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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.