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President Pro Tempore


Chapter 1: President Pro Tempore
Chapter 2: Constitutional Authority
Chapter 3: Presidential Succession
Chapter 4: Role in the Senate
Chapter 5: Complete List of Presidents Pro Tempore

President Pro Tempore

The Constitution provides for a president pro tempore to preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice president.

Except for the years from 1886 to 1947, the president pro tempore has been included in the list of succession if the offices of president and vice president become vacant.

In the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, the president pro tempore was next in line after the vice president.

In 1886 a new law removed the president pro tempore from the line of succession, substituting cabinet officers.

In 1947 a law changed the order of succession to place the Speaker of the House in line after the vice president, followed by the president pro tempore, and then the secretary of state and other cabinet officers in order of their departments' creation. This is the system in effect today.

Before 1890, the Senate elected a president pro tempore only for the period when the vice president would be absent. Since 1890, the president pro tempore holds office continuously until the election of another president pro tempore.

The president pro tempore designates other senators to preside in his absence, generally new members of the majority party.



Constitutional Authority

The Constitution provides for two officers to preside over the Senate. The vice president of the United States is designated as the president of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president was expected to preside at regular sessions of the Senate, casting votes only to break ties. From John Adams in 1789 to Alben Barkley in 1952, presiding over the Senate was the chief function of vice presidents, who had an office in the Capitol, received their staff support and office expenses through the legislative appropriations, and who often were not invited to participate in cabinet meetings or other executive activities. In 1953, Vice President Richard M. Nixon changed the vice presidency by moving his chief office from the Capitol to the White House, by directing his attention to executive functions, and by attending Senate sessions only at critical times when his vote, or ruling from the chair, might be necessary. Vice presidents since Nixon's time have followed his example.

When we consider that the vice president used to be the Senate's regular presiding officer, we can better understand why the Constitution further provided that in the absence of the vice president the Senate could choose a president pro tempore to perform the duties of the chair. Pro tempore is a Latin term meaning "for the time being"; thus, the occupant of the position was conceived as a temporary presiding officer. Since vice presidents presided routinely in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Senate thought it necessary to choose a president pro tempore only for the limited periods when the vice president might be ill or otherwise absent. As a result, the Senate frequently elected several presidents pro tempore during a single session.

The Constitution is quite unspecific in its definition of the vice president's role as presiding officer, beyond casting tie-breaking votes. John Adams, the first vice president, saw the presiding officer as a distinctly neutral figure, and what he began has remained constant over the past two centuries. Adams cast more tie-breaking votes (29) than has any vice president who succeeded him. By contrast, during his eight years of service in that post in the 1980's, George Bush cast only eight such votes. During his two terms as vice president, Albert Gore, Jr. cast four tie-breaking votes.

Perhaps the role as Adams viewed it is all we might reasonably have expected from vice presidents, but the situation of the president pro tempore is more ambiguous. Unlike the vice president, the president pro tempore is a duly elected member of the Senate, able to speak and vote on any issue. This official was therefore in a better position to assume leadership in the body, particularly in that era long before the creation of the posts of majority and minority leaders and party whips. (The vice president is not at liberty to address the Senate, except by unanimous consent. Nor should any senator speak while presiding, other than to make necessary rulings and announcements or to maintain order.)

Since the end of World War II, it has been traditional for the Senate to elect the senior member of the majority party as president pro tempore. In the earliest years, however, the Senate lacked both established parties and extended seniority. Presidents pro tempore, elected on a temporary basis, were chosen because of their personal characteristics, popularity, and reliability.

Presidential Succession

That the Senate took the post of president pro tempore seriously can be seen in the Presidential Succession Act of 1792. Should the offices of president and vice president both become vacant, the president pro tempore would succeed to the presidency, followed by the Speaker of the House. This succession remained in effect until 1886. The arrangement created a serious consequence on at least one occasion. When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Vice President Andrew Johnson succeeded him, and the president pro tempore, Senator Lafayette S. Foster of Connecticut, became next in line to the White House. Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio became president pro tempore in 1867. During Johnson's impeachment trial in 1868, had the Senate voted to remove him, Senator Wade would have become president of the United States. Senator Wade, it should be noted, cast his vote in favor of conviction, and President Johnson, after his acquittal, objected to placing the president pro tempore in the line of succession because he would therefore be "interested in producing a vacancy."

