Subject: Senate resignations
From: "Chris Lu" <[email-masked]>
To: "Pete Rouse" <[email-masked]>, "John Podesta" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:02:46 -0500

Out of curiosity, I had one of my research assistants research when U.S. senators resigned before assuming the presidency, vice-presidency, or other offices.  The precedent seems to be late December or early January, but before January 4 when the new Congress convenes so the new senator gets seniority over the recently elected senators.  Research memo is pasted below:

Senate Resignations

 

SENATORS WHO RESIGNED TO BECOME PRESIDENTS:

James Monroe

John Quincy Adams

Andrew Jackson

Martin Van Buren

William Harrison

John Tyler

Franklin Pierce

James Buchanan

Andrew Johnson

Benjamin Harris

Warren Harding (OH)-resigned January 13, 1921. 

Harry Truman (MO)-resigned January 18, 1945 to be FDR's VP; he assumed the presidency on April 12, 1945 when FDR died. 

John F. Kennedy (MA)-resigned December 22, 1960.

Lyndon B. Johnson-resigned January 3, 1960 to be JFK's VP; he assumed the presidency on November 22, 1963 when JFK was assassinated.

Richard Nixon (CA)-resigned January 1, 1953 to be Dwight Eisenhower's VP; his presidential inauguration was January 20, 1969. 

[Robert Dole (KS) resigned on June 11, 1996 to run for president]

 

SENATORS WHO RESIGNED TO BECOME VICE PRESIDENTS:

Henry Wilson (MA)

Charles Fairbanks (IN)

Charles Curtis (KS)

Harry Truman (MO)-resigned January 18, 1945 to be FDR's VP, served for 82 days before assuming the presidency. 

Alben Barkley (KY)-resigned January 19, 1949 to be Harry Truman's VP.

Richard Nixon (CA)-resigned January 1, 1953 to be Dwight Eisenhower's VP. 

Lyndon B. Johnson (TX)-resigned January 3, 1960 to be JFK's VP. 

Hubert Humphrey (MN)-resigned December 29, 1964 to be LBJ's VP.

Walter Mondale (MN)-resigned December 30, 1976 to be Jimmy Carter's VP.

Dan Quayle (IN)-resigned January 2, 1989 to be George H.W. Bush's VP.

Albert Gore (TN)-resigned January 2, 1993 to be Bill Clinton's VP. 

 

 

SENATORS WHO RESIGNED TO BECOME GOVERNOR:

Elmer Benson (MN)-resigned November 3, 1936 to serve as Governor of Minnesota. 

A. Harry Moore (NJ)-resigned January 18, 1938 to serve as Governor of New Jersey. 

Matthew Neely (WV)-resigned January 12, 1941 to serve as Governor of West Virginia.

Monrad Wallgren (WA)-resigned January 10, 1945 to serve as Governor of Washington.

Price Daniel (TX)-resigned January 14, 1957 to serve as Governor of Texas. 

Pete Wilson (CA)-resigned January 7, 1991 to serve as Governor of California.

Dirk Kempthorne (ID)-resigned January 3, 1999 to serve as Governor of Idaho.

Frank Murkowski (AK)-resigned December 2, 2002 to serve Governor of Arkansas.

Jon Corzine (NJ)-resigned January 17, 2006 to serve as Governor of New Jersey.

 

SENATORS WHO RESIGNED TO TAKE A JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT:

Sam Bratton (NM)-resigned June 24, 1933 to serve in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hugo Black (AL)-resigned August 19, 1937 to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

John E. Miller (AR)-resigned March 31, 1941 to serve as District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.

James Byrnes (SC)-resigned July 8, 1941 to serve the Supreme Court of the United States.

Homer T. Bone (WA)-resigned November 13, 1944 to in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Harold Burton (OH)-resigned September 30, 1945 to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Raymond Baldwin (CT)-resigned December 17, 1949 to serve on the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors.

 

SENATORS WHO RESIGNED TO TAKE AN OFFICE IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH:

Cordell Hull (TN)-resigned March 3, 1933 to serve as Secretary of State under FDR.

Claude Swanson (VA)-resigned March 3, 1933 to serve as Secretary of Navy under FDR.

Warren Austin (VT)-resigned August 2, 1942 to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. under Truman.

J. Howard McGrath (RI)-resigned August 23, 1949 to serve as Attorney General under Truman. 

William Saxbe (OH)-resigned January 3, 1974 to serve as Attorney General under Nixon and Ford.

Edmund Muskie (ME)-resigned May 7, 1980 to serve as Secretary of State under Carter.

Lloyd Bentsen (TX)-resigned January 20, 1993 to serve as Secretary of Treasury under Clinton. 

 

Sources: Office of the Secretary of the Senate website, Senate Historical Office, Wikipedia

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[1] <https://webmail.barackobama.com/exchange/clu/Drafts/FW:.EML?Cmd=forward&Create=0#_ftnref1>  I based the selection of resignation dates (1933-present) on what I determined to be the inauguration of the "modern presidency"-loosely based around FDR and the ratification of the 20th Amendment. 

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Chris Lu
[email-masked]
312-505-4864 (cell)