Resignation from the United States Senate

A member of the United States Senate can resign by writing a letter of resignation to the governor of the state that the senator represents. Whenever a senator needs to be appointed or elected, the Secretary of the Senate mails one of three forms to the state's governor to inform them of the proper wording to certify the appointment of a new Senator.^[1]

The first resignation from the Senate was that of William Paterson of New Jersey on November 13, 1790, who resigned in order to accept the office of Governor of New Jersey. His resignation was only the third time a person ceased to hold a seat in the Senate, which had first convened during the preceding year, 1789. The earlier ones resulted from the death of Senator William Grayson of Virginia, and the expiration of the term of the temporary senator John Walker of Virginia, who was appointed by the Governor of Virginia to hold that office until a successor could be elected in November.

Before 1796, eight senators resigned. Nine senators resigned during that year – a record high number that stands to this day.

Most resignations were motivated either by declining health or a decision to accept another office.

Four of the signers of the Constitution (William Samuel Johnson, Pierce Butler, Rufus King, and Charles Pinckney) and four signers of the Declaration of Independence (Charles Carroll, George Read, Richard Lee, and Thomas McKean) have resigned from the Senate.

Sixteen persons have resigned from the Senate twice and two have resigned three times.

List of resignations by date

Name	State	Date of resignation	Notes
William Paterson	New Jersey	November 13, 1790	Resigned to become Governor of New Jersey
Samuel Johnson	Connecticut	March 3, 1791
Richard Lee	Virginia	October 8, 1792
Charles Carroll	Maryland	November 30, 1792
George Read	Delaware	September 18, 1793
James Monroe	Virginia	March 27, 1794
John Taylor of Caroline	Virginia	May 11, 1794
James Jackson	Georgia	November 16, 1795
Oliver Ellsworth	Connecticut	March 8, 1796
Rufus King	New York	May 23, 1796
Caleb Strong	Massachusetts	June 1, 1796
George Cabot	Massachusetts	June 9, 1796
Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.	Connecticut	June 10, 1796
Moses Robinson	Vermont	October 15, 1796
Richard Potts	Maryland	October 24, 1796
Pierce Butler	South Carolina	October 25, 1796
Frederick Frelinghuysen	New Jersey	November 12, 1796
William Cocke	Tennessee	September 26, 1797
William Bradford	Rhode Island	October ??, 1797
Isaac Tichenor	Vermont	October 17, 1797	Resigned to become Governor of Vermont[2]
John Henry	Maryland	December 10, 1797
Philip Schuyler	New York	January 3, 1798
John Vining	Delaware	January 19, 1798
Andrew Jackson	Tennessee	April 1, 1798
John Sloss Hobart	New York	April 16, 1798
John Hunter	South Carolina	November 26, 1798
John Rutherfurd	New Jersey	December 5, 1798
Joseph Anderson	Tennessee	March 3, 1799
Samuel Dexter	Massachusetts	May 30, 1800	Resigned to take office at United States Secretary of War[3]
John Laurance	New York	August 1, 1800
Benjamin Goodhue	Massachusetts	November 8, 1800
James Lloyd	Maryland	December 1, 1800
James Schureman	New Jersey	February 16, 1801
Henry Latimer	Delaware	February 28, 1801
Ray Greene	Rhode Island	March 5, 1801
Charles Pinckney	South Carolina	June 6, 1801
Samuel Livermore	New Hampshire	June 12, 1801
Elijah Paine	Vermont	September 1, 1801
John Armstrong, Jr.	New York	February 5, 1802
James Sheafe	New Hampshire	June 14, 1802
Dwight Foster	Massachusetts	March 2, 1803
DeWitt Clinton	New York	November 4, 1803
Theodorus Bailey	New York	January 16, 1804
John Armstrong, Jr.	New York	February 23, 1804
Abraham Venable	Virginia	June 7, 1804
John Armstrong, Jr.	New York	June 30, 1804
William Wells	Delaware	November 6, 1804
William Giles	Virginia	December 3, 1804
Andrew Moore	Virginia	December 3, 1804
John Breckinridge	Kentucky	August 7, 1805
Robert Wright	Maryland	November 12, 1806
John Adair	Kentucky	November 18, 1806
David Stone	North Carolina	February 17, 1807
James Fenner	Rhode Island	September ??, 1807
Israel Smith	Vermont	October 1, 1807
John Smith	Ohio	April 25, 1808	Resigned after being indicted but not expelled in a 19–10 vote[4]
Quincy Adams	Massachusetts	June 8, 1808
Samuel Maclay	Pennsylvania	January 4, 1809