Vacancies in the office presented a most pressing problem. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Senate assumed that it was empowered to elect a president pro tempore only during the absence of a vice president. But what should senators do at the end of a session? Since Congress was customarily out of session for half of each year, what would happen if there were no designated president pro tempore? If the vice president became president, who would preside at the opening of the next Senate session? Rather than settle these problems by statute or rules changes, the Senate for decades relied upon an elaborate charade in which the vice president would voluntarily absent himself from the chamber at the end of the session to enable the Senate to elect a president pro tempore, who would then be available to preside if necessary when the Senate reconvened. Some vice presidents refused to perform this little courtesy.

In 1886 Senator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts expressed concern about the frequency of vacancies in the vice presidency and office of president pro tempore and called for a revision of the succession act. "The present arrangement is bad," he told the Senate, because "during a large portion of the term there is no officer in being who can succeed." Senator Hoar argued that the Senate did not elect its presidents pro tempore based on any consideration of their fitness to become chief executive. The president pro tempore was by then a senior senator, chosen "for his capacity as a debater and a framer of legislation." Most likely, the president pro tempore would have "little or no executive experience." Hoar then pointed out that no president pro tempore had ever served as president, and only one had even been a candidate for president. By contrast, six secretaries of state had been elected president. Following Hoar's reasoning, Congress in 1886 passed a new law that removed the president pro tempore and Speaker of the House entirely from the line of presidential succession, leaving at its head the secretary of state and the other cabinet members, all non-elected officials.

This was the order of succession until 1947, when, at the urging of President Harry S. Truman, the law was again revised. Having served ten years in the Senate, Truman held the post of vice president only eighty-two days before Franklin Roosevelt's death propelled him into the White House. As a student of history and a fervent democrat, Truman was troubled that the next person in the line of succession was his secretary of state, Edward Stettinius. The secretary had never run for elective office, and as Truman stated, "it was my feeling that any man who stepped into the presidency should have held at least some office to which he had been elected by a vote of the people." Two months after becoming president, Truman proposed restoring the president pro tempore and Speaker of the House to the line of succession.

An interesting feature of Truman's proposal was its reversal of the earlier order of succession, putting the Speaker of the House ahead of the president pro tempore. There were several reasons for this change. In his memoirs, Truman argued that the House Speaker, as an elected representative of his district, as well as the chosen leader of the "elected representatives of the people," should stand next in line to the vice president. Of course, one could make the same argument for the president pro tempore, as the elected official of the people of his state and of the United States Senate. It is likely that specific personalities also played a role in Truman's thinking.

There may also have been an institutional factor in Truman's reversal of the roles. Between the 1886 removal of the president pro tempore from the order of succession and 1947, some entirely new leadership posts had evolved in the Senate: the majority and minority leaders and the party whips. Beginning in the 1920s, when the Democratic and Republican parties first officially designated floor leaders, a number of influential men had been elected majority leader. By 1945, most Washington observers regarded the majority leader as the Senate's functional equivalent of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, while the president pro tempore had become more of a ceremonial office. Had Truman drawn a list of men, rather than offices, he would certainly have included Majority Leader Alben Barkley in the line of succession -- indeed in 1948, Truman chose Senator Barkley as his vice presidential running mate. But, for the purposes of legislation, the president recommended inclusion of a constitutionally created officer, the president pro tempore, rather than a party-designated officer, the majority leader. Today the president pro tempore continues to follow the Speaker of the House in presidential succession, followed in turn by the secretary of state and the other cabinet secretaries in the order of their agencies' creation.

Role in the Senate

With regard to the president pro tempore's role in the Senate, an even more significant change took place in 1890, when the Senate agreed that, thereafter, presidents pro tempore would be elected not just for the period of the vice president's absence, but would hold the office continuously until the election of another president pro tempore. As a result, since 1890, with a single exception, each president pro tempore has served until he retired, died, or had the misfortune to see his party lose its majority.

