List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service

This is a list of United States congresspersons by longevity of service. It includes those Representatives and Senators who have served at least 36 years. It is divided up into several categories.

In cases where there is a tie in time the following criteria will sort people higher:

1. Achieved time uninterrupted (total tenure rank only)
2. Achieved time first
3. Senators over representatives (House and Senate list only)
4. Senate or House seniority (Charles Rangel versus Bill Young, Dan Rostenkowski versus Neal Edward Smith)

The lists include fourteen currently serving members: John Dingell, Daniel Inouye, John Conyers, Charles B. Rangel, Bill Young, Thad Cochran, Pete Stark, Don Young, Patrick Leahy, Max Baucus, Chuck Grassley, Tom Harkin, George Miller, and Henry Waxman. It includes thirteen former members who are still alive: Jack Brooks, Ernest Hollings, Robert H. Michel, Joe Biden, William Broomfield, Neal Edward Smith, Joseph McDade, Paul Sarbanes, Pete Domenici, Ralph Regula, Christopher Dodd, Dave Obey, and James Oberstar.

Key

In gold	Currently serving
H	Served in House (only for House and Senate combined categories)
S	Served in Senate (only for House and Senate combined categories)
I	Interruptions in service (only for total tenure categories)

House and Senate time

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted rank	Name	Total tenure time	Uninterrupted time
1	1	Robert Byrd (H,S)	57 years, 176 days	57 years, 176 days
2	2	Carl Hayden (H,S)	56 years, 319 days	56 years, 319 days
3	3	John Dingell (H)	&1000000000000005600000056 years, &1000000000000005200000052 days	&1000000000000005600000056 years, &1000000000000005200000052 days
4	4	Jamie L. Whitten (H)	53 years, 60 days	53 years, 60 days
5	5	Daniel Inouye (H,S)	&1000000000000005200000052 years, &10000000000000166000000166 days	&1000000000000005200000052 years, &10000000000000166000000166 days
6	6	Carl Vinson (H)	50 years, 61 days	50 years, 61 days
7	7	Emanuel Celler (H)	49 years, 305 days	49 years, 305 days
8	8	Sam Rayburn (H)	48 years, 257 days	48 years, 257 days
9		Sidney R. Yates (H,I)	48 years, 0 days	n/a
10	12	Strom Thurmond (S,I)	47 years, 159 days	46 years, 57 days
11	9	John Conyers (H)	&1000000000000004700000047 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000004700000047 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
12	10	Wright Patman (H)	47 years, 3 days	47 years, 3 days
13	11	Ted Kennedy (S)	46 years, 292 days	46 years, 292 days
14		Joseph Gurney Cannon (H,I)	46 years, 0 days	n/a
15	13	Adolph J. Sabath (H)	45 years, 247 days	45 years, 247 days
16	14	J. Lister Hill (H,S)	45 years, 142 days	45 years, 142 days
17	15	George H. Mahon (H)	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
18	16	Warren Magnuson (H,S)	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
19	17	Charles Edward Bennett (H)	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
20	18	Justin Smith Morrill (H,S)	43 years, 299 days	43 years, 299 days
21		William B. Allison (H,S,I)	43 years, 152 days	n/a
22	19	Charles Melvin Price (H)	43 years, 110 days	43 years, 110 days
23	20	Henry M. Jackson (H,S)	42 years, 241 days	42 years, 241 days
24		Carter Glass (H,S,I)	42 years, 157 days	n/a
25	21	John William McCormack (H)	42 years, 58 days	42 years, 58 days
26	22	John Sparkman (H,S)	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
27	23	William R. Poage (H)	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
28	24	Jack Brooks (H)	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
29	25	Robert L. Doughton (H)	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
30	26	Joseph William Martin, Jr. (H)	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
31	27	Dave Obey (H)	41 years, 276 days	41 years, 276 days
32	28	Clarence Cannon (H)	41 years, 69 days	41 years, 69 days
33	29	John C. Stennis (S)	41 years, 59 days	41 years, 59 days
34	30	Charles B. Rangel (H)	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
35	31	Bill Young (H)	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
36	32	Kenneth McKellar (H,S)	41 years, 30 days	41 years, 30 days
37	33	William Huston Natcher (H)	40 years, 240 days	40 years, 240 days
