List of members of the United States Congress by brevity of service

This is a list of United States congresspersons by brevity of service. It includes Representatives and Senators who have served less than two years in the House or six years in the Senate, not counting currently serving members. This list excludes members whose term ended with 73rd United States Congress that served the entirety of that term, which due to the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution, only lasted from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1935, and inaugural holders of Class 1 and Class 2 Senate seats that served the entirety of the first term, due to the initial terms being only 2 and 4 years long respectively, as the Senate classes were staggered so that a third of the seats would be up every two years.

Key

In green	Appointed to Senate or won special election
D	Died
R	Resigned
AE	Appointed or elected to a different office
O	Other reason for loss of office

Senate time

Tenure		Name	Party affiliation	State	Reason for leaving	Dates of service	Lifespan
1	1 day[lower-alpha 1]	Rebecca Latimer Felton[1]	Democratic	Georgia	Appointed and did not seek reelection.	November 21, 1922 – November 22, 1922[lower-alpha 2]	1835-1930
2[lower-alpha 3]	3 days	Louis C. Wyman[1] (O)	Republican	New Hampshire	Initially won election to the Senate, but was appointed shortly before it convened to give him seniority over the rest of the incoming cohort. His seat was ruled to be vacant and a new election was held.	December 31, 1974 – January 3, 1975	1917-2002
3	8 days	Homer V. M. Miller (O)	Democratic	Georgia	Won election to the Senate, but was not seated until February 24, 1871 and served the remainder of his term.	February 24, 1871 – March 3, 1871	1814-1896
4	10 days	Alva M. Lumpkin (D)	Democratic	South Carolina	Appointed following the vacancy created by James F. Byrnes's appointment to the Supreme Court and later died.	July 22, 1941 – August 1, 1941	1886-1941
5	44 days	Wilton E. Hall	Democratic	South Carolina	Appointed following the vacancy created by Ellison D. Smith's death and chose not to seek reelection.	November 20, 1944 – January 3, 1945	1901-1980
6	55 days	Thomas M. Storke	Democratic	California	Appointed as interim Senator following the vacancy created by William Gibbs McAdoo's resignation and the inauguration of Sheridan Downey.	November 9, 1938 – January 3, 1939	1876-1971
7	59 days	Dean Barkley[1]	Independence Party of Minnesota	Minnesota	Appointed following the death of Paul Wellstone.	November 4, 2002 – January 3, 2003	1950-
	59 days	John Moses (D)	Democratic	North Dakota	Won in the general election, died in office.	January 3, 1945 – March 3, 1945	1885-1945
8	73 days	George Jones	Democratic-Republican	Georgia	Appointed to fill out the remainder of Abraham Baldwin's term.	August 27, 1807 – November 7, 1807	1766-1838
9	93 days	Jocelyn Burdick[1]	Democratic	North Dakota	Appointed following the death of her husband Quentin Burdick.	September 12, 1992 – December 14, 1992	1922-2019
10	97 days	George Walton[1] (R)	Federalist Party	Georgia	Apointed following the vacancy created by James Jackson's resignation.	November 16, 1795 – February 20, 1796	1749 – 1804
11	104 days	Elaine Edwards[1] (R)	Democratic	Louisiana	Appointed following the death of Allen J. Ellender and later resigned.	August 1, 1972 – November 13, 1972	1929-2018
12	110 days	Middleton P. Barrow	Democratic	Georgia	Appointed to fill out the remainder of Benjamin Harvey Hill's term and did not seek election to a term in his own right.	November 15, 1882 – March 3, 1883	1839-1903
13	117 days	Oliver H. Prince	Democratic	Georgia	Selected by the state legislature to fill the vacancy caused by Thomas W. Cobb's resignation.	November 7, 1828 – March 4, 1829	1782-1837
14	121 days	Carte Goodwin	Democratic	West Virginia	Appointed by Governor Joe Manchin on July 16, 2010, as a placeholder to fill the vacancy created by the death of Robert Byrd.	July 16, 2010 – November 15, 2010	1974-
15	129 days	Charles B. Mitchel (O)	Democratic	Arkansas	Elected in the general election and later expelled from the Senate.	March 4, 1861 – July 11, 1861	1815-1864
16	133 days	Paul G. Kirk	Democratic	Massachusetts	Appointed following the death of Ted Kennedy and chose not to run in the special election.	September 24, 2009 – February 4, 2010	1938-
17	143 days	Jeffrey Chiesa[2]	Republican	New Jersey	Appointed following the death of Frank Lautenberg and chose not to run in the special election.	June 10, 2013 – October 31, 2013	1965
18	144 days	Bob Krueger[1]	Democratic	Texas	Appointed following the appointment of Lloyd Bentsen as Secretary of the Treasury and was defeated in the special election.	January 21, 1993 – June 14, 1993	1935-
19	144 days	Dixie Bibb Graves[3] (R)	Democratic	Alabama	Appointed following the appointment of Hugo Black as a Supreme Court Justice and later resigned.	August 20, 1937 – January 10, 1938	1882-1965
