Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, announced last week that he will be retiring at the end of his term and not seeking reelection in 2026. The announcement came on his 83rd birthday.
McConnell was first elected in 1984, and has served in the Senate for decades, including as Senate majority leader under President Trump's first administration. He plans to serve out the rest of his term, ending in January 2027. His notice comes roughly a year after he ceded his role as Republican leader in the Senate, ultimately to be replaced by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
In prepared remarks to the Senate floor, McConnell said, "Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate. Every day in between, I’ve been humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me to do their business here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last."
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What is the average age of a U.S. Senator?
Senators tend to skew older than representatives, due partly to laws about age requirements. By law, a person must be at least 30 years old in order to serve as a senator in the United States, while a person need only be at least 25 years old to be a U.S. House representative. Senators take office, on average, at the age of 51.
As of 2025, the average age of actively-serving senators is 64.7 years old (vs. 57.5 years old for a U.S. House representative), according to the Pew Research Center.
Considering all of this, it’s no surprise that several Senators have served well into their 80s and beyond. In fact, the oldest person to ever serve as a senator was Strom Thurmond (R.-S.C.), who was 100 years old when he retired. (Note: in comparison, the median age of the U.S. population is 38.8 years, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau).
Oldest senators in history
Using information from Senate.gov, including the chronological list of senators, and Oldest.org, here's a list of the 12 oldest senators in history, as of Feb. 2025. These senators brought years of experience and leadership to the U.S. Senate.
12. Rebecca Felton (1835-1930)
Oldest age while serving: 87 years, 5 months, 12 days
Political party: Democratic
Tenure: Nov. 21, 1922 – Nov. 22, 1922 (1 day)
11. James Inhofe (1934-)
Oldest age while serving: 88 years, 1 month, 16 days
Political party: Republican
Tenure: Nov. 16, 1994 – Jan. 3, 2023 (29 years)
10. Daniel Akaka (1924-2018)
Oldest age while serving: 88 years, 3 months, 3 days
Political party: Democratic
Tenure: May 16, 1990 – Jan. 3, 2013 (22 years, 7 months, 18 days)
9. Daniel Inouye (1924-2012)
Oldest age while serving: 88 years, 3 months, 10 days
Political party: Democratic
Tenure: Jan. 3, 1963 – Dec. 17, 2012 (49 years, 11 months, 14 days)
8. Carter Glass (1858-1946)
Oldest age while serving: 88 years, 4 months, 24 days
Political party: Democratic
Tenure: Feb. 2, 1920 – May 28, 1946 (26 years, 3 months 26 days)
7. Richard Shelby (1934-)
Oldest age while serving: 88 years, 7 months, 3 days
Political party: Republican
Tenure: Jan. 3, 1987 – Jan. 3, 2023 (36 years)
6. Dianne Feinstein (1933-2023)
Oldest age while serving: 90 years, 3 months, 7 days
Political party: Democratic
Tenure: Nov. 4, 1992 — Sept. 28, 2023 (30 years 10 months 24 days)
5. Carl Hayden (1877-1972)
Oldest age while serving: 91 years, 3 months, 1 day
Political party: Democratic
Tenure: March 4, 1927 – Jan. 3, 1969 (41 years, 10 months)
4. Chuck Grassley (1933-)
Oldest age while serving: 91 years, 5 months, 7 days
Political party: Republican
Tenure: Jan. 3, 1981 – Present (44 years, 1 month, 21 days and counting)
3. Robert Byrd (1917-2010)
Oldest age while serving: 92 years, 7 months, 8 days
Political party: Democratic
Tenure: Jan. 3, 1959 – June 28, 2010 (51 years, 5 months, 26 days)
2. Theodore F. Green (1867-1966)
Oldest age while serving: 93 years, 3 months, 1 day
Political party: Democratic
Tenure: Jan. 3, 1937 – Jan. 3, 1961 (24 years)
1. Strom Thurmond (1902-2003)
Oldest age while serving: 100 years, 29 days
Political party: Democratic until 1964, then Republican
Tenure: Dec. 14, 1954 – April 4, 1956; Nov. 7, 1956 – Jan. 3, 2003 (47 years, 5 months, 8 days)
A brief history of six notable senators
From serving only one day to reaching the age of 100 while still in office, we've highlighted these six individuals who have served their country from the Senate floor.
