1 Scholars continue to debate which senators served as the first majority and minority leaders, known alternatively as "floor leaders" or "party leaders." The first senators to assume the party leadership role held the position of party conference chair, which dates back to the 1860s and 1870s. Senate Parliamentarian Floyd Riddick contended in an influential 1969 study that the Democratic Conference designated the chair as the "official" party leader in 1921 and that the Republican Conference elected its first "official" leader in 1925. Titles used by party leaders varied well into the 20th century, however, so it is difficult to designate one as more "official" than another. A 2019 Congressional Research Service report identifies Arthur P. Gorman of Maryland as the first Democratic leader in 1893 and Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts as the first Republican leader in 1919. The Senate Historical Office is persuaded by the research of scholars Gerald Gamm and Steven S. Smith, which proposes that conference chairs operated as party leaders even earlier. Gamm and Smith find that Gorman used his position as conference chair to lead Democrats on the floor and that observers considered him to be the party leader beginning in 1890. In 1913, when Republicans were in the minority for the first time in 18 years, Republican Conference chair Jacob Gallinger of New Hampshire also began to exercise responsibilities of a floor leader.
2 Arthur Gorman resigned as leader on April 29, 1898. On that day David Turpie was elected as Democratic leader.
3 Arthur Gorman died on June 4, 1906. On June 9, 1906, Joseph Blackburn was elected as Democratic leader.
4 Charles Culberson resigned as leader on December 9, 1909. On that day Hernando Money was elected as Democratic leader.
5 Jacob Gallinger died on August 17, 1918. On August 25, 1918, Henry Cabot Lodge., Sr., was elected as Republican leader.
6 Thomas Martin died on November 12, 1919. On April 27, 1920, Oscar Underwood was elected Democratic leader.
7 Henry Cabot Lodge., Sr., died on November 9, 1924. Charles Curtis was elected Republican leader on November 28, 1924.
8 Joseph Robinson died on July 14, 1937. Alben Barkley was elected Democratic leader on July 22, 1937.
9 Beginning with the Republican Conference meeting on November 22, 1943, Wallace White, secretary of the conference, served as acting leader while Charles McNary was absent due to illness.
10 With the 79th Congress, the Republican Conference separated the offices of floor leader and conference chair.
11 The Democratic Caucus elected Alben Barkley to continue as leader until January 19, 1949, when he resigned to take the oath as vice president of the United States.
12 Kenneth Wherry died on November 29, 1951. Styles Bridges was elected Republican leader on January 8, 1952.
13 Robert Taft died on July 31, 1953. William Knowland was elected Republican leader on August 4, 1953. When Democratic leader Lyndon Johnson suffered a heart attack on July 2, 1955, Earle Clements of Kentucky served as acting leader until the end of that session on August 2, 1955.
14 Everett Dirksen died on September 7, 1969. Hugh Scott was elected Republican leader on September 24, 1969.
15 Robert Dole resigned from the Senate on June 11, 1996, to devote time to his campaign for president. Trent Lott was elected Republican leader on June 12, 1996.
16 From January 3 to January 20, 2001, with the Senate divided evenly between the two parties, the Democrats held the majority due to the deciding vote of outgoing Democratic vice president Al Gore. Senator Thomas Daschle served as majority leader at that time. Beginning on January 20, 2001, Republican vice president Richard Cheney held the deciding vote, giving the majority to the Republicans. Senator Trent Lott resumed his position as majority leader on that date. On May 24, 2001, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont announced his switch from Republican to Independent status, effective June 6, 2001. He announced that he would caucus with the Democrats, giving the party a one-seat advantage and changing control of the Senate back to the Democrats.
17 From January 3 to January 20, 2021, with Republicans holding a majority with 51 senators, Mitch McConnell served as the majority leader and Charles Schumer remained the minority leader. The run-off elections for both Georgia Senate seats held on January 5, 2021, resulted in Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeating incumbent Republican senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue (respectively). Following the swearing-in of Warnock and Ossoff on January 20, 2021, party division stood at 5050, with 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats plus 2 Independents who caucused with the Democrats. On January 20, 2021, Democratic vice president Kamala Harris took office. Her tie-breaking vote established a Democratic majority in the Senate, making Charles Schumer the majority leader and Mitch McConnell the minority leader.
Sources:
Baker, Richard A. and Roger H. Davidson, eds. First Among Equals: Outstanding Senate Leaders of the Twentieth Century. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1991.
Byrd, Robert C. The Senate, 1789–1989: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate. Volume 2 edited by Wendy Wolff. S. Doc. 100-20, 100th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1991.
Gamm, Gerald and Steven S. Smith, Emergence of Modern Senate Leadership, forthcoming.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, by Floyd M. Riddick. S. Doc 91-20, 91st Cong., 1st sess. 1969.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Minutes of the Senate Republican Conference: Sixty-second Congress through Eighty-eighth Congress, 1911–1964. Edited by Wendy Wolff and Donald A. Ritchie. Senate Document 105-19, 105th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1999.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Minutes of the Senate Democratic Conference: Fifty-eighth through Eighty-eighth Congresses, 1903–1964. Edited by Donald A. Ritchie. S. Doc. 105-20, 105th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1999.
U.S. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. "Party Leaders in the United States Congress: 1789–2019." RL30567. Updated by by Valerie Heitshusen, September 4, 2019.