The first sentence of Rule I of today's standing rules of the Senate provides that the president pro tempore shall hold the office "during the pleasure of the Senate and until another is elected or his term of office as a Senator expires." The so-called powers of the president pro tempore, which have generally been more responsibilities than powers, have changed a good deal over the past two centuries. Since 1816, presidents pro tempore have received a larger salary than other senators, and, for a period after 1856, they were compensated at the same rate as the vice president. Since March 1969, the salary of the president pro tempore has been the same as that of the majority and minority leaders. During the early nineteenth century, between 1823 and 1863, presidents pro tempore appointed members of the Senate's standing committees, either indirectly or directly. Since 1820, the president pro tempore has had the power to name other senators to perform the duties of the chair in his absence. In modern times, presidents pro tempore have tended to ask new members of the majority party to preside over the Senate, a practice which enables freshmen senators to grow more accustomed to the Senate's rules and procedures.

When the Democratic side is in the majority, the president pro tempore is an ex-officio member of his party's leadership, including the conference, the policy committee, and the steering committee, in which capacities he works closely with the majority leader. Under Republican majority, the president pro tempore is an ex-officio member of the Republican Policy Committee. Various laws assign the president pro tempore authority to make appointments to an assortment of national commissions, usually with the advice of the majority leader. If there are minority appointments, the president pro tempore generally acts upon the recommendations of the minority leader in appointing individuals acceptable to the minority. In the absence of the vice president, the president pro tempore may administer all oaths required by the Constitution, may sign legislation, and may fulfill all other obligations of the presiding officer. Also, in the absence of the vice president, the president pro tempore jointly presides with the Speaker of the House when the two houses sit together in joint sessions or joint meetings.

The president pro tempore works closely with the secretary and the sergeant at arms of the Senate, directing the enforcement of the rules governing the use of the Capitol and the Senate office buildings. Jointly with the Speaker of the House, and at the recommendation of the Budget committees, the president pro tempore appoints the director of the Congressional Budget Office. As an assistant to a former president pro tempore observed in 1981, the position has "the honor and with it the responsibility." The occupant of the office, he said, "makes more or less out of it."

Election of a senator to the office of president pro tempore has always been considered one of the highest honors offered to a senator by the Senate as a body. That honor has been bestowed upon a colorful and significant group of senators during the past two centuries -- men who stamped their imprint on the office and on their times.

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Complete List of Presidents Pro Tempore

1st Congress (1789-1791)

John Langdon (NH)

April 6, 1789 - April 21, 1789

August 7, 1789 - August 9, 1789

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2nd Congress (1791-1793)

Richard Henry Lee (VA)

April 18, 1792 - October 8, 1792

John Langdon (NH)

November 5, 1792 - December 4, 1792

March 1, 1793 - March 3, 1793

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3rd Congress (1793-1795)

John Langdon (NH)

March 4, 1793 - December 2, 1793

Ralph Izard (SC)

May 31, 1794 - November 9, 1794

Henry Tazewell (VA)

February 20, 1795 - June 7, 1795

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4th Congress (1795-1797)

Henry Tazewell (VA)

December 7, 1795 - December 8, 1795

Samuel Livermore (NH)

May 6, 1796 - December 4, 1796

William Bingham (PA)

February 16, 1797 - March 3, 1797

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5th Congress (1797-1799)

William Bradford (RI)

July 6, 1797 - October 1797

Jacob Read (SC)

November 22, 1797 - December 12, 1797

Theodore Sedgwick (MA)

June 27, 1798 - December 5, 1798

John Laurance (NY)

December 6, 1798 - December 27, 1798

James Ross (PA)

March 1, 1799 - December 1, 1799

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6th Congress (1799-1801)

Samuel Livermore (NH)

December 2, 1799 - December 29, 1799

Uriah Tracy (CT)

May 14, 1800 - November 16, 1800

John E. Howard (MD)

November 21, 1800 - November 27, 1800

James Hillhouse (CT)

February 28, 1801 - March 3, 1801

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7th Congress (1801-1803)

Abraham Baldwin (GA)

December 7, 1801 - January 14, 1802

April 17, 1802 - December 13, 1802

Stephen R. Bradley (VT)

December 14, 1802 - January 18, 1803

February 25, 1803 - February 25, 1803

March 2, 1803 - October 16, 1803

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8th Congress (1803-1805)

John Brown (KY)

October 17, 1803 - December 6, 1803

January 23, 1804 - February 26, 1804

Jesse Franklin (NC)

March 10, 1804 - November 4, 1804

Joseph Anderson (TN)

January 15, 1805 - February 3, 1805

February 28, 1805 - March 2, 1805

March 2, 1805 - December 1, 1805

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9th Congress (1805-1807)

