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Our 45th President Barack Obama served as a Senator from Illinois from 2005-2008 before running for President!

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George Bush served in the Navy during World War II. In 1966, he was elected to Congress from Texas and later served as the leader of the Republican party and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He served as Vice President under Ronald Reagan and then was elected President in 1988. He lost his re-election attempt to Bill Clinton in 1992. He later celebrated his 90th birthday... by skydiving!

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Richard Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives after World War II and then to the Senate in 1950. He became Vice President under Eisenhower and ran for President himself in 1960, losing to John F. Kennedy. Nixon ran again in 1968 and won, serving until 1974 - when he became the only U.S. President to resign from office.

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Joe Biden began his service in the Senate in 1973 until he became Obama's VP in 2009. For you mathematicians out there, THAT IS A LONG TIME! He was famous for taking the Amtrak train from Washington, D.C. to his home in Delaware! He's going to be sworn in as President on Jan. 20, 2021.

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Before he became President, Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer from Kentucky. In 1846, he was elected to the House of Representatives. In 1860, he ran for President and won. He led the United States during the Civil War, in which he managed to preserve the country and free the slaves. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.

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Senator Kamala Harris California (D) and VP-Elect

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Senator Kamala Harris California (D) and VP-Elect

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Senator Harris was born in Oakland, CA. She's been a Senator from that state since 2017. She was the 2nd African-American woman and first South Asian woman to be elected to the Senate. She will be the next Vice President of the United States in Jan 2021.

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If there was a King of Congress, it'd be LBJ. There's not, of course, because this is a democracy. Before he was president, Lyndon B. Johnson served a total of 24 years in Congress. 1937-1949 as the Representative of TX-5 and 1949-1961 as a Senator from Texas.

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First African American Woman to be elected Senator

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First woman to be elected to the House of Representatives

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First African-American to be elected to the House of Representatives

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First openly LGBTQ+ member to be elected to Congress.

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First Asian American elected as a voting member of House of Representatives. California 1957-1963

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One of first two Native American women and openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Kansas.

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One of two first Native American women elected to Congress.

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Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was the youngest woman elected to the House of Reps at 29 years old. She is a leading progressive voice who uses social media platforms to encourage people to be engaged in government and understand how it works.

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Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) 

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Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) 

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The first two Muslim American women elected to Congress 2018.  They are two members of the so-called Squad with Representatives Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez. They face frequent criticism from Republicans, especially Donald Trump. They are vocal about their opposition to his administration!

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EXPLORE THIS ARTICLE!

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The midterm elections are behind us and a new class of congressmen and women will start governing on Jan. 3, 2019. We looked at the newest additions to the House and Senate - 100 non-incumbent winners* - and found their average age is 49. That makes this incoming class the youngest in the past three cycles. It is also the most diverse cohort to date. *We did not include nonvoting delegates from American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and the Virgin Islands. We also did not include Congress-elects that won special elections.

64 of the new members are Democrats
60 in the House | 4 in the Senate

36 of the new members are Republicans
30 in the House | 6 in the Senate

40 of the new members are women
36 in the House | 4 in the Senate

60 of the new members are men
55 in the House | 5 in the Senate

At least 25 of the new members elected to the House this cycle are Hispanic, Native American and people of color. All of the newly elected senators are white.

History-makers:
Marsha Blackburn is the first woman elected senator from Tennessee.
Sharice Davids (KS-03) and Debra Haaland (NM-01) are the first two Native American women elected to Congress. Davids is the first openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Kansas.

Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) are the first two Latinas elected to Congress from Texas.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) is the youngest woman elected to Congress. She is 29.
Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) are the first two Muslim American women elected to Congress. Omar will also be the first member of Congress to wear a headscarf and first woman of color elected to Congress from Minnesota.

Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) is the first black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts.
Jahana Hayes (CT-05) is the first black Democratic woman elected to Congress from Connecticut.
Kyrsten Sinema is the first woman elected senator from Arizona, and first openly bisexual person elected to the Senate.

It is a highly educated group. More than 70 percent of the freshman class went to graduate school. A third of them have law degrees and 15 have MBAs. Seven freshmen earned at least two graduate degrees. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has four.

