff (R-PA) | January 16, 1951 | |
| 97 | Thomas R. Underwood (D-KY) | March 19, 1951 | |
| 98 | Blair Moody (D-MI) | April 23, 1951 | |
| 99 | Fred Andrew Seaton (R-NE) | December 10, 1951 | |
| 100 | William A. Purtell [13] (R-CT) | August 29, 1952 | |
| 101 | John Sherman Cooper (R-KY) | November 5, 1952 | Previously a senator |
| 102 | Charles E. Potter (R-MI) | Former representative | |
| 103 | Dwight Griswold (R-NE) | Former governor | |
| 104 | Prescott Bush (R-CT) | ||
| 105 | Thomas Kuchel (R-CA) | January 2, 1953 |