Samuel Smith (MD)

December 2, 1805 - December 15, 1805

March 18, 1806 - November 30, 1806

March 2, 1807 - October 25, 1807

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10th Congress (1807-1809)

Samuel Smith (MD)

April 16, 1808 - November 6, 1808

Stephen R. Bradley (VT)

December 28, 1808 - January 8, 1809

John Milledge (GA)

January 30, 1809 - March 3, 1809

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11th Congress (1809-1811)

John Milledge (GA)

March 4, 1809 - May 21, 1809

Andrew Gregg (PA)

June 26, 1809 - December 18, 1809

John Gaillard (SC)

February 28, 1810 - March 2, 1810

April 17, 1810 - December 11, 1810

John Pope (KY)

February 23, 1811 - November 3, 1811

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12th Congress (1811-1813)

William Crawford (GA)

March 24, 1812 - March 23, 1813

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13th Congress (1813-1815)

Joseph B. Varnum (MA)

December 6, 1813 - February 3, 1814

John Gaillard (SC)

April 18, 1814 - November 25, 1814

November 25, 1814 - December 3, 1815

Note: Gaillard was elected after the death of Vice President Elbridge Gerry and continued to serve throughout the Fourteenth Congress, as there was no vice president.

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14th Congress (1815-1817

John Gaillard (SC)

December 4, 1815 - March 3, 1817

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15th Congress (1817-1819)

John Gaillard (SC)

March 4, 1817 - March 4, 1817

March 6, 1817 - February 18, 1818

March 31, 1818 - January 5, 1819

James Barbour (VA)

February 15, 1819 - December 5, 1819

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16th Congress (1819-1821)

James Barbour (VA)

December 6, 1819 - December 26, 1819

John Gaillard (SC)

January 25, 1820 - December 2, 1821

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17th Congress (1821-1823)

John Gaillard (SC)

December 3, 1821 - December 27, 1821

February 1, 1822 - December 2, 1822

February 19, 1823 - November 30, 1823

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18th Congress (1823-1825)

John Gaillard (SC)

December 1, 1823 - January 20, 1824

May 21, 1824 - March 3, 1825

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19th Congress (1825-1827)

John Gaillard (SC)

March 9, 1825 - December 4, 1825

Nathaniel Macon (NC)

May 20, 1826 - December 3, 1826

January 2, 1827 - February 13, 1827

March 2, 1827 - December 2, 1827

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20th Congress (1827-1829)

Samuel Smith (MD)

May 15, 1828 - December 18, 1828

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21st Congress (1829-1831)

Samuel Smith (MD)

March 13, 1829 - December 10, 1829

May 29, 1830 - December 31, 1830

March 1, 1831 - December 4, 1831

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22nd Congress (1831-1833)

Samuel Smith (MD)

December 5, 1831 - December 11, 1831

Littleton Tazewell (VA)

July 9, 1832 - July 16, 1832

Hugh L. White (TN)

December 3, 1832 - December 1, 1833

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23rd Congress (1833-1835)

Hugh L. White (TN)

December 2, 1833 - December 15, 1833

George Poindexter (MS)

June 28, 1834 - November 30, 1834

John Tyler (VA)

March 3, 1835 - December 6, 1835

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24th Congress (1835-1837)

William R. King (AL)

July 1, 1836 - December 4, 1836

January 28, 1837 - March 3, 1837

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25th Congress (1837-1839)

William R. King (AL)

March 7, 1837 - September 3, 1837

October 13, 1837 - December 3, 1837

July 2, 1838 - December 18, 1838

February 25, 1839 - December 1, 1839

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26th Congress (1839-1841)

William R. King (AL)

December 2, 1839 - December 26, 1839

July 3, 1840 - December 15, 1840

March 3, 1841 - March 3, 1841

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27th Congress (1841-1843)

William R. King (AL)

March 4, 1841 - March 4, 1841

Samuel Southard (NJ)

March 11, 1841 - May 31, 1842

Willie P. Mangum (NC)

May 31, 1842 - December 3, 1843

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28th Congress (1843-1845)

Willie P. Mangum (NC)

December 4, 1843 - March 3, 1845

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29th Congress (1845-1847)

Willie P. Mangum (NC)

March 4, 1845 - March 4, 1845

Ambrose H. Sevier (AR)

December 27, 1845

David R. Atchison (MO)

August 8, 1846 - December 6, 1846

January 11, 1847 - January 13, 1847

March 3, 1847 - December 5, 1847

Note: Ambrose H. Sevier was not elected as president pro tempore in an official manner, but "permitted to occupy the chair for the day."

