Kansans in U.S. Senate
"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years; . . . No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall, when elected, be an Inhabitant of the State from which he shall be chosen." [U. S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 3]
When Kansas entered the Union in January 1861, the state legislature, which selected senators until this task was turned over to the electorate in 1913, chose two men to represent the state in the upper house of the U. S. Congress. Since that time, Kansans have sent 31 men and two women to Washington to serve in this honored position. Their political affiliation has been overwhelmingly Republican. The average age upon entering the Senate has been 49—the youngest was 39 (John J. Ingalls, at 39 years, 2 months, 1873-1891), the oldest 67 (Clyde M. Reed, R, 1939-1949). Only 11 of the 33 people to hold the office were native-born Kansans; five were natives of Ohio, and four were born in Pennsylvania. Within the state, Topeka and Wichita lead all other towns as the place of residence for U. S. senators; they claim five and four respectively. The average term of office (excluding the incumbents) has been 9.3 years from the legal profession; journalism ranks second with six, and agriculture was the primary occupation of only two.
| In office | |
|---|---|
| James Henry Lane | April 4, 1861 – July 11, 1866 |
| Samuel Clark Pomeroy | April 4, 1861 – March 3, 1873 |
| Edmund G. Ross | July 25, 1866 – March 3, 1871 |
| Alexander Caldwell | March 4, 1871 – March 24, 1873 |
| John James Ingalls | March 4, 1873 – March 4, 1891 |
| Robert Crozier | November 24, 1873 – February 2, 1874 |
| James Madison Harvey | January 11, 1869 – January 13, 1873 |
| Preston Bierce Plumb | March 4, 1877 – December 20, 1891 |
| William Alfred Peffer | March 4, 1891 – March 4, 1897 |
| Bishop Walden Perkins | January 1, 1892 – March 4, 1893 |
| John Martin | March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1895 |
| Lucien Baker | March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1901 |
| William Alexander Harris | March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1903 |
| Joseph Ralph Burton | March 4, 1901 – June 4, 1906 |
| Chester Isaiah Long | March 4, 1903 – March 4, 1909 |
| Alfred Washburn Benson | June 11, 1906 – January 23, 1907 |
| Charles Curtis | March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1929 |
| Joseph Little Bristow | March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1915 |
| William Howard Thompson | March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1919 |
| Arthur Capper | March 4, 1919 – January 3, 1949 |
| Henry Justin Allen | April 1, 1929 – November 30, 1930 |
| George S. McGill | December 1, 1930 – January 3, 1939 |
| Clyde Martin Reed | January 3, 1939 – November 8, 1949 |
| Andrew Frank Schoeppel | January 3, 1949 – January 21, 1962 |
| Harry Darby | December 2, 1949 – November 28, 1950 |
| Frank Carlson | November 29, 1950 – January 3, 1969 |
| James Blackwood Pearson | January 31, 1962 – December 23, 1978 |
| Robert Joseph Dole | January 3, 1969 – June 11, 1996 |
| Nancy Landon Kassebaum | December 23, 1978 – January 3, 1997 |
| Sheila Frahm | June 11, 1996 – November 6, 1996 |
| Sam Dale Brownback | November 7, 1996 – January 3, 2011 |
| Charles Patrick Roberts | January 3, 1997 to January 3, 2021 |
| Jerry Moran | January 3, 2011 to present |
| Roger Marshall | January 3, 2021 to present |
Entry: Kansans in U.S. Senate
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: November 2001
Date Modified: December 2021
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