Aaron Kitchell	New Jersey	March 3, 1809
Daniel Smith	Tennessee	March 31, 1809
John Milledge	Georgia	November 14, 1809
Buckner Thruston	Kentucky	December 18, 1809
Nahum Parker	New Hampshire	June 1, 1810
James Hillhouse	Connecticut	June 10, 1810
Return Meigs, Jr.	Ohio	December 8, 1810
Thomas Sumter	South Carolina	December 16, 1810
Jenkin Whiteside	Tennessee	October 8, 1811
Christopher Champlin	Rhode Island	October 12, 1811
Jean Noel Destréan	Louisiana	October 1, 1812
James Bayard	Delaware	March 3, 1813
Dudley Chase	Vermont	March 3, 1813
William Crawford	Georgia	March 23, 1813
James Lloyd	Massachusetts	May 1, 1813
Chauncey Goodrich	Connecticut	May 13, 1813
George Campbell	Tennessee	February 11, 1814
Michael Leib	Pennsylvania	February 14, 1814
George Bibb	Kentucky	August 23, 1814
Thomas Worthington	Ohio	December 1, 1814
Jesse Bledsoe	Kentucky	December 24, 1814
David Stone	North Carolina	December 24, 1814
William Giles	Virginia	March 3, 1815
Francis Locke	North Carolina	December 5, 1815
William Barry	Kentucky	May 1, 1816
Christopher Gore	Massachusetts	May 30, 1816
John Taylor	South Carolina	November ??, 1816
Wyatt Bibb	Georgia	November 9, 1816
James Turner	North Carolina	November 21, 1816
Goodloe Harper	Maryland	December 6, 1816
Jeremiah Mason	New Hampshire	June 16, 1817
James Fisk	Vermont	January 8, 1818
George Campbell	Tennessee	April 20, 1818
Eli Ashmun	Massachusetts	May 10, 1818
George Troup	Georgia	September 23, 1818
John Forsyth	Georgia	February 17, 1819
John Crittenden	Kentucky	March 3, 1819
John Eppes	Virginia	December 4, 1819
Prentis Mellen	Massachusetts	May 15, 1820
Walter Leake	Mississippi	May 15, 1820
William Logan	Kentucky	May 28, 1820
James Wilson	New Jersey	January 8, 1821
Freeman Walker	Georgia	August 6, 1821
Gray Otis	Massachusetts	May 30, 1822
Williams Walker	Alabama	December 12, 1822
James Pleasants	Virginia	December 15, 1822
Caesar Rodney	Delaware	January 29, 1823
Samuel Southard	New Jersey	March 3, 1823
James Brown	Louisiana	December 10, 1823
Ninian Edwards	Illinois	March 3, 1824
Henry Johnson	Louisiana	May 27, 1824
James Barbour	Virginia	March 7, 1825
David Holmes	Mississippi	September 25, 1825
Andrew Jackson	Tennessee	October 14, 1825
James DeWolf	Rhode Island	October 31, 1825
Edward Lloyd	Maryland	January 14, 1826
James Lloyd	Massachusetts	May 23, 1826
Henry Harrison	Ohio	May 20, 1828
Albion Parris	Maine	August 26, 1828
Thomas Cobb	Georgia	November 7, 1828
Nathaniel Macon	North Carolina	December 14, 1828
Ephraim Bateman	New Jersey	January 12, 1829
Mahlon Dickerson	New Jersey	January 30, 1829
John Berrien	Georgia	March 9, 1829
John Branch	North Carolina	March 9, 1829
John Eaton	Tennessee	March 9, 1829
Louis McLane	Delaware	April 16, 1829
Edward Livingston	Louisiana	May 24, 1831
Issac Barnard	Pennsylvania	December 6, 1831
Powhatan Ellis	Mississippi	July 16, 1832
Littleton Tazewell	Virginia	July 16, 1832
Robert Hayne	South Carolina	December 13, 1832
William Marcy	New York	January 1, 1833
George Troup	Georgia	November 8, 1833
William Rives	Virginia	February 22, 1834
John Forsyth	Georgia	June 27, 1834
Ezekiel Chambers	Maryland	December 20, 1834
Peleg Sprague	Maine	January 1, 1835
Charles Gayarré	Louisiana	January ??, 1836
John Tyler	Virginia	February 29, 1836
Ether Shepley	Maine	March 3, 1836
Willie Mangum	North Carolina	March 19, 1836
Isaac Hill	New Hampshire	May 30, 1836
Arnold Naudain	Delaware	June 16, 1836
Benjamin Leigh	Virginia	July 4, 1836
John Clayton	Delaware	December 29, 1836
Alexander Porter	Louisiana	January 5, 1837
Richard Parker	Virginia	March 13, 1837
John McKinley	Alabama	April 22, 1837
Pendleton King	Georgia	November 1, 1837
John Black	Mississippi	January 22, 1838
Felix Grundy	Tennessee	July 4, 1838
James Trotter	Mississippi	July 10, 1838
Ephraim Foster	Tennessee	March 3, 1839
Richard Bayard	Delaware	September 19, 1839
Lawson White	Tennessee	January 13, 1840
Robert Strange	North Carolina	November 16, 1840
Bedford Brown	North Carolina	November 16, 1840
John Davis	Massachusetts	January 5, 1841
Daniel Webster	Massachusetts	February 22, 1841	Resigned to become United States Secretary of State[5]
Comer Clay	Alabama	November 15, 1841
Franklin Pierce	New Hampshire	February 28, 1842
Alexander Mouton	Louisiana	March 1, 1842
Henry Clay	Kentucky	March 31, 1842
Samuel Prentiss	Vermont	April 11, 1842