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30th Congress (1847-1849)

David R. Atchison (MO)

February 2, 1848 - February 8, 1848

June 1, 1848 - June 14, 1848

June 26, 1848 - June 29, 1848

July 29, 1848 - December 4, 1848

December 26, 1848 - January 1, 1849

March 2, 1849 - March 4, 1849

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31st Congress (1849-1851)

David R. Atchison (MO)

March 5, 1849 - March 5, 1849

March 16, 1849 - December 2, 1849

William R. King (AL)

May 6, 1850 - May 19, 1850

July 11, 1850 - March 3, 1851

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32nd Congress (1851-1853)

William R. King (AL)

March 4, 1851 - December 20, 1852

David R. Atchison (MO)

December 20, 1852 - March 3, 1853

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33rd Congress (1853-1855)

David R. Atchison (MO)

March 4, 1853 - December 4, 1854

Lewis Cass (MI)

December 4, 1854 - December 4, 1854

Jesse D. Bright (IN)

December 5, 1854 - December 2, 1855

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34th Congress (1855-1857)

Jesse D. Bright (IN)

December 3, 1855 - June 9, 1856

Charles E. Stuart (MI)

June 9, 1856 - June 10, 1856

Jesse D. Bright (IN)

June 11, 1856 - January 6, 1857

James M. Mason (VA)

January 6, 1857 - March 3, 1857

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35th Congress (1857-1859)

James M. Mason (VA)

March 4, 1857 - March 4, 1857

Thomas J. Rusk (TX)

March 14, 1857 - July 29, 1857

Benjamin Fitzpatrick (AL)

December 7, 1857 - December 20, 1857

March 29, 1858 - May 2, 1858

June 14, 1858 - December 5, 1858

January 19, 1859 - January 19, 1859

January 25, 1859 - February 9, 1859

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36th Congress (1859-1861)

Benjamin Fitzpatrick (AL)

March 9, 1859 - December 4, 1859

December 19, 1859 - January 15, 1860

February 20, 1860 - February 26, 1860

Jesse D. Bright (IN)

June 12, 1860 - June 13, 1860

Benjamin Fitzpatrick (AL)

June 26, 1860 - December 2, 1860

Solomon Foot (VT)

February 16, 1861 - February 17, 1861

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37th Congress (1861-1863)

Solomon Foot (VT)

March 23, 1861 - July 3, 1861

July 18, 1861 - December 1, 1861

January 15, 1862 - January 15, 1862

March 31, 1862 - May 21, 1862

June 19, 1862 - December 12, 1862

February 18, 1863 - March 3, 1863

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38th Congress (1863-1865)

Solomon Foot (VT)

March 4, 1863 - December 6, 1863

December 18, 1863 - December 20, 1863

February 23, 1864 - February 23, 1864

March 11, 1864 - March 13, 1864

April 11, 1864 - April 13, 1864

Daniel Clark (NH)

April 26, 1864 - January 4, 1865

February 9, 1865 - February 19, 1865

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39th Congress (1865-1867)

Lafayette S. Foster (CT)

March 7, 1865 - March 2, 1867

Benjamin F. Wade (OH)

March 2, 1867 - March 3, 1867

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40th Congress (1867-1869)

Benjamin F. Wade (OH)

March 4, 1867 - March 3, 1869

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41st Congress (1869-1871)

Henry B. Anthony (RI)

March 23, 1869 - March 28, 1869

April 9, 1869 - December 5, 1869

May 28, 1870 - June 2, 1870

July 1, 1870 - July 5, 1870

July 14, 1870 - December 4, 1870

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42nd Congress (1871-1873)

Henry B. Anthony (RI)

March 10, 1871 - March 12, 1871

April 17, 1871 - May 9, 1871

May 23, 1871 - December 3, 1871

December 21, 1871 - January 7, 1872

February 23, 1872 - February 25, 1872

June 8, 1872 - December 1, 1872

December 4, 1872 - December 8, 1872

December 13, 1872 - December 15, 1872

December 20, 1872 - January 5, 1873

January 24, 1873 - January 24, 1873

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43rd Congress (1873-1875)