20	144 days	George R. Swift[3]	Democratic	Alabama	Appointed following the death of John H. Bankhead II.	June 15, 1946 – November 5, 1946	1887-1972
21	149 days	Sheila Frahm[1]	Republican	Kansas	Appointed following the resignation of Bob Dole and was defeated in the Republican primary.	June 11, 1996 – November 7, 1996	1945-
22	152 days	Maryon Pittman Allen[3]	Democratic	Alabama	Appointed following the death of her husband James Allen and later lost the Democratic primary for the special election.	June 8, 1978 – November 7, 1978	1925-2018
23	165 days	Mo Cowan[2]	Democratic	Massachusetts	Appointed following the appointment of John Kerry as Secretary of State and chose not to run in the special election.	February 1, 2013 – July 16, 2013	1969-
24	213 days	William Bellinger Bulloch
25	215 days	Thomas A. Wofford	Democratic	South Carolina	Appointed following the resignation of Strom Thurmond and chose not to run in the special election.	April 5, 1956 – November 6, 1956	1908-1978
26	240 days	Joseph M. Terrell
27	242 days	B. B. Comer[3]	Democratic	Alabama	Appointed following the death of John H. Bankhead.	March 5, 1920 – November 2, 1920	1848-1927
28	247 days	William Stanley West
29	259 days	Nicholas F. Brady[1]	Republican	New Jersey	Appointed following the resignation of Harrison A. Williams and chose not to run in the special election.	April 12, 1982 – December 27, 1982	1930-
30	262 days	John S. Cohen
31	274 days	Israel Pickens
32	275 days	John C. Breckinridge (O)	Democratic	Kentucky	Elected in the general election and later expelled from the Senate.	March 4, 1861 – December 4, 1861	1821-1875
33	277 days	Robert M. Charlton
34	297 days	Francis S. White
35	299 days	Waldo P. Johnson (O)	Democratic	Missouri	Elected in the general election and later expelled from the Senate.	March 17, 1861 – January 10, 1862	1817-1885
36	303 days	George S. Houston
37	307 days	Luther Strange	Republican	Alabama	Appointed to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions after his resignation to become U.S. Attorney General, but subsequently lost the Republican primary for the special election to Roy Moore.	February 9, 2017 – January 3, 2018	1953-
38	322 days	Luke Pryor
39	327 days	Henry H. Chambers
40	337 days	Patrick Walsh	Democratic	Georgia	Appointed to fill out the remainder of the term of Alfred H. Colquitt.	April 2, 1894 – March 3, 1895	1840-1899
41	340 days	William Blount (O)	Democratic-Republican	Tennessee	Appointed as Tennessee's first senator and was later expelled from the Senate.	August 2, 1796 – July 8, 1797	1749-1800
42	373 days	Hiram Rhodes Revels	Republican	Mississippi	Elected in a special election following Mississippi's readmission into the United States and later chose not to seek reelection.	February 23, 1870 – March 3, 1871	1827-1901
43	380 days	Kelly Loeffler	Republican	Georgia	Appointed to fill the vacancy created by Johnny Isakson, lost subsequent special runoff election.	January 6, 2020 – January 20, 2021	1970-
44	474 days	Louis Wigfall (O)	Democratic	Texas	Appointed to fill the vacancy created by James Pinckney Henderson's death and later expelled from the Senate.	December 5, 1859 – March 23, 1861	1816-1874
45	698 days	Harlan Mathews	Democratic	Tennessee	Appointed to fill the vacancy created by Al Gore's resignation and later chose not to seek reelection.	January 2, 1993 – December 1, 1994	1927-2014
46	699 days	Martha McSally	Republican	Arizona	Appointed to fill the vacancy created by Jon Kyl, lost subsequent special election.	January 3, 2019 – December 2, 2020	1966-
47	762 days	Richard Nixon (AE)	Republican	California	Appointed following the resignation of Sheridan Downey to the seat he recently won the election for to gain seniority and later elected to the vice presidency.	December 1, 1950 – January 1, 1953	1913-1994
48	787 days	Donald Stewart
49	813 days	William Kelly
50	1,095 days	John Williams Walker
51	1,096 days	Doug Jones	Democratic	Alabama	Won special election against Roy Moore to finish Jeff Sessions' term in 2017, and sworn in January 2018. Subsequently lost regular election for next term against Republican Tommy Tuberville.	January 3, 2018 – January 3, 2021	1954-
52	1,100 days	William Wyatt Bibb
53	1,108 days	Josiah Tattnall
54	1,190 days	Jeremiah Clemens
55	1,245 days	John Milledge
56	1,413 days	Barack Obama (R)	Democratic	Illinois	Elected in the general election and later resigned after winning the 2008 presidential election.	January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008	1961-
57	1,476 days	Kamala Harris (R)	Democratic	California	Elected in the general election and later resigned after winning the election to the vice presidency.	January 3, 2017 – January 18, 2021	1964-
58	1,779 days	John Forsyth
59	1,964 days	William H. Crawford