Samuel Southard	New Jersey	June 26, 1842
Reuel Williams	Maine	February 15, 1843
John Calhoun	South Carolina	March 3, 1843
William Sprague	Rhode Island	January 17, 1844
William King	Alabama	April 15, 1844
Nathaniel Tallmadge	New York	June 17, 1844
Silas Wright, Jr.	New York	November 26, 1844
John Berrien	Georgia	March 1, 1845
Elliot Huger	South Carolina	March 3, 1845
Levi Woodbury	New Hampshire	September 20, 1845
William Haywood, Jr.	North Carolina	July 25, 1846
Walter Colquitt	Georgia	February 4, 1848
Ambrose Sevier	Arkansas	March 15, 1848
Lewis Cass	Michigan	May 29, 1848
John Crittenden	Kentucky	June 12, 1848
Arthur Bagby	Alabama	June 16, 1848
John Clayton	Delaware	February 2, 1849
Reverdy Johnson	Maryland	March 7, 1849
Daniel Webster	Massachusetts	July 22, 1850	Resigned again to again take office as United States Secretary of State[6]
Jefferson Davis	Mississippi	September 23, 1851	Resigned to run for Governor of Mississippi
Robert Rhett	South Carolina	May 7, 1852
John Berrien	Georgia	May 28, 1852
William King	Alabama	December 20, 1852
Robert Stockton	New Jersey	January 10, 1853
Solon Borland	Arkansas	April 11, 1853
Pierre Soulé	Louisiana	April 11, 1853
Edward Everett	Massachusetts	June 1, 1854
Augustus Dodge	Iowa	February 22, 1855
Hannibal Hamlin	Maine	January 7, 1857	Resigned to become Governor of Maine
Asa Biggs	North Carolina	May 5, 1858
Hannibal Hamlin	Maine	January 17, 1861	Resigned to become Vice-President of the United States
Jefferson Davis	Mississippi	January 21, 1861	Became president of the Confederacy
John Slidell	Louisiana	February 4, 1861
Thomas Bragg	North Carolina	March 6, 1861
Salmon Chase	Ohio	March 6, 1861
Thomas Clingman	North Carolina	March 11, 1861
Andrew Johnson	Tennessee	March 4, 1862
James Simmons	Rhode Island	August 15, 1862	Resigned after a case for explusion was declined[7]
Waitman Willey	Virginia	March 3, 1863
James Bayard, Jr.	Delaware	January 29, 1864
William Fessenden	Maine	July 1, 1864
James Harlan	Iowa	May 15, 1865
Daniel Clark	New Hampshire	July 27, 1866
James Guthrie	Kentucky	February 7, 1868
Reverdy Johnson	Maryland	July 10, 1868
James Grimes	Iowa	December 6, 1869
Charles Drake	Missouri	December 19, 1870
William Kellogg	Louisiana	November 1, 1872
Henry Wilson	Massachusetts	March 3, 1873
Alexander Caldwell	Kansas	March 24, 1873
Eugene Casserly	California	November 29, 1873
Adelbert Ames	Mississippi	January 4, 1874
Lot Morrill	Maine	July 7, 1876
John Sherman	Ohio	March 8, 1877	Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of the Treasury[3]
Isaac Christiancy	Michigan	February 10, 1879
Brown Gordon	Georgia	May 26, 1880
James Blaine	Maine	March 5, 1881
Samuel Kirkwood	Iowa	March 7, 1881
William Windom	Minnesota	March 7, 1881
Thomas Platt	New York	May 16, 1881	Resigned in support of fellow Senator Conkling's protest[8]
Roscoe Conkling	New York	May 16, 1881	Resigned in protest of the appointment of a New York City customs collector by President James A. Garfield[8]
Henry Teller	Colorado	April 17, 1882
Augustus Garland	Arkansas	March 6, 1885
Thomas Bayard	Delaware	March 6, 1885	Resigned in protest of new Senate Loyalty Oath[9]
Howell Jackson	Tennessee	April 14, 1886
Jonathan Chace	Rhode Island	April 9, 1889
John Henninger Reagan	Texas	June 10, 1891	Resigned to take office as the chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas[10]
John Carlisle	Kentucky	February 4, 1893
Edward White	Louisiana	March 12, 1894
John Sherman	Ohio	March 4, 1897
William Clark	Montana	May 15, 1900
Charles Fairbanks	Indiana	March 3, 1905
Joseph Burton	Kansas	June 4, 1906	Resigned following corruption charges (Burton v. United States)[11]
Coit Spooner	Wisconsin	April 30, 1907
Philander Knox	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1909
Fountain Thompson	North Dakota	January 31, 1910
Joseph Terrell	Georgia	July 14, 1911
Weldon Bailey	Texas	January 3, 1913
Warren Harding	Ohio	January 13, 1921
John Nugent	Idaho	January 14, 1921
Albert Fall	New Mexico	March 4, 1921
Josiah Wolcott	Delaware	July 2, 1921
William Kenyon	Iowa	February 24, 1922
Truman Newberry	Michigan	November 18, 1922[11]	Resigned after being condemned for violating campaign financing rules[12]
Frank Smith	Illinois	December 7, 1926
T. Coleman du Pont	Delaware	December 8, 1928
Charles Curtis	Kansas	March 3, 1929
Evans Edge	New Jersey	November 21, 1929
