Sen. George Vest

Former Senator for Missouri

Vest was a senator from Missouri and was a Democrat. He served from 1891 to 1903.

He was previously a senator from Missouri as a Democrat from Dec 7, 1885 to Mar 3, 1891; and a senator from Missouri as a Democrat from 1879 to Mar 3, 1885.

Bioguide

Photo of Sen. George Vest [D-MO, 1891-1903]

(About Ads | Hide These Ads)

Legislators who enslaved Black people

Vest was among more than 1,800 legislators who enslaved Black people. The Washington Post compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documents. Vest was one of them.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

From Mar 1879 to Mar 1903, Vest missed 1,303 of 4,994 roll call votes, which is 26.1%. This is better than the median of 31.8% among the lifetime records of senators serving in Mar 1903. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1879 Mar-Jul	191	29	15.2%	12^th
Dec 1879-Feb 1880	49	10	20.4%	38^th
1880 Mar-May	127	73	57.5%	75^th
1880 Jun-Jun	39	13	33.3%	50^th
Dec 1880-Mar 1881	164	25	15.2%	0^th
Dec 1881-Mar 1882	96	18	18.8%	23^rd
1882 Apr-Jul	212	28	13.2%	23^rd
1882 Aug-Aug	38	4	10.5%	25^th
Dec 1882-Mar 1883	401	107	26.7%	42^nd
1881 Mar-Mar	178	104	58.4%	77^th
1881 Oct-Oct	61	9	14.8%	15^th
Dec 1883-Feb 1884	65	19	29.2%	38^th
1884 Mar-May	114	43	37.7%	62^nd
1884 Jun-Jul	78	13	16.7%	8^th
Dec 1884-Mar 1885	171	24	14.0%	8^th
Dec 1885-Mar 1886	63	53	84.1%	95^th
1886 Apr-Jul	234	57	24.4%	42^nd
1886 Aug-Aug	12	4	33.3%	53^rd
Dec 1886-Mar 1887	143	28	19.6%	21^st
1885 Mar-Apr	9	1	11.1%	17^th
Dec 1887-Feb 1888	50	6	12.0%	9^th
1888 Mar-May	64	33	51.6%	64^th
1888 Jun-Aug	62	26	41.9%	55^th
1888 Sep-Oct	14	1	7.1%	14^th
Dec 1888-Mar 1889	199	65	32.7%	68^th
Dec 1889-Feb 1890	31	4	12.9%	9^th
1890 Mar-May	114	11	9.6%	0^th
1890 Jun-Aug	150	32	21.3%	25^th
1890 Sep-Sep	79	10	12.7%	30^th
Dec 1890-Mar 1891	143	44	30.8%	46^th
1889 Mar-Apr	9	2	22.2%	43^rd
1892 Jan-Mar	26	3	11.5%	7^th
1892 Apr-Jul	78	4	5.1%	0^th
Dec 1892-Mar 1893	105	29	27.6%	36^th
1893 Aug-Oct	77	7	9.1%	7^th
1894 Jan-Mar	35	9	25.7%	42^nd
1894 Apr-Jul	321	41	12.8%	10^th
1894 Aug-Aug	21	2	9.5%	3^rd
Dec 1894-Mar 1895	101	36	35.6%	68^th
1893 Apr-Apr	6	1	16.7%	21^st
Dec 1895-Feb 1896	36	7	19.4%	24^th
1896 Mar-May	66	9	13.6%	12^th
1896 Jun-Jun	24	4	16.7%	29^th
Dec 1896-Mar 1897	71	24	33.8%	41^st
1897 Mar-Jul	200	37	18.5%	20^th
Dec 1897-Feb 1898	26	5	19.2%	39^th
1898 Mar-May	51	26	51.0%	88^th
1898 Jun-Jul	53	42	79.2%	96^th
Dec 1898-Mar 1899	51	19	37.3%	60^th
Dec 1899-Feb 1900	20	3	15.0%	24^th
1900 Mar-May	57	19	33.3%	39^th
1900 Jun-Jun	12	3	25.0%	43^rd
Dec 1900-Mar 1901	80	53	66.2%	92^nd
Dec 1901-Feb 1902	26	7	26.9%	61^st
1902 Mar-May	49	3	6.1%	12^th
1902 Jun-Jun	23	2	8.7%	31^st
1903 Jan-Mar	18	12	66.7%	86^th
1901 Mar-Mar	1	0	0.0%	0^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress for the photo

Sen. George Vest

Legislators who enslaved Black people

I have an opinion I want to share.

I need help, have a question, or want to schedule a tour.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

Primary Sources