List of Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate

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This is a complete list of President pro tempore of the United States Senate.

1789–1890

Before 1890, the Senate elected a president pro tempore only for the period when the vice president would be absent.

Congress	President pro tempore	Party	State	Years
1st Congress 1789–1791	John Langdon	Pro-Administration	New Hampshire	April 6–21, 1789
				August 7–9, 1789
2nd Congress 1791–1793	Richard Henry Lee	Anti-Administration	Virginia	April 18 – October 8, 1792
	John Langdon	Pro-Administration	New Hampshire	November 5 – December 4, 1792
3rd Congress 1793–1795				March 4 – December 2, 1793
	Ralph Izard	Pro-Administration	South Carolina	May 31 – November 9, 1794
	Henry Tazewell	Anti-Administration	Virginia	February 20 – March 3, 1795
4th Congress 1795–1797		Democratic-Republican		March 4 – June 7, 1795
	Samuel Livermore	Federalist	New Hampshire	May 6 – December 4, 1796
	William Bingham	Federalist	Pennsylvania	February 16 – March 3, 1797
5th Congress 1797–1799	William Bradford	Federalist	Rhode Island	July 6 – October 1797
	Jacob Read	Federalist	South Carolina	November 22 – December 12, 1797
	Theodore Sedgwick	Federalist	Massachusetts	June 27 – December 5, 1798
	John Laurance	Federalist	New York	December 6–27, 1798
	James Ross	Federalist	Pennsylvania	March 1 – December 1, 1799
6th Congress 1799–1801	Samuel Livermore	Federalist	New Hampshire	December 2–29, 1799
	Uriah Tracy	Federalist	Connecticut	May 14 – November 16, 1800
	John E. Howard	Federalist	Maryland	November 21–27, 1800
	James Hillhouse	Federalist	Connecticut	February 28 – March 3, 1801
7th Congress 1801–1803	Abraham Baldwin	Democratic-Republican	Georgia	December 7, 1801 – January 14, 1802
				April 17 – December 13, 1802
	Stephen R. Bradley	Democratic- Republican	Vermont	December 14, 1802 – January 18, 1803
				February 25, 1803
				March 2 – October 16, 1803
8th Congress 1803–1805	John Brown	Democratic- Republican	Kentucky	October 17 – December 6, 1803
				January 23 – February 26, 1804
	Jesse Franklin	Democratic- Republican	North Carolina	March 10 – November 4, 1804
	Joseph Anderson	Democratic- Republican	Tennessee	January 15 – February 3, 1805
				February 28
				March 2 – March 4, 1805
9thCongress 1805–1807	Samuel Smith	Democratic- Republican	Maryland	December 2–15, 1805
				March 18 – November 30, 1806
				March 2 – October 25, 1807
10th Congress 1807–1809				April 16 – November 6, 1808
	Stephen R. Bradley	Democratic- Republican	Vermont	December 28, 1808 – January 8, 1809
	John Milledge	Democratic- Republican	Georgia	January 30 – March 3, 1809
11th Congress 1809–1811				March 4 – May 21, 1809
	Andrew Gregg	Democratic- Republican	Pennsylvania	June 26 – December 18, 1809
	John Gaillard	Democratic- Republican	South Carolina	February 28 – March 2, 1810
				April 17 – December 11, 1810
	John Pope	Democratic- Republican	Kentucky	February 23 – November 3, 1811
12th Congress 1811–1813	William H. Crawford	Democratic- Republican	Georgia	March 24, 1812 – March 3, 1813
13th Congress 1813–1815				March 4–23, 1813