Fred Sackett	Kentucky	January 9, 1930
Cordell Hull	Tennessee	March 3, 1933
Claude Swanson	Virginia	March 3, 1933
Sam Bratton	New Mexico	June 24, 1933
Hugo Black	Alabama	August 19, 1937
Bibb Graves	Alabama	January 10, 1938
Harry Moore	New Jersey	January 17, 1938
Frederick Steiwer	Oregon	January 31, 1938
Gibbs McAdoo	California	November 8, 1938
Matthew Neely	West Virginia	January 12, 1941
John Miller	Arkansas	March 31, 1941
James Byrnes	South Carolina	July 8, 1941
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.	Massachusetts	February 3, 1944
Homer Bone	Washington	November 13, 1944
Sinclair Weeks	Massachusetts	December 19, 1944
Monrad Wallgren	Washington	January 9, 1945
Harry Truman	Missouri	January 17, 1945	Resigned to become Vice-President of the United States
Harold Burton	Ohio	September 30, 1945
Happy Chandler	Kentucky	November 1, 1945
Warren Austin	Vermont	August 2, 1946
Hugh Mitchell	Washington	December 25, 1946
Vera Bushfield	South Dakota	December 26, 1948
Alben Barkley	Kentucky	January 19, 1949
Robert Wagner	New York	June 28, 1949
Howard McGrath	Rhode Island	August 23, 1949
Raymond Baldwin	Connecticut	December 16, 1949
Sheridan Downey	California	November 30, 1950
Ralph Brewster	Maine	December 31, 1952
Richard Nixon	California	January 1, 1953	Resigned to become Vice-President of the United States
Charles Daniel	South Carolina	December 23, 1954
Hazel Abel	Nebraska	December 31, 1954
Strom Thurmond	South Carolina	April 4, 1956[13]
Price Daniel	Texas	January 14, 1957[14]
John F. Kennedy	Massachusetts	December 22, 1960	Resigned to take office as President of the United States[15]
Lyndon Johnson	Texas	January 3, 1961[16]	Resigned to take office as Vice President of the United States[15]
Hubert Humphrey	Minnesota	December 29, 1964	Resigned to take office as Vice-President of the United States
Pierre Salinger	California	December 31, 1964
Harry Byrd	Virginia	November 10, 1965
John Williams	Delaware	December 31, 1970
George Murphy	California	January 2, 1971
William Saxbe	Ohio	January 3, 1974
Alan Bible	Nevada	December 17, 1974
Wallace Bennett	Utah	December 20, 1974
Howard Metzenbaum	Ohio	December 23, 1974
Marlow Cook	Kentucky	December 27, 1974
J. William Fulbright	Arkansas	December 31, 1974
Edward Gurney	Florida	December 31, 1974
Sam Ervin	North Carolina	December 31, 1974
Stuart Symington	Missouri	December 27, 1976
John Pastore	Rhode Island	December 28, 1976
Walter Mondale	Minnesota	December 30, 1976[17]	Resigned to take office as Vice-President of the United States
Paul Hatfield	Montana	December 12, 1978
James Pearson	Kansas	December 23, 1978
Wendell Anderson	Minnesota	December 29, 1978
Clifford Hansen	Wyoming	December 31, 1978
Edmund Muskie	Maine	May 7, 1980	Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of State[3]
John Durkin	New Hampshire	December 29, 1980
Richard Stone	Florida	December 31, 1980
Harrison Williams	New Jersey	March 11, 1982[11]
Paul Tsongas	Massachusetts	January 2, 1985
David Karnes	Nebraska	December 8, 1988
Dan Quayle	Indiana	January 3, 1989	Resigned to take office as Vice-President of the United States
Gordon Humphrey	New Hampshire	December 4, 1990
Pete Wilson	California	January 7, 1991	Resigned to take office as Governor of California
Kent Conrad	North Dakota	December 14, 1992
Al Gore	Tennessee	January 2, 1993	Resigned to take office as Vice-President of the United States.
Lloyd Bentson	Texas	January 20, 1993	Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of the Treasury[3]
David Boren	Oklahoma	December 15, 1994
Bob Packwood	Oregon	October 1, 1995
Bob Dole	Kansas	June 11, 1996	Resigned to run for President of the United States[18]
Frank Murkowski	Alaska	December 2, 2002
Jon Corzine	New Jersey	January 17, 2006
Trent Lott	Mississippi	December 18, 2007
Barack Obama	Illinois	November 16, 2008[19]	Resigned to take office as President of the United States
Joe Biden	Delaware	January 15, 2009	Resigned to become Vice-President of the United States
Ken Salazar	Colorado	January 20, 2009
Hillary Clinton	New York	January 21, 2009	Resigned to become Secretary of State.[20]
Mel Martínez	Florida	September 9, 2009
John Ensign	Nevada	March 3, 2011
John Kerry	Massachusetts	February 1, 2013	Resigned to become Secretary of State
Max Baucus	Montana	February 6, 2014
Tom Coburn	Oklahoma	January 3, 2015