Mitch McConnell is not running for reelection, an announcement he made on his 83rd birthday (he is roughly the same age as Bernie Sanders). He served as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell served from 2007 to 2025 as the leader of the Senate Republican Conference, including two stints as minority leader (2007 to 2015 and 2021 to 2025), and was majority leader from 2015 to 2021. That makes him the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history. Three times (2015, 2019 and 2023)Time listed McConnell as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Rebecca Ann Felton was an American writer, politician and slave owner, and the first woman to serve in the United States Senate. She served for only one day. At the time, she was the most prominent woman in the state of Georgia and was honored near the end of her life by a symbolic one-day appointment to the Senate. Felton was sworn in on November 21, 1922, and served just 24 hours. At the age of 87, she was the oldest freshman senator to enter the Senate.
Dianne Feinstein was an American politician who was elected in a special election in 1992 and served as a senator from California until her death in 2023. She was California's first female U.S. senator and elected to the senate five times. In the 2012 election, she received 7.86 million votes. Until 2024, that was the most popular votes ever received by any U.S. Senate candidate in history. Feinstein was a member of the Democratic Party and also served as mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.
(James) Strom Thurmond represented South Carolina in the U. S. Senate from 1954 to 2003. He was a member of the Democratic Party until 1964, when he joined the Republican Party. Thurmond served three times as President pro tempore of the United States Senate, and chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1981 to 1987. He was the only member of the Senate to reach the age of 100 while still in office and the oldest-serving senator; he died less than six months later.
Robert Byrd served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A Democrat, he also served as a member of the U.S House of Representatives for six years, from 1953 until 1959. To this day, he remains the longest-serving senator in history. Byrd served as secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus from 1967 to 1971 and as Senate Majority Whip from 1971 to 1977. Over the next 12 years, Byrd led the Democratic caucus as Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader.
Chuck Grassley is in his eighth-term as a U.S. Senator and the senior United States senator from Iowa, serving since 1981. Before becoming a senator, Grassley served three terms in the United States House of Representatives (1975–1981). At the ripe old age of 91 years, 5 months and 7 days, Grassley is the oldest sitting U.S. senator, the longest-serving Republican in congressional history, and the sixth-longest-serving U.S. senator in history.
Who might be the next senators to retire?
The current Congress, the 119th, began on Jan. 3, 2025 and will end on Jan. 3, 2027. So, who is next to retire and call it a day from the Senate? So far, Michigan Democrat Gary Peters and Minnesota Democrat Tina Smith have both said that they are not running for re-election in 2026. Others are expected to announce as the term gets further underway.
Tried and failed term limits?
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found a whopping 87% of Americans say they support congressional term limits — an idea inspired by George Washington when he established the custom of Presidents voluntarily leaving the office after two terms. Washington's decision to step down is prominent in the musical Hamilton, in the song "One Last Time."
In the Broadway musical, Alexander Hamilton confronts Washington with the question, “Why do you have to say goodbye?” Washington replies: “The nation learns to move on. It outlives me when I’m gone.”
Several Presidents since then tried for a third term in office, but none were successful until Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s re-election to a third term in 1940.
Proponents argue that term limits for members of the Senate and House could motivate them to “seize the day” and exercise their power expeditiously on behalf of their constituents. While, defenders of unlimited terms argue that the experience and independence gained from long service cannot be denied — members are most effective and most resistant to special interests when they are most knowledgeable.
In the '90s, several states enacted voter-passed term limits. However, the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton halted the state-led effort, ruling that only a constitutional amendment could implement such changes.
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