House time

Tenure		Name	Party affiliation	State	Reason for leaving	Dates of service	Lifespan
1	<1 day	Effingham Lawrence (O)	Democratic	Louisiana	See Effingham Lawrence	March 3, 1875	1820-1878
2	1 day	Turner M. Marquett (O)	Republican	Nebraska	See Turner M. Marquett	March 2, 1867 – March 3, 1867	1831-1894
3	31 days	Kwanza Hall	Democratic	Georgia	Won special runoff election one month after general election day to fill John Lewis's seat after his death and was not a candidate in the regular election.	December 3, 2020 – January 3, 2021	1971-
4	35 days	Brenda Jones	Democratic	Michigan	Won special election and was defeated in Democratic primary.	November 29, 2018 – January 3, 2019	1959-
5	39 days	James Mann[4] (D)	Democratic	Louisiana	Won in the general election and died in office.	July 18, 1868 – August 26, 1868	1822-1868
6	51 days	David Curson[5]	Democratic	Michigan	Won special election and did not seek reelection.	November 13, 2012 – January 3, 2013	1948-
6	51 days	Shelley Sekula-Gibbs	Republican	Texas	Won special election and later lost in the Republican primary.	November 13, 2006 – January 3, 2007	1953-
7	84 days	Nathaniel D. Wallace[4]	Democratic	Louisiana	Won special election and did not seek reelection.	December 9, 1886 – March 3, 1887	1845-1894
8	89 days	John W. Hunter	Democratic	New York	Won special election to fill James Humphrey's seat following his death and did not seek reelection.	December 4, 1866 – March 3, 1867	1807-1900
9	90 days	Alexander Boarman[4]	Liberal Republican	Louisiana	Won special election and lost reelection.	December 3, 1872 – March 3, 1873	1839-1916
9	90 days	Benjamin Flanders[4]	Unionist	Louisiana	Won special election and did not seek reelection.	December 3, 1862 – March 3, 1863	1816-1896
10	95 days	William Francis Strudwick	Federalist	North Carolina	Won a special election to follow Absalom Tatom and did not seek reelection.	November 28, 1796 – March 3, 1797	1765-1812
11	107 days	Robert L. Coffey (D)	Democratic	Pennsylvania	Won in the general election and died in office.	January 3, 1949 – April 20, 1949	1918-1949
12	118 days	J. Smith Young	Democratic	Louisiana	Won special election to fill John E. Leonard's seat following his death and did not seek reelection.	November 5, 1878 – March 3, 1879	1834-1916
13	121 days	Richard Alvin Tonry[4] (R)	Democratic	Louisiana	Won in the general election and later resigned.	January 3, 1977 – May 4, 1977	1935-2012
14	152 days	John William Reid (O)	Democratic	Missouri	Won in the general election and later expelled from the House.	March 4, 1861 – August 3, 1861	1821-1881
15	188 days	Jean Spencer Ashbrook	Republican	Ohio	Won in a special election to follow her husband John M. Ashbrook and later chose not to run for reelection.	June 29, 1982 – January 3, 1983	1934-
16	207 days	James C. Alvord (D)	Whig	Massachusetts	Won in the general election and later died.	March 4, 1839 – September 27, 1839	1808-1839
17	207 days	Alton Waldon	Democratic	New York	Won in a special election to follow Joseph P. Addabbo and later lost in the Democratic primary.	June 10, 1986 – January 3, 1987	1936-
	214 days	William B. Spencer
18	222 days	Larkin I. Smith (D)	Republican	Mississippi	Won in a special election to replace Trent Lott and died.	January 3, 1989 – August 13, 1989	1944-1989
19	226 days	Charles Djou	Republican	Hawaii	Won in a special election to replace Neil Abercrombie and later lost reelection.	May 22, 2010 – January 3, 2011	1970-
	228 days	W. Jasper Blackburn
	228 days	Michel Vidal
20	241 days	James Davenport (D)	Federalist	Connecticut	Won in a special election to replace James Hillhouse and later died.	December 5, 1796 – August 3, 1797	1758-1797
21	245 days	Don Cazayoux	Democratic	Louisiana	Won in a special election to replace Richard Baker and later lost reelection.	May 3, 2008 – January 3, 2009	1964-
	246 days	James McCleery
22	298 days	Walter Capps (D)	Democratic	California	Won in the general election and later died in office.	January 3, 1997 – October 28, 1997	1934-1997
23	304 days	Katie Hill (R)	Democratic	California	Won in the general election and later resigned.	January 3, 2019 – November 3, 2019	1987-
24	358 days	Henry Latimer (AE)	Federalist	Delaware	Lost in the general election, but contested the results and was ruled as the victor causing a delayed inauguration and later elected to Senate.	February 14, 1794 – February 7, 1795	1752-1819
	376 days	John E. Leonard