Matthew H. Carpenter (WI)

March 12, 1873 - March 13, 1873

March 26, 1873 - November 30, 1873

December 11, 1873 - December 6, 1874

December 23, 1874 - January 4, 1875

Henry B. Anthony (RI)

January 25, 1875 - January 31, 1875

February 15, 1875 - February 17, 1875

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44th Congress (1875-1877)

Thomas W. Ferry (MI)

March 9, 1875 - March 10, 1875

March 19, 1875 - December 20, 1875

December 20, 1875 - March 4, 1877

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45th Congress (1877-1879)

Thomas W. Ferry (MI)

March 5, 1877 - March 5, 1877

February 26, 1878 - March 3, 1878

April 17, 1878 - December 1, 1878

March 3, 1879 - March 17, 1879

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46th Congress (1879-1881)

Allen G. Thurman (OH)

April 15, 1879 - November 30, 1879

April 7, 1880 - April 14, 1880

May 6, 1880 - December 5, 1880

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47th Congress (1881-1883)

Thomas F. Bayard (DE)

October 10, 1881 - October 13, 1881

David Davis (IL)

October 13, 1881 - March 3, 1883

George F. Edmunds (VT)

March 3, 1883 - December 2, 1883

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48th Congress (1883-1885)

George F. Edmunds (VT)

December 3, 1883 - January 14, 1884

January 14, 1884 - March 3, 1885

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49th Congress (1885-1887)

John Sherman (OH)

December 7, 1885 - February 26, 1887

John J. Ingalls (KS)

February 26, 1887 - December 4, 1887

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50th Congress (1887-1889)

John J. Ingalls (KS)

December 5, 1887 - March 3, 1889

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51st Congress (1889-1891)

John J. Ingalls (KS)

March 7, 1889 - March 17, 1889

April 2, 1889 - December 1, 1889

December 5, 1889 - December 10, 1889

February 28, 1890 - March 18, 1890

April 3, 1890 - March 2, 1891

Charles F. Manderson (NE)

March 2, 1891 - December 6, 1891

Note: In March, 1890, the Senate adopted a resolution stating that presidents pro tempore would hold office continuously until the election of another president pro tempore, rather than being elected for the period in which the vice president was absent. With the exception of the unusual case of the 62nd Congress, this new system has continued to the present.

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52nd Congress (1891-1893)

Charles F. Manderson (NE)

December 7, 1891 - March 3, 1893

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53rd Congress (1893-1895)

Charles F. Manderson (NE)

March 4, 1893 - March 22, 1893

Isham G. Harris (TN)

March 22, 1893 - January 7, 1895

Matt W. Ransom (NC)

January 7, 1895 - January 10, 1895

Isham G. Harris (TN)

January 10, 1895 - March 3, 1895

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54th Congress (1895-1897)

William P. Frye (ME)

February 7, 1896 - March 3, 1897

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55th Congress (1897-1899)

William P. Frye (ME)

March 4, 1897 - December 3, 1899

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56th Congress (1899-1901)

William P. Frye (ME)

December 4, 1899 - March 3, 1901

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57th Congress (1901-1903)

William P. Frye (ME)

March 7, 1901 - March 4, 1903

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58th Congress (1903-1905)

William P. Frye (ME)

March 5, 1903 - March 3, 1905

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59th Congress (1905-1907)

William P. Frye (ME)

March 4, 1905 - March 3, 1907

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60th Congress (1907-1909)

William P. Frye (ME)

December 5, 1907 - March 3, 1909

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61st Congress (1909-1911)

William P. Frye (ME)

March 4, 1909 - April 3, 1911

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62nd Congress (1911-1913)

William P. Frye (ME)

April 4, 1911 - April 27, 1911

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

August 14, 1911 - August 14, 1911

Charles Curtis (KS)

December 4, 1911 - December 12, 1911

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

January 15, 1912 - January 17, 1912

Jacob H. Gallinger (NH)

February 12, 1912 - February 14, 1912

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

March 11, 1912 - March 12, 1912

Frank B. Brandegee (CT)

March 25, 1912 - March 26, 1912

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

April 8, 1912 - April 8, 1912

Jacob H. Gallinger (NH)