	Joseph B. Varnum	Democratic- Republican	Massachusetts	December 6, 1813 – February 3, 1814
	John Gaillard	Democratic- Republican	South Carolina	November 25, 1814 – December 3, 1815
14th Congress 1815–1817				December 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817
15th Congress 1817–1819				March 4, 1817
				March 6, 1817 – February 18, 1818
				March 31, 1818 – January 5, 1819
	James Barbour	Democratic- Republican	Virginia	February 15 – December 5, 1819
16th Congress 1819–1821				December 6–26, 1819
	John Gaillard	Democratic- Republican	South Carolina	January 25, 1820 – December 2, 1821
17th Congress 1821–1823				December 3–27, 1821
				February 1 – December 2, 1822
				February 19 – November 30, 1823
18th Congress 1823–1825				December 1, 1823 – January 20, 1824
				May 21, 1824 – March 3, 1825
19th Congress 1825–1827				March 9 – December 4, 1825
	Nathaniel Macon	Democratic- Republican	North Carolina	May 20 – December 3, 1826
				January 2 – February 13, 1827
				March 2 – December 2, 1827
20th Congress 1827–1829	Samuel Smith	Jacksonian	Maryland	May 15 – December 18, 1828
21st Congress 1829–1831		Democratic	Maryland	March 13 – December 10, 1829
				May 20 – December 31, 1830
				March 1 – December 4, 1831
22nd Congress 1831–1833				December 5–11, 1831
	Littleton Tazewell	Democratic	Virginia	July 9–16, 1832
	Hugh Lawson White	Democratic	Tennessee	December 3, 1832 – December 1, 1833
23rd Congress 1833–1835				December 2–15, 1833
	George Poindexter	Whig	Mississippi	June 28 – November 30, 1834
	John Tyler	Whig	Virginia	March 3 – December 6, 1835
24th Congress 1835–1837	William R. King	Democratic	Alabama	July 1 – December 4, 1836
				January 28 – March 3, 1837
25th Congress 1837–1839				March 7 – September 3, 1837
				October 13 – December 3, 1837
				July 2 – December 18, 1838
				February 25 – December 1, 1839
26th Congress 1839–1841				December 2–26, 1839
				July 3 – December 15, 1840
				March 3, 1841
27th Congress 1841–1843				March 4, 1841
	Samuel Southard	Whig	New Jersey	March 11 – May 31, 1842
	Willie P. Mangum	Whig	North Carolina	May 31, 1842 – December 3, 1843
28th Congress 1843–1845				December 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845
29th Congress 1845–1847				March 4, 1845
	Ambrose H. Sevier	Democratic	Arkansas	December 27, 1845
	David R. Atchison	Democratic	Missouri	August 8 – December 6, 1846
				January 11–13, 1847
				March 3 – December 5, 1847
30th Congress 1847–1849				February 2–8, 1848
				June 1–14, 1848
				June 26–29, 1848
				July 29 – December 4, 1848
				December 26, 1848 – January 1, 1849
				March 2–4, 1849
31st Congress 1849–1851				March 5, 1849
				March 16 – December 2, 1849
	William R. King	Democratic	Alabama	May 6–19, 1850
				July 11, 1850 – March 3, 1851
32nd Congress 1851–1853				March 4, 1851 – December 20, 1852
	David R. Atchison	Democratic	Missouri	December 20, 1852 – March 3, 1853
33rd Congress 1853–1855				March 4, 1853 – December 4, 1854
	Lewis Cass	Democratic	Michigan	December 4, 1854
	Jesse D. Bright	Democratic	Indiana	December 5, 1854 – June 9, 1856
34th Congress 1855–1857
	Charles E. Stuart	Democratic	Michigan	June 9–10, 1856