38		Claude Pepper (H,S,I)	40 years, 207 days	n/a
39	34	William P. Frye (H,S)	40 years, 157 days	40 years, 157 days
40	35	Ted Stevens (S)	40 years, 10 days	40 years, 10 days
41	36	Carl Curtis (H,S)	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
42	37	Peter W. Rodino (H)	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
43		Jennings Randolph (H,S,I)	39 years, 364 days	n/a
44		Eugene Hale (H,S,I)	39 years, 363 days	n/a
45	38	Leslie C. Arends (H)	39 years, 362 days	39 years, 362 days
46	39	Daniel A. Reed (H)	39 years, 352 days	39 years, 352 days
47	40	George William Norris (H,S)	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
48	41	John Taber (H)	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
49	42	William M. Colmer (H)	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
50	43	Thad Cochran (H,S)	&1000000000000003900000039 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003900000039 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
51	44	Pete Stark (H)	&1000000000000003900000039 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003900000039 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
52		Samuel Smith (H,S,I)	39 years, 9 days	n/a
53	45	Don Young (H)	&1000000000000003800000038 years, &10000000000000334000000334 days	&1000000000000003800000038 years, &10000000000000334000000334 days
54		John Little McClellan (H,S,I)	38 years, 329 days	n/a
55	46	Morris Sheppard (H,S)	38 years, 145 days	38 years, 145 days
56	47	Ernest Hollings (S)	38 years, 55 days	38 years, 55 days
57	48	Richard Russell, Jr. (S)	38 years, 9 days	38 years, 9 days
58		John Sherman (H,S,I)	38 years, 4 days	n/a
59	49	Russell B. Long (S)	38 years, 3 days	38 years, 3 days
60	50	Frederick H. Gillett (H,S)	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
61	51	Wilbur Mills (H)	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
62	52	Dante Fascell (H)	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
63	53	Robert H. Michel (H)	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
64		Robert Crosser (H,I)	37 years, 305 days	n/a
65		Robert L. F. Sikes (H,I)	37 years, 290 days	n/a
66	54	Nathaniel Macon (H,S)	37 years, 255 days	37 years, 255 days
67	55	Henry Cabot Lodge (H,S)	37 years, 250 days	37 years, 250 days
68		Alben W. Barkley (H,S,I)	37 years, 74 days	n/a
69	56	Henry B. Gonzalez (H)	37 years, 60 days	37 years, 60 days
70	57	Patrick Leahy (S)	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
71	58	Max Baucus (H,S)	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
72	59	Chuck Grassley (H,S)	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
73	60	Tom Harkin (H,S)	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
74	61	George Miller (H)	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
75	62	Henry Waxman (H)	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
76		Francis E. Warren (S,I)	37 years, 6 days	n/a
77		James Eastland (S,I)	36 years, 83 days	n/a
78	63	Joe Biden (S)	36 years, 12 days	36 years, 12 days
79	64	John Murtha (H)	36 years, 3 days	36 years, 3 days
80	65	Henry L. Dawes (H,S)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
81	66	Felix Edward Hébert (H)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
82	67	Edward Boland (H)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
83	68	William Broomfield (H)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
84	69	Dan Rostenkowski (H)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
85	70	Neal Edward Smith (H)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
86	71	Claiborne Pell (S)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
87	72	Joseph McDade (H)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
88	73	Paul Sarbanes (H,S)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
89	74	Pete Domenici (S)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
90	75	Ralph Regula (H)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
91	76	Christopher Dodd (H,S)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
92	77	James Oberstar (H)	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
93		Shelby M. Cullom (H,S,I)	36 years, 0 days	n/a
94		Henry A. Cooper (H,I)	36 years, 0 days	n/a