April 26, 1912 - April 27, 1912

May 7, 1912 - May 7, 1912

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

May 10, 1912 - May 10, 1912

Henry Cabot Lodge (MA)

May 25, 1912 - May 25, 1912

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

May 30, 1912 - June 3, 1912

June 13, 1912 - July 5, 1912

Jacob H. Gallinger (NH)

July 6, 1912 - July 31, 1912

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

August 1, 1912 - August 10, 1912

Jacob H. Gallinger (NH)

August 12, 1912 - August 26, 1912

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

August 27, 1912 - December 15, 1912

Jacob H. Gallinger (NH)

December 16, 1912 - January 4, 1913

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

January 5, 1913 - January 18, 1913

Jacob H. Gallinger (NH)

January 19, 1913 - February 1, 1913

Augustus O. Bacon (GA)

February 2, 1913 - February 15, 1913

Jacob H. Gallinger (NH)

February 16, 1913 - March 3, 1913

Note: William Frye resigned as president pro tempore due to ill health and died on August 8, 1911. Electing his successor proved difficult for the Senate, since Senate Republicans, then in the majority, split between the progressive and the conservative factions, each promoting its own candidate. Likewise, the Democrats proposed their own candidate. As a result of this three-way split, no individual received a majority vote. During May and June of 1911, ballot after ballot failed to elect a president pro tempore. Finally, desperate to return to regular business, senators agreed to a compromised solution: Democrat Augustus Bacon would serve for a single day, August 14, 1911, during the vice president's absence. Thereafter, Bacon and four Republicans -- Charles Curtis, Jacob Gallinger, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Frank Brandegee -- would alternate as president pro tempore for the remainder of the 62nd Congress.

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63rd Congress (1913-1915)

James P. Clarke (AR)

March 13, 1913 - March 3, 1915

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64th Congress (1915-1917)

James P. Clarke (AR)

December 6, 1915 - October 1, 1916

Willard Saulsbury (DE)

December 14, 1916 - March 4, 1917

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65th Congress (1917-1919)

Willard Saulsbury (DE)

March 5, 1917 - March 3, 1919

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66th Congress (1919-1921)

Albert B. Cummins (IA)

May 19, 1919 - March 3, 1921

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67th Congress (1921-1923)

Albert B. Cummins (IA)

March 7, 1921 - December 2, 1923

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68th Congress (1923-1925)

Albert B. Cummins (IA)

December 3, 1923 - March 3, 1925

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69th Congress (1925-1927)

Albert B. Cummins (IA)

March 4, 1925 - March 6, 1925

George H. Moses (NH)

March 6, 1925 - March 4, 1927

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70th Congress (1927-1929)

George H. Moses (NH)

December 15, 1927 - March 3, 1929

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71st Congress (1929-1931)

George H. Moses (NH)

March 4, 1929 - December 6, 1931

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72nd Congress (1931-1933)

George H. Moses (NH)

December 7, 1931 - March 3, 1933

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73rd Congress (1933-1935)

Key Pittman (NV)

March 9, 1933 - January 2, 1935

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74th Congress (1935-1937)

Key Pittman (NV)

January 7, 1935 - January 4, 1937

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75th Congress (1937-1939)

Key Pittman (NV)

January 5, 1937 - January 2, 1939

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76th Congress (1939-1941)

Key Pittman (NV)

January 3, 1939 - November 10, 1940

William H. King (UT)

November 19, 1940 - January 3, 1941

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77th Congress (1941-1943)

Pat Harrison (MS)

January 6, 1941 - June 22, 1941

Carter Glass (VA)

July 10, 1941 - January 5, 1943

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78th Congress (1943-1945)

Carter Glass (VA)

January 14, 1943 - January 2, 1945

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79th Congress (1945-1947)

Kenneth McKellar (TN)

January 6, 1945 - January 2, 1947

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80th Congress (1947-1949)

Arthur H. Vandenberg (MI)

January 4, 1947 - January 2, 1949

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81st Congress (1949-1951)

Kenneth McKellar (TN)

January 3, 1949 - January 2, 1951

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82nd Congress (1951-1953)

Kenneth McKellar (TN)

January 3, 1951 - January 2, 1953

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83rd Congress (1953-1955)

Styles Bridges (NH)