	Jesse D. Bright	Democratic	Indiana	June 11, 1856 – January 6, 1857
	James M. Mason	Democratic	Virginia	January 6 – March 3, 1857
35th Congress 1857–1859				March 4, 1857
	Thomas J. Rusk	Democratic	Texas	March 14 – July 29, 1857
	Benjamin Fitzpatrick	Democratic	Alabama	December 7–20, 1857
				March 29 – May 2, 1858
				June 14 – December 5, 1858
				January 19, 1859
				January 25 – February 9, 1859
36th Congress 1859–1861				March 9 – December 4, 1859
				December 19, 1859 – January 15, 1860
				February 20–26, 1860
	Jesse D. Bright	Democratic	Indiana	June 12–13, 1860
	Benjamin Fitzpatrick	Democratic	Alabama	June 26 – December 2, 1860
	Solomon Foot	Republican	Vermont	February 16–17, 1861
37th Congress 1861–1863				March 23 – July 3, 1861
				July 18 – December 1, 1861
				January 15, 1862
				March 31 – May 21, 1862
				June 19 – December 12, 1862
				February 18 – March 3, 1863
38th Congress 1863–1865				March 4 – December 6, 1863
				December 18–20, 1863
				February 23, 1864
				March 11–13, 1864
				April 11–13, 1864
	Daniel Clark	Republican	New Hampshire	April 26, 1864 – January 4, 1865
				February 9–19, 1865
39th Congress 1865–1867	Lafayette S. Foster	Republican	Connecticut	March 7, 1865 – March 2, 1867
	Benjamin F. Wade	Republican	Ohio	March 2–3, 1867
40th Congress 1867–1869				March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869
41st Congress 1869–1871	Henry B. Anthony	Republican	Rhode Island	March 23–28, 1869
				April 9 – December 5, 1869
				May 28 – June 2, 1870
				July 1–5, 1870
				July 14 – December 4, 1870
42nd Congress 1871–1873				March 10–12, 1871
				April 17 – May 9, 1871
				May 23 – December 3, 1871
				December 21, 1871 – January 7, 1872
				February 23–25, 1872
				June 8 – December 1, 1872
				December 4–8, 1872
				December 13–15, 1872
				December 20, 1872 – January 5, 1873
				January 24, 1873
43rd Congress 1873–1875	Matthew H. Carpenter	Republican	Wisconsin	March 12–13, 1873
				March 26 – November 30, 1873
				December 11, 1873 – December 6, 1874
				December 23, 1874 – January 4, 1875
	Henry B. Anthony	Republican	Rhode Island	January 25–31, 1875
				February 15–17, 1875
44th Congress 1875–1877	Thomas W. Ferry	Republican	Michigan	March 9–10, 1875
				March 19, 1875 – March 4, 1877
45th Congress 1877–1879				March 5, 1877
				February 26 – March 3, 1878
				April 17 – December 1, 1878
				March 3–17, 1879
46th Congress 1879–1881	Allen G. Thurman	Democratic	Ohio	April 15 – November 30, 1879
				April 7–14, 1880
				May 6 – December 5, 1880
47th Congress 1881–1883	Thomas F. Bayard, Sr.	Democratic	Delaware	October 10–13, 1881
	David Davis	Independent	Illinois	October 13, 1881 – March 3, 1883
	George F. Edmunds	Republican	Vermont	March 3 – December 2, 1883
48th Congress 1883–1885				December 3, 1883 – March 3, 1885
49th Congress 1885–1887	John Sherman	Republican	Ohio	December 7, 1885 – February 26, 1887
	John James Ingalls	Republican	Kansas	February 26 – December 4, 1887
50th Congress 1887–1889				December 5, 1887 – March 3, 1889
51st Congress 1889–1891				March 17, 1889
				April 2 – December 1, 1889
				December 5–10, 1889
				February 28 – March 18, 1890