Senate time

The 90th Congress was notable because for a period of 10 days (December 24, 1968 – January 3, 1969), it contained within its Senate all 10 of the longest-serving Senators in history. This period stretched from the installation of Ted Stevens of Alaska after his special-election victory to the retirement of Carl Hayden of Arizona early the next year.

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted rank	Name	State represented	Dates of service	Total tenure time	Uninterrupted time
1	1	Robert Byrd	West Virginia	January 3, 1959- June 28, 2010	51 years, 176 days	51 years, 176 days
2	2	Daniel Inouye	Hawaii	Since January 3, 1963	&1000000000000004900000049 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000004900000049 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
3	4	Strom Thurmond (I)	South Carolina	December 24, 1954- April 7, 1956 November 7, 1956- January 3, 2003	47 years, 159 days	46 years, 57 days
4	3	Ted Kennedy	Massachusetts	November 7, 1962- August 25, 2009	46 years, 292 days	46 years, 292 days
5	5	Carl Hayden	Arizona	March 4, 1927- January 3, 1969	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
6	6	John C. Stennis	Mississippi	November 7, 1947- January 3, 1989	41 years, 59 days	41 years, 59 days
7	7	Ted Stevens	Alaska	December 24, 1968- January 3, 2009	40 years, 10 days	40 years, 10 days
8	8	Ernest Hollings	South Carolina	November 8, 1966- January 3, 2005	38 years, 55 days	38 years, 55 days
9	9	Richard Russell, Jr.	Georgia	January 12, 1933- January 21, 1971	38 years, 9 days	38 years, 9 days
10	10	Russell B. Long	Louisiana	December 31, 1948- January 3, 1987	38 years, 3 days	38 years, 3 days
11	11	Patrick Leahy	Vermont	Since January 3, 1975	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
12		Francis E. Warren (I)	Wyoming	November 18, 1890- March 4, 1893 March 4, 1895- November 24, 1929	37 years, 6 days	n/a
13		James Eastland (I)	Mississippi	June 30-September 28, 1941 January 3, 1943- December 27, 1978	36 years, 83 days	n/a
14	12	Warren Magnuson	Washington	December 18, 1944-January 3, 1981	36 years, 20 days	36 years, 20 days
15	13	Joe Biden	Delaware	January 3, 1973- January 15, 2009	36 years, 12 days	36 years, 12 days
16	14	Claiborne Pell	Rhode Island	January 3, 1961-January 3, 1997	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
17	15	Pete Domenici	New Mexico	January 3, 1973-January 3, 2009	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days

House time

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted rank	Name	Total tenure time	Uninterrupted time
1	1	John Dingell	&1000000000000005600000056 years, &1000000000000005200000052 days	&1000000000000005600000056 years, &1000000000000005200000052 days
2	2	Jamie L. Whitten	53 years, 60 days	53 years, 60 days
3	3	Carl Vinson	50 years, 61 days	50 years, 61 days
4	4	Emanuel Celler	49 years, 305 days	49 years, 305 days
5	5	Sam Rayburn	48 years, 257 days	48 years, 257 days
6		Sidney R. Yates (I)	48 years, 0 days	n/a
7	6	John Conyers	&1000000000000004700000047 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000004700000047 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
8	7	Wright Patman	47 years, 3 days	47 years, 3 days
9		Joseph Gurney Cannon (I)	46 years, 0 days	n/a
10	8	Adolph J. Sabath	45 years, 247 days	45 years, 247 days
11	9	George H. Mahon	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
12	10	Charles Edward Bennett	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
13	11	Charles Melvin Price	43 years, 110 days	43 years, 110 days
14	12	John William McCormack	42 years, 58 days	42 years, 58 days
15	13	William R. Poage	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
16	14	Jack Brooks	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
17	15	Robert L. Doughton	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
18	16	Joseph William Martin, Jr.	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
19	17	Dave Obey	41 years, 276 days	41 years, 276 days
20	18	Clarence Cannon	41 years, 69 days	41 years, 69 days
21	19	Charles B. Rangel	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
22	20	Bill Young	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000004100000041 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
23	21	William Huston Natcher	40 years, 240 days	40 years, 240 days
24	22	Peter W. Rodino	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
25	23	Leslie C. Arends	39 years, 362 days	39 years, 362 days
26	24	Daniel A. Reed	39 years, 352 days	39 years, 352 days
27	25	John Taber	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
28	26	William M. Colmer	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
29	27	Pete Stark	&1000000000000003900000039 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003900000039 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
30	28	Don Young	&1000000000000003800000038 years, &10000000000000334000000334 days	&1000000000000003800000038 years, &10000000000000334000000334 days
31	29	Wilbur Mills	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
32	30	Dante Fascell	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
33	31	Robert H. Michel	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
34		Robert Crosser (I)	37 years, 305 days	n/a
35		Robert L. F. Sikes (I)	37 years, 290 days	n/a
36	32	Henry B. Gonzalez	37 years, 60 days	37 years, 60 days
37	33	George Miller	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
38	34	Henry Waxman	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days	&1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
39	35	John Murtha	36 years, 3 days	36 years, 3 days
40	36	Felix Edward Hébert	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
41	37	Edward Boland	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
42	38	William Broomfield	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
43	39	Dan Rostenkowski	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
44	40	Neal Edward Smith	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
45	41	Joseph McDade	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
46	42	Ralph Regula	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
47	43	James Oberstar	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
48		Henry A. Cooper (I)	36 years, 0 days	n/a

See also

• Oldest living United States president
• List of oldest surviving members of the House of Representatives
• Dean of the United States House of Representatives
• Dean of the United States Senate
• Longest living United States Senator
• Earliest serving United States Senator
• Oldest living United States governor
• Earliest serving United States governor
• List of United States federal judges by longevity of service

References

• Members Who Have Served in the U.S. Congress 30 Years or More