25	382 days	Bill Janklow (R)	Democratic	South Dakota	Won in the general election and later resigned due to causing a fatal car crash.[6]	January 3, 2003 – January 20, 2004	1939-2012
26	383 days	Anthony Wayne (O)	Democratic	Georgia	Won in the general election, but seat was later ruled as vacant due to dispute over his residency.	March 4, 1791 – March 21, 1792	1745-1796
27	389 days	Trey Radel[7] (R)	Republican	Florida	Won in the general election and later resigned.	January 3, 2013 – January 27, 2014	1976-
28	413 day	Vance McAllister (R)[7]	Republican	Louisiana	Won a special election to replace Rodney Alexander and later did not seek reelection.	November 16, 2013 – January 3, 2015	1974-
	417 days	Pierre Bossier
29	425 days	George Allen	Republican	Virginia	Won a special election to replace D. French Slaughter Jr. and later chose not to seek reelection.	November 5, 1991 – January 3, 1993	1952-
30	455 days	Absalom Tatom (R)	Democratic-Republican	North Carolina	Won in the general election and later resigned.	March 4, 1795 – June 1, 1796	1742-1802
	464 days	George Luke Smith
	466 days	Michael Hahn
	475 days	Samuel Louis Gilmore
31	478 days	Bob Turner	Republican	New York	Won a special election to replace Anthony Weiner and later did not seek reelection.	September 13, 2011 – January 3, 2013	1941-
32	492 days	Eric Massa (R)	Democratic	New York	Won in the general election and later resigned.	January 3, 2009 – March 8, 2010	1969-
	512 days	Joseph P. Newsham
33	522 days	Frank Ballance (R)	Democratic	North Carolina	Won in the general election and later resigned.	January 3, 2003 – June 8, 2004	1942-2019
34	528 days	George Partridge (R)	Pro-Administration	Massachusetts	Won in the general election and later resigned.	March 4, 1789 – August 14, 1790	1740-1828
35	531 days	Joseph F. Smith	Democratic	Pennsylvania	Won in a special election to follow Raymond Lederer and later lost in the Democratic primary.	July 21, 1981 – January 3, 1983	1920-1999
	531 days	Charles Magill Conrad
36	556 days	Karen Handel	Republican	Georgia	Won a special election to replace Tom Price and later lost reelection.	June 26, 2017 – January 3, 2019	1962-
37	564 days	Mark Takai	Democratic	Hawaii	Won in the general election and later died in office.	January 3, 2015 – July 20, 2016	1967-2016
38	582 days	Kathy Hochul	Democratic	New York	Won a special election to replace Chris Lee and later lost reelection.	June 1, 2011 – January 3, 2013	1962-
39	582 days	Benjamin Franklin Whittemore (R)	Republican	South Carolina	Won a special election following South Carolina's readmission into the Union and later resigned.	July 18, 1868 – February 24, 1870	1824-1894
40	594 days	Lovell Rousseau (R)	Unconditional Unionist	Kentucky	Elected in the general election, but resigned after being censured only to run in the special election and won to follow himself and later did not seek reelection.	March 4, 1865 – July 21, 1866; December 3, 1866 – March 3, 1867	1818-1869
41	600 days	William T. Redmond	Republican	New Mexico	Won a special election to replace Bill Richardson and later lost reelection.	May 13, 1997 – January 3, 1999	1955-
42	602 days	John T. Deweese (R)	Republican	North Carolina	Won a special election following North Carolina's readmission into the Union and later resigned.	July 6, 1868 – February 28, 1870	1835-1906
43	609 days	Peter W. Barca	Democratic	Wisconsin	Won a special election to replace Les Aspin and later lost reelection.	May 4, 1993 – January 3, 1995	1955-
44	614 days	Scott Murphy	Democratic	New York	Won a special election to replace Kirsten Gillibrand and later lost reelection.	April 29, 2009 – January 3, 2011	1970-
44	614 days	Uriah Forrest (R)	Federalist	Maryland	Won in the general election and later resigned.	March 4, 1793 – November 8, 1794	1756-1805
45	644 days	Catherine Small Long	Democratic	Louisiana	Won a special election to follow her husband Gillis William Long and later chose not to run for reelection.	March 30, 1985 – January 3, 1987	1924-2019
	661 days	John H. Overton
46	674 days	Sam Brownback (AE)	Republican	Kansas	Won in the general election and later the special Senate election to follow Bob Dole.	January 3, 1995 – November 7, 1996	1956-
47	730 days	Tim Scott (AE)(R)	Republican	South Carolina	Won in the general election, later won election to the Senate, and resigned a day before his House term ended to accept appointment to the Senate.	January 3, 2011 – January 2, 2013	1965-