1890 to 1911

Since 1890, the president pro tempore has held office continuously until the election of another president pro tempore.

• John J. Ingalls (R-KS) April 3, 1890 – March 2, 1891
• Charles F. Manderson (R-NE) March 2, 1891 – March 22, 1893
• Isham G. Harris (D-TN) March 22, 1893 – January 7, 1895
• Matt W. Ransom (D-NC) January 7–10, 1895
• Isham G. Harris (D-TN) January 10 – March 4, 1895
• William P. Frye (R-ME) February 7, 1896 – April 27, 1911

1911 to 1913: Rotating presidents

From August 14, 1911 to March 3, 1913, the office of President pro tempore of the United States Senate for the 62nd Congress rotated among five individuals. The sitting Senate President pro tempore William P. Frye resigned due to ill health on April 27, 1911. The Senate at that time was split between progressive Republicans, conservative Republicans, and Democrats. Each put forth a candidate, and the ballots were deadlocked until August when a compromise was reached. Democratic candidate Augustus Bacon served as pro tempore for one day on August 14, 1911, and thereafter he and four Republicans rotated holding the seat for the remainder of the 62nd Congress.

President pro tempore	Term
William P. Frye	February 7, 1896 – April 27, 1911
Augustus O. Bacon	August 14, 1911
Charles Curtis	December 4 – December 12, 1911
Augustus O. Bacon	January 15 – January 17, 1912
Jacob H. Gallinger	February 12 – February 14, 1912
Augustus O. Bacon	March 11 – March 12, 1912
Frank B. Brandegee	March 25 – March 26, 1912
Augustus O. Bacon	April 8, 1912
Jacob H. Gallinger	April 26 – April 27, 1912 and May 7, 1912
Augustus O. Bacon	May 10, 1912
Henry Cabot Lodge	May 25, 1912
Augustus O. Bacon	May 30 – June 3, 1912 and June 13 – July 5, 1912
Jacob H. Gallinger	July 6 – July 31, 1912
Augustus O. Bacon	August 1 – August 10, 1912
Jacob H. Gallinger	August 12 – August 26, 1912
Augustus O. Bacon	August 27 – December 15, 1912
Jacob H. Gallinger	December 16, 1912 and January 4, 1913
Augustus O. Bacon	January 5 – January 18, 1913
Jacob H. Gallinger	January 19 – February 1, 1913
Augustus O. Bacon	February 2 – February 15, 1913
Jacob H. Gallinger	February 16 – March 3, 1913

1913 to present

Since the 63rd Congress, presidents pro tempore have been chosen as they had been from 1890–1911:

Congress	President pro tempore	Party	State	Years
63rd 64th	James Paul Clarke	Democratic	Arkansas	March 13, 1913 – October 1, 1916
64th 65th	Willard Saulsbury, Jr.	Democratic	Delaware	December 14, 1916 – March 3, 1919
66th 67th 68th	Albert B. Cummins	Republican	Iowa	May 19, 1919 – March 6, 1925
69th 70th 71st 72nd	George H. Moses	Republican	New Hampshire	March 6, 1925 – March 3, 1933
73rd 74th 75th 76th	Key Pittman	Democratic	Nevada	March 9, 1933 – November 10, 1940
76th	William H. King	Democratic	Utah	November 19, 1940 – January 3, 1941
77th	Pat Harrison	Democratic	Mississippi	January 6 – June 22, 1941
77th 78th	Carter Glass	Democratic	Virginia	July 10, 1941 – January 6, 1945
79th	Kenneth McKellar	Democratic	Tennessee	January 6, 1945 – January 4, 1947
80th	Arthur H. Vandenberg	Republican	Michigan	January 4, 1947 – January 3, 1949
81st 82nd	Kenneth McKellar	Democratic	Tennessee	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953
83rd	Styles Bridges	Republican	New Hampshire	January 3, 1953 – January 5, 1955
84th	Walter F. George	Democratic	Georgia	January 5, 1955 – January 3, 1957
85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th	Carl Hayden	Democratic	Arizona	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1969
91st	Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	Georgia	January 3, 1969 – January 21, 1971
92nd	Allen J. Ellender	Democratic	Louisiana	January 22, 1971 – July 27, 1972
92nd 93rd 94th 95th	James Eastland	Democratic	Mississippi	July 28, 1972 – December 27, 1978
96th	Warren Magnuson	Democratic	Washington	January 15, 1979 – December 3, 1980
	Milton Young	Republican	North Dakota	December 5, 1980
	Warren Magnuson	Democratic	Washington	December 5, 1980 – January 3, 1981
97th 98th 99th	Strom Thurmond	Republican	South Carolina	January 5, 1981 – January 6, 1987
100th	John C. Stennis	Democratic	Mississippi	January 6, 1987 – January 3, 1989
101st 102nd 103rd	Robert Byrd	Democratic	West Virginia	January 3, 1989 – January 4, 1995
104th 105th 106th	Strom Thurmond	Republican	South Carolina	January 4, 1995 – January 3, 2001
107th	Robert Byrd	Democratic	West Virginia	January 3–20, 2001
	Strom Thurmond	Republican	South Carolina	January 20 – June 6, 2001
	Robert Byrd	Democratic	West Virginia	June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
108th 109th	Ted Stevens	Republican	Alaska	January 3, 2003 – January 4, 2007
110th 111th	Robert Byrd	Democratic	West Virginia	January 4, 2007 – June 28, 2010
111th 112th	Daniel Inouye	Democratic	Hawaii	June 28, 2010 – December 17, 2012
112th 113th	Patrick Leahy	Democratic	Vermont	December 17, 2012 – Present