January 3, 1953 - January 4, 1955

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84th Congress (1955-1957)

Walter F. George (GA)

January 5, 1955 - January 2, 1957

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85th Congress (1957-1959)

Carl T. Hayden (AZ)

January 3, 1957 - January 6, 1959

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86th Congress (1959-1961)

Carl T. Hayden (AZ)

January 7, 1959 - January 2, 1961

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87th Congress (1961-1963)

Carl T. Hayden (AZ)

January 3, 1961 - January 8, 1963

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88th Congress (1963-1965)

Carl T. Hayden (AZ)

January 9, 1963 - January 3, 1965

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89th Congress (1965-1967)

Carl T. Hayden (AZ)

January 4, 1965 - January 9, 1967

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90th Congress (1967-1969)

Carl T. Hayden (AZ)

January 10, 1967 - January 2, 1969

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91st Congress (1969-1971)

Richard B. Russell (GA)

January 3, 1969 - January 20, 1971

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92nd Congress (1971-1973)

Richard B. Russell (GA)

January 21, 1971 - January 21, 1971

Allen J. Ellender (LA)

January 22, 1971 - July 27, 1972

James O. Eastland (MS)

July 28, 1972 - January 2, 1973

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93rd Congress (1973-1975)

James O. Eastland (MS)

January 3, 1973 - January 13, 1975

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94th Congress (1975-1977)

James O. Eastland (MS)

January 14, 1975 - January 3, 1977

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95th Congress (1977-1979)

James O. Eastland (MS)

January 4, 1977 - December 27, 1978

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96th Congress (1979-1981)

Warren G. Magnuson (WA)

January 15, 1979 - December 4, 1980

Milton R. Young (ND)

December 5, 1980 - December 5, 1980

Warren G. Magnuson (WA)

December 6, 1980 - January 4, 1981

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97th Congress (1981-1983)

Strom Thurmond (SC)

January 5, 1981 - January 2, 1983

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98th Congress (1983-1985)

Strom Thurmond (SC)

January 3, 1983 - January 2, 1985

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99th Congress (1985-1987)

Strom Thurmond (SC)

January 3, 1985 - January 5, 1987

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100th Congress (1987-1989)

John C. Stennis (MS)

January 6, 1987 - January 2, 1989

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101st Congress (1989-1991)

Robert C. Byrd (WV)

January 3, 1989 - January 2, 1991

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102nd Congress (1991-1993)

Robert C. Byrd (WV)

January 3, 1991 - January 4, 1993

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103rd Congress (1993-1995)

Robert C. Byrd (WV)

January 5, 1993 - January 3, 1995

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104th Congress (1995-1997)

Strom Thurmond (SC)

January 4, 1995 - January 6, 1997

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105th Congress (1997-1999)

Strom Thurmond (SC)

January 7, 1997 - January 6, 1999

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106th Congress (1999-2001)

Strom Thurmond (SC)

January 7, 1999-January 3, 2001

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107th Congress (2001-2003)

Robert C. Byrd (WV)

January 3, 2001 - January 20, 2001

Strom Thurmond (SC)

January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001

Robert C. Byrd (WV)

June 6, 2001 - January 3, 2003

Note: From January 3 to January 20, 2001 the Democrats held the majority, due to the deciding vote of outgoing Democratic Vice President Al Gore. Senator Robert C. Byrd became president pro tempore at that time. Starting January 20, 2001, the incoming Republican Vice President Richard Cheney held the deciding vote, giving the majority to the Republicans. Senator Strom Thurmond resumed his role as president pro tempore. On May 24, 2001, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont announced his switch from Republican to Independent status, effective June 6, 2001. Jeffords announced that he would caucus with the Democrats, changing control of the evenly divided Senate from the Republicans to the Democrats. On June 6, 2001, Robert C. Byrd once again became president pro tempore. On that day, the Senate adopted S. Res. 103, designating Senator Thurmond as President Pro Tempore Emeritus.

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108th Congress (2003-2005)

Theodore (Ted) Stevens (AK)

Tenure: January 3, 2003 - January 3, 2005

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109th Congress (2005-2007)

Theodore (Ted) Stevens (AK)

Tenure: January 4, 2005 - January 4, 2007

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110th Congress (2007-2009)

Robert C. Byrd (WV)

Tenure: January 4, 2007 -

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