References

1. "The Term of A Senator - When Does It Begin and End? - Senate 98-29" (PDF). United States Senate. United States Printing Office. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
2. "TICHENOR, Isaac – Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
3. "1787: From the Senate to the Cabinet, May 13, 1800". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
4. "1801: John Smith Resigns Under Fire -- April 25, 1808". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
5. "1801: Daniel Webster Quits the Senate -- July 22, 1850". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
6. "U.S. Senate: 1801: Speech Costs Senator his Seat -- March 7, 1850". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
7. "U.S. Senate: James Simmons expulsion case". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
8. "1878: Both New York Senators Resign -- May 16, 1881". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
9. "1851: Senator Resigns to Protest Civil War Loyalty Oath -- January 29, 1864". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
10. Senate, United States Congress (1903). Compilation of Senate Election Cases from 1789 to 1885. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 48.
11. "U.S. Senate: Expulsion and Censure". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
12. "1921: Senator Condemned for Excessive Campaign Expenditures -- January 12, 1922". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
13. "The Term of A Senator – When Does It Begin and End? – Senate 98–29" (PDF). United States Senate. United States Printing Office. p. 5. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
14. "The Term of A Senator – When Does It Begin and End? – Senate 98–29" (PDF). United States Senate. United States Printing Office. p. 9. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
15. "1941: Two Senators to the White House". United States Senate. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
16. "The Term of A Senator – When Does It Begin and End? – Senate 98–29" (PDF). United States Senate. United States Printing Office. p. 11. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
17. "The Term of A Senator – When Does It Begin and End? – Senate 98–29" (PDF). United States Senate. United States Printing Office. p. 13. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
18. "Senator Dole Resignation – Video – C-SPAN.org". C-SPAN. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
19. Barack Obama's letter of resignation from the Senate, address to Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, at Wikisource
20. Tumulty, Brian (January 21, 2009). "Clinton sworn in at State Dept. and then resigns Senate". The Journal News.