Presidents pro tempore per state

No President pro tempore has come from the states of California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, or Wyoming. Currently, the third senior Democrat, Max Baucus (D-MT), and the ninth senior Republican, Jim Inhofe (R-OK), are the next likely candidates from those states.

Number	State	Presidents pro tem
7	Virginia	Richard Henry Lee Henry Tazewell James Barbour Littleton Tazewell John Tyler James M. Mason Carter Glass
6	Georgia	Abraham Baldwin John Milledge William H. Crawford Augustus O. Bacon Walter F. George Richard Russell, Jr.
	New Hampshire	John Langdon Samuel Livermore Daniel Clark Jacob H. Gallinger George H. Moses Styles Bridges
4	Connecticut	Uriah Tracy James Hillhouse Lafayette S. Foster Frank B. Brandegee
	Michigan	Lewis Cass Charles E. Stuart Thomas W. Ferry Arthur H. Vandenberg
	Mississippi	George Poindexter Pat Harrison James Eastland John C. Stennis
	North Carolina	Jesse Franklin Nathaniel Macon Willie Person Mangum Matt Whitaker Ransom
	South Carolina	Ralph Izard Jacob Read John Gaillard Strom Thurmond
	Tennessee	Joseph Anderson Hugh Lawson White Isham G. Harris Kenneth McKellar
	Vermont	Stephen R. Bradley George F. Edmunds Solomon Foot Patrick Leahy
3	Massachusetts	Theodore Sedgwick Joseph B. Varnum Henry Cabot Lodge
	Ohio	Benjamin Wade Allen G. Thurman John Sherman
	Pennsylvania	William Bingham James Ross Andrew Gregg
2	Alabama	William R. King Benjamin Fitzpatrick
	Arkansas	Ambrose H. Sevier James Paul Clarke
	Delaware	Thomas F. Bayard Willard Saulsbury, Jr.
	Kansas	John James Ingalls Charles Curtis
	Kentucky	John Brown John Pope
	Maryland	John E. Howard Samuel Smith
	Rhode Island	William Bradford Henry B. Anthony
1	Alaska	Ted Stevens
	Arizona	Carl Hayden
	Hawaii	Daniel Inouye
	Illinois	David Davis
	Indiana	Jesse D. Bright
	Iowa	Albert B. Cummins
	Louisiana	Allen J. Ellender
	Maine	William P. Frye
	Missouri	David Rice Atchison
	Nebraska	Charles F. Manderson
	Nevada	Key Pittman
	New Jersey	Samuel Southard
	New York	John Laurance
	North Dakota	Milton Young
	Texas	Thomas Jefferson Rusk
	Utah	William H. King
	Washington	Warren Magnuson
	West Virginia	Robert Byrd
	Wisconsin	Matthew H. Carpenter

Presidents pro tempore emeritus

Congress	President pro tempore emeritus	Party	State	Years
107th	J. Strom Thurmond	Republican	South Carolina	June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
108th 109th	Robert C. Byrd	Democratic	West Virginia	January 4, 2003 – January 3, 2007
110th	Theodore F. Stevens	Republican	Alaska	January 4, 2007 – January 3, 2009

Note

Carter Glass (1941–1945) was the last president pro tempore not to be the senior member of the majority party, aside from the single day accorded Milton Young (1980), who was the retiring senior member of the party who had been elected to a majority in the incoming congress.

References

• President pro tempore United States Senate