President of the Massachusetts Senate
Presiding officer
The president of the Massachusetts Senate is the presiding officer. Unlike the United States Congress , in which the vice president of the United States is the ex officio president of the United States Senate , in Massachusetts , the president of the Senate is elected from and by the senators. The president, therefore, typically comes from the majority party, and the president is then the de facto leader of that party.
The current president of the Massachusetts Senate , since July 26, 2018, is Karen Spilka , a Democrat from Ashland . Democrats have had a majority in the Senate since 1959.[ 1] Notable former presidents of the Massachusetts Senate include U.S. president Calvin Coolidge .
List of presidents of the Massachusetts Senate
#
President
Picture
Term
Party
Notes
1st
Thomas Cushing
October 25, 1780 – November 4, 1780[ 2]
Cushing was elected as the first president of the Massachusetts Senate, he resigned on November 4, 1780 because he was elected the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts .[ 2]
2nd
Jeremiah Powell
November 4, 1780[ 2] – 1782
3rd
Samuel Adams
1782–1785
4th
Samuel Phillips
1785–87 1788–1801 1801–02
F
5th
Samuel Adams
1787–1788
6th
David Cobb
1801–02 1802–05
F
Served as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's at-large congressional seat from March 4, 1793 – March 4, 1795.
7th
Harrison Gray Otis
1805–06
F
8th
John Bacon
1806–1807
DR
9th
Samuel Dana
1807–1808
DR
10th
Harrison Gray Otis
1808–1811
F
11th
Samuel Dana
1811–1813
DR
12th
John Phillips
1813–1823
Served as the first Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts .
13th
Nathaniel Silsbee
1823–1826
F
14th
John Mills
1826–1828
15th
Sherman Leland
1828–1829
16th
Samuel Lathrop
1829–1831
F
17th
James Fowler
1830–1831
18th
Leverett Saltonstall
1831
W
19th
William Thorndike
1832
20th
Benjamin T. Pickman
1833–1835
21st
George Bliss
1835
22nd
Horace Mann
1836–1837
W
23rd
Myron Lawrence
1838–1839
W
24th
Daniel P. King
1840–1841
W
25th
Josiah Quincy Jr.
1842
W
26th
Phineas W. Leland
1843
D
27th
Frederick Robinson
1843
D
28th
Josiah Quincy Jr.
1844
W
29th
Levi Lincoln Jr.
1845
DR
30th
William B. Calhoun
1846–1847
W
31st
Zeno Scudder
1848
W
32nd
Joseph M. Bell
1849
W
33rd
Marshall Pinckney Wilder
1850
W
34th
Henry Wilson
1851–1852
FS
Was the 18th Vice President of the United States (1873–1875) and a Senator from Massachusetts (1855–1873).
35th
Charles Henry Warren
1853
Whig
36th
Charles Edward Cook
1854
37th
Henry W. Benchley
1855
A
38th
Elihu C. Baker
1856
A
39th
Charles W. Upham
1857–1858
W
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 6th district from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1855.
40th
Charles Abner Phelps
1859–1860
R [ 3]
Also served as the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1856.
41st
William Claflin
1861
R
Also served as the 27th Governor of Massachusetts from 1869–1872, and as a member of the United States Congress from 1877–1881.
42nd
John Henry Clifford
1862
R
Also served as the Massachusetts Attorney General and, from 1853 to 1854, as the 21st Governor of Massachusetts .
43rd
Jonathan E. Field
1863–1865
R
44th
Joseph Adams Pond
1866 – October 28, 1867
Died in office at age 40.
45th
George O. Brastow
1868–1869
Also served as a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council , and as the first Mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts .
46th
Robert Carter Pitman
1869
Resigned
47th
George O. Brastow
1869
Also served as a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council , and as the first Mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts .
48th
Horace Hopkins Coolidge
1870–1872
49th
George B. Loring
1873–1876
R
50th
John B. D. Cogswell
1877–1879
R
51st
Robert R. Bishop
1880–1882
R
52nd
George Glover Crocker
1883
R
53rd
George A. Bruce
1884
R
Also served as the fourth Mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts .
54th
Albert E. Pillsbury
1885–1886
R
Served as the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1891 to 1894. Drafted original bylaws of the NAACP .
55th
Halsey J. Boardman
1887–1888
R
56th
Harris C. Hartwell
1889
R
57th
Henry H. Sprague
1890–1891
R
58th
Alfred S. Pinkerton
1892–1893
R
59th
William M. Butler
1894–1895
R
Also served as United States Senator from Massachusetts from November 13, 1924 to December 6, 1926 and was chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1924 to 1928.
60th
George P. Lawrence
1896–1897
R
61st
George E. Smith
1898–1900
R
62nd
Rufus A. Soule
1901–1902
R
63rd
George R. Jones
1903–1904
R
64th
William F. Dana [ 4]
1905–1906
R
65th
William D. Chapple
1907–1908
R
66th
Allen T. Treadway
1909–1911
R
Served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1913 until January 3, 1945.
67th
Levi H. Greenwood
1912–1913
R
68th
Calvin Coolidge
1914–1915
R
Later served as the 30th President of the United States (1923–1929).
69th
Henry Gordon Wells
1916–1918
R
70th
Edwin T. McKnight
1919–1920
R
71st
Frank G. Allen
1921–1924
R
Also was the 51st Governor of Massachusetts.
72nd
Wellington Wells
1925–1928
R
73rd
Gaspar G. Bacon
1929–1932
R
74th
Erland F. Fish
1933–1934
R
75th
James G. Moran
1935–1936
R
Elected by 19 Democrats and 1 Republican.[ 5]
76th
Samuel H. Wragg
1937–1938
R
77th
Joseph R. Cotton
1939–1940
R
78th
Angier L. Goodwin
1941
R
79th
Jarvis Hunt
1942–1944
R
80th
Arthur W. Coolidge
1945–1946
R
81st
Donald W. Nicholson
1947
R
82nd
Harris S. Richardson
1948
R
83rd
Chester A. Dolan Jr.
1949
D
Harris S. Richardson
1950
R
84th
Richard I. Furbush
1951–1956
R
85th
Newland H. Holmes
1957–1958
R
86th
John E. Powers
1959–1964
D
87th
Maurice A. Donahue
1964–1971
D
88th
Kevin B. Harrington
1971–1978
D
89th
William Bulger
1978–1996
D
90th
Tom Birmingham
1996–2003
D
91st
Robert Travaglini
2003–2007
D
92nd
Therese Murray
2007–2015
D
93rd
Stan Rosenberg
2015–2017
D
94th
Harriette L. Chandler
2017–2018
D
95th
Karen Spilka
2018–
D
A = American , D = Democratic , R = Republican , W = Whig
See also
Notes
^ Boston Globe , September 21, 1988
^ a b c Massachusetts General Court - Senate (January 1, 1879), The Journal of the Senate for the year 1879 , Boston, Massachusetts : Massachusetts General Court - Senate, p. 5
^ Brown, Edgar M. (1859), Annual Register of the Executive and Legislative Department of the Government of Massachusetts, 1859 , Boston, Massachusetts : Alfred Mudge & Son Printers, p. 4.
^ "William Franklin Dana" . New England Historical and Genealogical Register . 1922.
^ Merrill, John (January 11, 1935). "Moran Wins in Senate, Faints". The Boston Daily Globe .
Bibliography
The Massachusetts State House , p. 141-42. Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Boston, 1953.
External links
Legislative Executive Judicial Independent agencies Law