Notes

If one were to only count following her inauguration then she would only have served one day, but if tenure were counted she would have served 50 days
Tenure: October 3, 1922 - November 22, 1922
1 if one were to count Felton's tenure rather than days served.

References

"Who's On The Senate 'Short List'?". Archived from the original on 15 October 2017.
"Mo Cowan, Jeff Chiesa join a long line of short-term senators".
"The Shortest-Serving U.S. Senators in Alabama History".
"The Shortest Tenures of Louisiana US Reps in History".
"Jeff Chiesa Appointment: The Long History Of The Shortest Congressional Tenures".
Goldstein, Richard (January 12, 2012). "Bill Janklow, a Four-Term Governor of South Dakota, Dies at 72". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
"Vance McAllister is nowhere near the shortest-serving lawmaker in congressional history".

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] If one were to only count following her inauguration then she would only have served one day, but if tenure were counted she would have served 50 days

[3] Tenure: October 3, 1922 - November 22, 1922

[4] 1 if one were to count Felton's tenure rather than days served.

[auto-2] "Who's On The Senate 'Short List'?". Archived from the original on 15 October 2017.

[auto2-5] "Mo Cowan, Jeff Chiesa join a long line of short-term senators".

[auto3-6] "The Shortest-Serving U.S. Senators in Alabama History".

[auto4-7] "The Shortest Tenures of Louisiana US Reps in History".

[8] "Jeff Chiesa Appointment: The Long History Of The Shortest Congressional Tenures".

[9] Goldstein, Richard (January 12, 2012). "Bill Janklow, a Four-Term Governor of South Dakota, Dies at 72". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 19, 2020.

[auto5-10] "Vance McAllister is nowhere near the shortest-serving lawmaker in congressional history".

List of members of the United States Congress by brevity of service

Key

Senate time

House time

See also

Notes

References