At least 19 members of the incoming class have served in the military. Six served in the Army, 11 in the Navy, and two in the Air Force.

The newest members of the 116th Congress have a diverse résumé. There are at least four former professional athletes: two NFL football players, one professional hockey player, and one mixed martial arts fighter.

There are at least five medical professionals: three doctors, one dentist, and one nurse.

Five worked in education or were teachers.

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Congress's incoming class is younger, bluer, and more diverse than ever

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The midterm elections are behind us and a new class of congressmen and women will start governing on Jan. 3, 2019. We looked at the newest additions to the House and Senate - 100 non-incumbent winners* - and found their average age is 49. That makes this incoming class the youngest in the past three cycles.

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OPTIONAL!  READ IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE! 

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OPTIONAL!  READ IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE! 

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"In 116th Congress, at least 13% of lawmakers are immigrants or children of immigrants"

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Immigrants and children of immigrants account for at least 13% of all voting members of the newly sworn in 116th Congress. These lawmakers claim heritage in 37 countries - mostly in Europe, Latin America and Asia - and are overwhelmingly Democrats, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of members' biographical information obtained from news articles, congressional offices and other sources.

There are 52 immigrants and children of immigrants serving in the House of Representatives and 16 serving in the Senate. Counting both chambers, 57 of the 68 lawmakers who are immigrants or children of immigrants are Democrats. Ten others are Republicans, and one - Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont - is an independent.

November's elections did not substantially change the share of immigrants and children of immigrants in Congress. In the last Congress, 12% of all voting members fell into this category, a slightly lower share than in the current Congress. While two immigrants and six children of immigrants from the 115th Congress are no longer serving, four of these members' seats were filled by lawmakers who also are immigrants or children of immigrants.

While at least 13% of voting members in Congress are immigrants or children of immigrants, relatively few of these are foreign born: 13 in the House, and just one - Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii - in the Senate. These 14 immigrant lawmakers represent just 3% of all voting members in both chambers, a slight uptick from recent Congresses but substantially below the foreign-born share of Congresses many decades ago. (For example, about 10% of members in the first and much smaller Congress of 1789-91 were foreign born. About a century later, in the 50th Congress of 1887-89, 8% of members were born abroad, according to a previous analysis.) The current share of foreign-born lawmakers in Congress is also far below the foreign-born share of the United States as a whole, which was 13.5% as of 2016.

Immigrants and children of immigrants represent 24 states, with nearly half representing Western states. California has by far the most: 19 of the state's 55 members are immigrants or children of immigrants. (Five members of Illinois' delegation are immigrants or children of immigrants, the second-highest total of any state.) Looked at another way, more than a quarter of all members of Congress who are immigrants or children of immigrants represent California.

Europe is the most common origin region

Europe is the most common origin region for immigrant lawmakers or those who are children of immigrants: About one-third (32%) have roots in countries there. Roughly one-in-five (22%) immigrants and children of immigrants in Congress hail from countries in Latin America, and most of these - 13 - have immigrant roots in Mexico. Asia follows with 19% and the Caribbean with 18%. Collectively, 74% of immigrants and children of immigrants in Congress have origins in countries in Europe, Latin America or Asia.

Much smaller shares claim heritage in countries in the Middle East, North America and sub-Saharan Africa - each below 10%. (Some lawmakers in this analysis are tallied under more than one country and region. For example, Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., is the child of a Caribbean father and a European mother.)

Several lawmakers are immigrants who came to the U.S. with family to evade oppressive regimes or violence in other countries. Newly elected Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, and fled with her family in 1991 after the country's civil war started. Her family spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya and later moved to America, where she became a citizen in 2000. Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., was born in communist Poland before coming to the U.S. at age 6 with his mother.

Others had parents who fled their native countries. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., was born to a Polish mother who survived the Holocaust and came to the U.S. in 1950. Rep. Joe Neguse, also a Democrat representing Colorado, was born to Eritrean parents who fled their country in 1980 when it was embroiled in war with Ethiopia.

Under the U.S. Constitution, an immigrant taking office in the House must be a U.S. citizen for seven years or more, age 25 or older and living in the state where he or she is elected. Nine years of citizenship are required to serve in the Senate, and the person must be 30 or older and live in the represented state when elected.

