# Rand Paul's Filibuster 9th longest?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-pauls-filibuster-9th-longest/652286
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 7, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-pauls-filibuster-9th-longest/652286 "2013-03-07T13:30:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-pauls-filibuster-9th-longest/652286/1 "2013-03-07T13:30:47Z")
I know what the top 8 filibuster speeches were. But I don’t know after that.
Word has it that Rand Paul’s yesterday might have been the 9th longest. Do we know if that’s true, and how long the 10th longest filibuster speech was? I would be interested to know the top 10.
---
### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-pauls-filibuster-9th-longest/652286/2 "2013-03-07T14:47:06Z")
Here are the top 5 - [http://www.policymic.com/articles/28858/5-longest-filibusters-in-u-s-senate-history](http://www.policymic.com/articles/28858/5-longest-filibusters-in-u-s-senate-history)
---
### Author:  [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-pauls-filibuster-9th-longest/652286/3 "2013-03-07T15:29:56Z")
[The Congressional Databook](http://books.google.com/books?id=HRhwTbdRBlcC&pg=PA282#v=onepage&q&f=false) rather categorically cites the eight longest filibuster speeches as:
1. Strom Thurmond (1957) - 24h 18m
2. Wayne Morse (1953) - 22h 26m
3. William Proxmire (1961) - 19h 6m
4. Robert LaFollette (1908) - 18h 23m
5. William Proxmire (1981) - 16h 12m
6. Huey Long (1935) - 15h 30m
7. Alfonse D’Amato (1992) - 15h 14m
8. Robert Byrd (1964) - 14h 13m
However, other references - **Telemerk** ’s, for example - add Alfonse D’Amato’s 1986 speech (at 23h 30m) in spot number 2. I guess that makes for the top nine, although the fact that the somehow omitting the second-longest speech of all time (and **Telemerk** ’s reference omits one of the Proxmire speeches) makes me think that the tally is still uncertain.
In addition, the origin of the list-of-eight seems to be in [this 1992 book, authored by no less than Robert Byrd](http://books.google.com/books?id=PeHByMYxVm8C&pg=PA477#v=onepage&q&f=false), which has the same list, but titled “Longest Senate Speeches (since 1900)[sup]1[/sup],” the parenthetical note being omitted in essentially every other cite. The footnote (1) states that “in the 19th century, Senators were noted for delivering long speeches, sometimes lasting for several days, but because it is not possible to determine the exact lenght fro mthe printed record, this table is confined to the 20th century.”
So I think the answer to your question is “no one knows, and moreover, no one knows what the top eight longest filibuster speeches were, either.”