List of presidents pro tempore of the Nebraska Senate explained

The president pro tempore of the Nebraska Senate (previously the president of the Nebraska Territorial Council and the president of the Nebraska Senate) was an office in the Nebraska Legislature which existed from 1855 to 1936 when Nebraska had a bicameral legislature. This office was created when the Nebraska Territory was first established and remained after Nebraska became a state.^[1] Under the Nebraska Constitution of 1866, this office was referred to as the president of the Senate since Nebraska had no office of lieutenant governor,^[2] but after the constitution of 1875 was adopted, which provided for a lieutenant governor who was to be the president of the Senate,^[3] this office became known as the president pro tempore (or "temporary president") of the Nebraska Senate.^[4] When Nebraska voters adopted a unicameral legislature beginning in 1937, this office ceased to exist and was replaced by a single speaker of the Nebraska Legislature.

Presidents of the Nebraska Territorial Council

The upper house of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature was called the Nebraska Territorial Council, and its presiding officer was called a president.^[5] Ten individuals served as president of the Nebraska Territorial Council during its twelve sessions^[6] before Nebraska became a state. The office was briefly split when a faction of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature broke off from the meeting at Omaha, Nebraska, and convened at Florence, Nebraska, in January 1858.^[7]

	Name	Session start	Session end	County of residence	Party	Notes
1		Jan 16, 1855	Mar 16, 1855	Richardson
2		Dec 18, 1855	Jan 26, 1856	Burt
3		Jan 5, 1857	Feb 18, 1857	Douglas		Dem^[8]
4		Dec 8, 1857	Jan 16, 1858	Douglas		Dem	Remained president of the minority faction that remained at Omaha^[9]
–		Jan 8, 1858	Jan 16, 1858	Douglas		Dem	Elected president of the majority faction that went to Florence^[10]
5		Sep 21, 1858	Nov 4, 1858	Sarpy		Dem
6		Dec 5, 1859	Jan 13, 1860	Cass		Dem
7		Dec 3, 1860	Jan 11, 1861	Otoe		Rep
8		Dec 2, 1861	Jan 10, 1862	Dakota		Rep
9		Jan 7, 1864	Feb 15, 1864	Washington
10		Jan 5, 1865	Feb 13, 1865	Otoe	Rep	Later served as a Nebraska Supreme Court justice
11		Jan 4, 1866	Feb 12, 1866
12		Jan 10, 1867	Feb 18, 1867	Dodge		Later served as the second president of the Nebraska Senate

Presidents of the Nebraska Senate

After Nebraska became a state in 1867, the upper house of the Nebraska Legislature was called the Nebraska Senate and became the successor to the Territorial Council. Since the Nebraska Constitution of 1866 did not provide for an office of lieutenant governor, it empowered the Nebraska Senate to choose its own presiding officer, called the president of the Senate.

	Name	Tenure	Place of residence	Party	Notes
1		1866	Decatur		Rep
2		1867–1868	Dodge County		Previously served as the last president of the Territorial Council
3		1869–1870	Douglas County		Rep
4		1871	Richardson County		Rep
5		1871–1872	Douglas County		Briefly was acting governor in 1872 as president while Acting Governor William H. James was absent from the state.
6		1873–1874	Omaha		Rep
7		1875	Beatrice		Rep
8		1876	North Platte		Rep

Presidents pro tempore of the Nebraska Senate

When the Nebraska Constitution of 1875 created the office of Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, it declared that "[t]he lieutenant governor shall be president of the senate." The constitution of 1875 additionally provided that "the senate shall choose a temporary president, to preside when the LieutenantGovernor shall not attend as president, or shall act as Governor," thus transforming this office into the office of president pro tempore of the Nebraska Senate. This office was abolished after 1936 when Nebraska adopted a unicameral legislature.

	Name	Tenure	Place of residence	Party^[11]	Notes
9		1877–1878	Fremont		Rep
10		1879–1880	Fremont		Rep
11		1881–1882	Sutton		Rep
12		1883–1884	Kearney		Rep
13		1885–1886	Howe		Rep	Later served as the 15th president pro tempore
14		1887–1888	Fullerton		Rep	Later served as the Nebraska Lieutenant Governor
15		1889–1890	Howe		Rep	Previously served as the 13th president pro tempore
16		1891–1892	Albion		Fus	Later served as Governor of Nebraska
17		1893–1894	Hebron		Rep
18		1895–1896	Nebraska City		Rep	Previously served as the speaker of the Nebraska House of Representatives
19		1897–1898	Omaha		Fus
20		1899–1900	Lincoln		Rep
21		1901–1902	Fairbury		Rep	Served during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor, meaning Steele was considered the acting lieutenant governor by virtue of his being president pro tempore of the Senate
22		1903–1904	Grand Island		Rep
23		1905–1906	Davenport		Rep
24		1907–1908	Omaha		Rep	Later served as the 32nd president pro tempore; son of Alvin Saunders
25		1909–1910	Hastings		Dem
26		1911–1912	Falls City		Dem	Served during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor, meaning Morehead was considered the acting lieutenant governor by virtue of his being president pro tempore of the Senate; later served as Governor of Nebraska
27		1913–1914	Fullerton		Rep
28		1915–1916	Wayne		Dem
29		1917–1918	Nebraska City		Dem
30		1919–1920	Kimball		Rep
31		1921–1922	Seward		Rep
32		1923–1924	Omaha		Rep	Previously served as the 24th president pro tempore; son of Alvin Saunders
33		1925–1926	Omaha		Rep
34		1927–1928	Henderson		Rep
35		1929–1930	Omaha		Rep
36		1931–1932	Norfolk		Rep
37		1933–1934	Bayard		Dem
38		1935	Clay Center		Dem	Resigned from the Nebraska Senate
39		1935–1936	Oakland		Dem

See also

• List of Nebraska state legislatures

Notes and References

1. Book: Nebraska Blue Book 2022-23. State of Nebraska. 2023. 394.
2. Web site: Nebraska Constitution of 1866, Article III, Section 17.
3. Book: The Nebraska Blue Book and Historical Register 1915. Constitution of the State of Nebraska, Article V, Section 17. 168.
4. Book: The Nebraska Blue Book and Historical Register 1915. Constitution of the State of Nebraska, Article III, Section 7. 163.
5. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The First Legislature.
6. Book: The Nebraska Blue Book and Historical Register 1915. Territorial Legislatures. 21-29.
7. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The Florence Secession.
8. Book: History of Nebraska: A Revised Edition. J. Sterling. Morton. Albert. Watkins. 1918. Western Publishing and Engraving Company. 287.
9. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The Florence Secession. Mr. Reeves moved that the Council adjourn to meet at Florence.... President George L. Miller decided that he could not entertain the motion.... Mr. Reeves appealed from this ruling, and, by a vote of 8 nays to 4 ayes, the ruling was not sustained. The President still refused to submit to the dictation of those who were clearly acting in violation of parliamentary practice, as well as law..
10. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The Florence Secession. The seceding branch met at Florence, from which place they addressed a resolution to Acting Gov. Cuming ... [with] the signatures of 'J. H. Decker, Speaker of the House of Representatives,' and 'Leavitt L. Bowen, President of the Council' ....
11. Book: The Nebraska Blue Book 1936. 1936. State of Nebraska. 167. From 1877 to date, both houses have been republican, except in 1891, 1893, and 1907 [''sic'', this should have said 1897], when the populist and democratic parties controlled both houses; in 1909, 1911, 1915, 1917, 1933 and 1935 when both houses were controlled by the democratic party; and in 1913 when the House was democratic and the Senate republican.