This is a classification of United States Senators by seniority during the 85th Congress, from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1959.
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.
Senators who were sworn in in the middle of the two-year congressional term (up until the last senator who was not sworn in early after winning the November 1958 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
| Rank | Name | Seniority Date | Other Factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carl Hayden (D-AZ) | March 4, 1927 | |
| 2 | Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA) | January 12, 1933 | |
| 3 | Harry F. Byrd Sr. (D-VA) | March 4, 1933 | |
| 4 | James Murray (D-MT) | November 7, 1934 | |
| 5 | Dennis Chavez (D-NM) | May 11, 1935 | |
| 6 | Theodore F. Green (D-RI) | January 3, 1937 | Former Governor, Rhode Island 37th Population (1930) |
| 7 | Styles Bridges (R-NH) | Former Governor, New Hampshire 41st Population (1930) | |
| 8 | Allen J. Ellender (D-LA) | ||
| 9 | Joseph Hill (D-AL) | January 11, 1938 | |
| 10 | Alexander Wiley (R-WI) | January 3, 1939 | |
| 11 | William Langer (R-ND) | January 3, 1941 | |
| 12 | George Aiken (R-VT) | January 10, 1941 | |
| 13 | James Eastland (D-MS) | January 3, 1943 | Previously a Senator |
| 14 | John Little McClellan (D-AR) | ||
| 15 | Howard A. Smith (R-NJ) | December 7, 1944 | |
| 16 | Warren G. Magnuson (D-WA) | December 14, 1944 | |
| 17 | J. William Fulbright (D-AR) | January 3, 1945 | Former Rep (2 Years) |
| 18 | Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R-IA) | Former Governor, Iowa 20th Population (1940) | |
| 19 | Olin D. Johnston (D-SC) | Former Governor, South Carolina 26th Population (1940) | |
| 20 | Homer E. Capehart (R-IN) | Indiana 12th Population (1940) | |
| 21 | Wayne Morse (D-OR) | Oregon 34th Population (1940) | |
| 22 | Leverett Saltonstall (R-MA) | January 10, 1945 | |
| 23 | Milton Young (R-ND) | March 12, 1945 | |
| 24 | William F. Knowland (R-CA) | August 26, 1945 | |
| 25 | Spessard Holland (D-FL) | September 24, 1946 | |
| 26 | Ralph Flanders (R-VT) | November 1, 1946 | |
| 27 | A. Willis Robertson (D-VA) | November 6, 1946 | Former Rep (13 Years, 10 Months) |
| 28 | John Sparkman (D-AL) | Former Rep (9 Years, 10 Months) | |
| 29 | William E. Jenner (R-IN) | January 3, 1947 | Previously a Senator |
| 30 | Edward Martin (R-PA) | Former Governor, Pennsylvania 2nd Population (1940) | |
| 31 | John W. Bricker (R-OH) | Former Governor, Ohio 4th Population (1940) | |
| 32 | Edward John Thye (R-MN) | Former Governor, Minnesota 18th Population (1940) | |
| 33 | Irving Ives (R-NY) | New York 1st Population (1940) | |
| 34 | Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) | Wisconsin 13th Population (1940) | |
| 35 | Arthur Vivian Watkins (R-UT) | Utah 40th Population (1940) | |
| 36 | John J. Williams (R-DE) | Delaware 47th Population (1940) | |
| 37 | George W. Malone (R-NV) | Nevada 48th Population (1940) | |
| 38 | John C. Stennis (D-MS) | November 17, 1947 | |
| 39 | Karl Mundt (R-SD) | December 31, 1948 | Former Rep (9 Years) |
| 40 | Russell B. Long (D-LA) | ||
| 41 | Matthew M. Neely (D-WV) | January 3, 1949 | Previously a Senator |
| 42 | Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) | Former Rep (12 Years) | |
| 43 | Estes Kefauver (D-TN) | Former Rep (10 Years) | |
| 44 | Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) | Former Rep (8 Years, 7 Months) | |
| 45 | Clinton Anderson (D-NM) | Former Cabinet Secretary | |
| 46 | Robert S. Kerr (D-OK) | Former Governor, Oklahoma 22nd Population (1940) | |
| 47 | Andrew F. Schoeppel (R-KS) | Former Governor, Kansas 29th Population (1940) | |