In this analysis, we examined lawmakers' birthplaces and parentage through news stories, obituaries, candidate statements, and congressional and genealogical records, as well as contacting congressional staff. Our count does not include members of Congress who were born outside the U.S. to American parents and gained U.S. citizenship after meeting legal requirements. Our tally also does not include members who were born (or whose parents were born) in U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico, nor on U.S. military bases out of the country. In addition, one disputed seat in the House - North Carolina's 9th District - is not included in the total number of voting seats.

If you know of an additional legislator not included on our list, send us an email at facttank@pewresearch.org.
Research assistant Virginia Villa contributed to this analysis.
Immigrants, children of immigrants in the 116th U.S. Congress

Name

Immigrant or child of an immigrant

Parent's or member's country of origin

Party

Office

State

Note: As of Jan. 23, 2019. Though included in this analysis, the Palestinian territories are not recognized as an independent state by the U.S. State Department.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, news reports, genealogical records and members' published comments, websites and staff.

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In 116th Congress, at least 13% of lawmakers are immigrants or the children of immigrants

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Immigrants and children of immigrants account for at least 13% of all voting members of the newly sworn in 116th Congress. These lawmakers claim heritage in 37 countries - mostly in Europe, Latin America and Asia - and are overwhelmingly Democrats, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of members' biographical information obtained from news articles, congressional offices and other sources.

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What is one way that the 116th Congress became more diverse? How do you think that will impact future laws in our country?

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Why would it be a good thing for a president to first be a representative in Congress?

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1870-1871 Hiram Rhodes Revels
1875-1881 Blanche Bruce
1967-1979 Edward Brooke
1993-1999 Carol Moseley Braun
2005-2008 Barack Obama
2009-2010 Roland Burris
2013-2013 Mo Cowan
2013- Present Tim Scott
2013- Present Cory Booker
2017- 2020 VP-Elect Kamala Harris

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Sen. Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo (NM) (1928-1929)

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Sen. Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo (NM) (1928-1929)

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First Mexican American and first Latino U.S. Senator.

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First Latin American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She served from 1983-1997

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First African American Woman elected to House from State of Missouri. Single mother, nurse, BLM activist. Elected in 2020 election.

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Nancy Pelosi is the first woman to be Speaker of the House (the most powerful position in the House of Representatives.)

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Longest filibuster (when a member talks nonstop to prevent the Senate from being able to vote/debate a bill). Spoke for over 24 hrs to prevent the 1957 Civil Rights Bill. He even relieved himself by urinating in a bucket held by an intern so that he could continue the filibuster. 2 points to the next person who tells me not to filibuster when I'm talking past 35 minutes!!!

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Among of the youngest people elected to the House of Representatives.

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Rep. Paul Ryan (Former Speaker of the House)

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Rep. Paul Ryan (Former Speaker of the House)

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Paul Ryan served as the Representative of Wisconsin's first district from 2009-2019. He was among the first Senators to be featured and photographed flexing for Men's Health magazine. Kind of weird!

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Mondaire Jones (D) (NY-17) and Ritchie Torres (D) (NY-15)

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Mondaire Jones (D) (NY-17) and Ritchie Torres (D) (NY-15)

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These two newly elected Representatives are the first openly gay Black men to serve in Congress.
Rep. Jones is from NY, son of a single mother. He "dreamed big" and attended Stanford University and Harvard Law School!
Rep. Torres is 33 years young and served as a representative in his local government - the NYC Council.
Both men were elected in November 2020.

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Longest serving member currently in the House of Representatives. More like Don Old, amiright?

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Sen Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D) MT

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Sen Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D) MT

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He served as the Senator from Montana from 1953 - 1977. Senator Mansfield was the longest serving Senate Majority leader ever! In that role, he successfully avoided attempts from Southern Legislators to stop civil rights legislation and was the majority leader during the passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act! He dropped out of high school at 14 to join the Navy, lied about his age, and served in WWI until his age was discovered and he was sent home.

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He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, before Hawaii became a U.S. State. He was a medical volunteer during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and served in the war. He was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was elected to the Senate in 1962 and served for 50 years!

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What is surprising, interesting, or troubling to you from the information above? Why?