Barring something completely unforeseen it appears as if our next President will be a sitting United States Senator.
Only two men were ever elected President directly from the U.S. Senate. The first was Warren G. Harding, who served in the Senate from March 4, 1915, until his resignation, effective January 13, 1921, having been elected President.
The other sitting Senator to ascend to the presidency was John F. Kennedy, who served in the Senate from January 3, 1953 to December 22, 1960, when he resigned to become President.
In an interesting twist President Garfield had a connection to the U.S. Senate.
As was the practice until the Constitution was amended in 1913 to provide for direct election of U.S. Senators, the Ohio state legislature elected Garfield on January 13, 1880 to serve as a U.S. Senator. His Senate term was to have begun in March of the following year. Garfield never served in the Senate, however, having been elected U.S. President in the interim. On the day he would have started his Senate service, March 4, 1881, he was instead attending his inauguration as President.
As was the practice until the Constitution was amended in 1913 to provide for direct election of U.S. Senators, the Ohio state legislature elected Garfield on January 13, 1880 to serve as a U.S. Senator. His Senate term was to have begun in March of the following year. Garfield never served in the Senate, however, having been elected U.S. President in the interim. On the day he would have started his Senate service, March 4, 1881, he was instead attending his inauguration as President.
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