| 48 | Paul Douglas (D-IL) | Illinois 3rd Population (1940) | |
| 49 | Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) | Minnesota 18th Population (1940) | |
| 50 | Joseph Frear, Jr. (D-DE) | Delaware 47th Population (1940) | |
| 51 | Henry Dworshak (R-ID) | October 14, 1949 | |
| 52 | Frank Carlson (R-KS) | November 27, 1950 | |
| 53 | John O. Pastore (D-RI) | December 19, 1950 | |
| 54 | Everett Dirksen (R-IL) | January 3, 1951 | Former Rep (16 Years) |
| 55 | Francis H. Case (R-SD) | Former Rep (14 Years) | |
| 56 | Almer Monroney (D-OK) | Former Rep (12 years) | |
| 57 | Thomas C. Hennings, Jr. (D-MO) | Former Rep (6 Years) | |
| 58 | George Smathers (D-FL) | Former Rep (4 Years) | |
| 59 | John M. Butler (R-MD) | Maryland 28th Population (1940) | |
| 60 | Wallace F. Bennett (R-UT) | Utah 40th Population (1940) | |
| 61 | Charles E. Potter (R-MI) | November 5, 1952 | Former Rep (5 Years, 2 Months) |
| 62 | Prescott Bush (R-CT) | ||
| 63 | Thomas Kuchel (R-CA) | January 2, 1953 | |
| 64 | William A. Purtell (R-CT) | January 3, 1953 | Previously A Senator |
| 65 | Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) | Former Rep (14 Years) | |
| 66 | Henry M. Jackson (D-WA) | Former Rep (12 Years) | |
| 67 | James Glenn Beall (D-MD) | Former Rep (10 Years), Maryland 24th Population (1950) | |
| 68 | Mike Mansfield (D-MT) | Former Rep (10 Years), Montana 42nd Population (1950) | |
| 69 | John F. Kennedy (D-MA) | Former Rep (6 Years) | |
| 70 | Frederick G. Payne (R-ME) | Former Governor, Maine 35th Population (1950) | |
| 71 | Frank A. Barrett (R-WY) | Former Governor, Wyoming 48th Population (1950) | |
| 72 | Price Daniel (D-TX) | Texas 6th Population (1950) | |
| 73 | Stuart Symington (D-MO) | Missouri 12th Population (1950) | |
| 74 | Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) | Arizona 37th Population (1950) | |
| 75 | Sam Ervin (D-NC) | June 5, 1954 | |
| 76 | Norris Cotton (R-NH) | November 8, 1954 | Former Rep (7 Years, 10 Months) |
| 77 | Roman Hruska (R-NE) | Former Rep (1 Year, 10 Months) | |
| 78 | Joseph O'Mahoney (D-WY) | November 29, 1954 | Previously a Senator |
| 79 | W. Kerr Scott (D-NC) | Former Governor | |
| 80 | Alan Bible (D-NV) | December 2, 1954 | |
| 81 | Carl Curtis (R-NE) | January 1, 1955 | |
| 82 | Clifford P. Case (R-NJ) | January 3, 1955 | Former Rep (8 Years) |
| 83 | Thomas Martin (R-IA) | Former Rep (6 Years) | |
| 84 | Patrick V. McNamara (D-MI) | Maryland 24th Population (1950) | |
| 85 | Richard L. Neuberger (D-OR) | Oregon 31st Population (1950) | |
| 86 | Gordon L. Allott (R-CO) | Colorado 32nd Population (1950) | |
| 87 | W. Chapman Revercomb (R-WV) | November 7, 1956 | Previously A Senator (6 Years) |
| 88 | John Sherman Cooper (R-KY) | Previously a Senator (twice) (total tenure 4 Years, 4 Months) | |
| 89 | Strom Thurmond (D-SC) | Previously a Senator (1 Year, 3 Months) | |
| 91 | Thruston Ballard Morton (R-KY) | January 3, 1957 | Former Rep (6 Years) |
| 90 | John A. Carroll (D-CO) | Former Rep (4 Years) | |
| 92 | Frank J. Lausche (D-OH) | Former Governor, Ohio 5th Population (1950) | |
| 93 | Herman Talmadge (D-GA) | Former Governor, Georgia 13th Population (1950) | |
| 94 | Joseph S. Clark (D-PA) | Pennsylvania 3rd Population (1950) | |
| 95 | Frank Church (D-ID) | Idaho 43rd Population (1950) | |
| 96 | Jacob K. Javits (R-NY) | January 9, 1957 | |
| William A. Blakley (D-TX) | January 15, 1957 | ||
| Ralph Yarborough (D-TX) | April 29, 1957 | ||
| William Proxmire (D-WI) | August 28, 1957 | ||
| John D. Hoblitzell, Jr. (R-WV) | January 25, 1958 | ||
| Ben Jordan (D-NC) | April 19, 1958 |
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