List of Governors of Michigan
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The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. His/her powers and responsibilities are provided for under Article V of the Constitution of Michigan. Rick Snyder is the incumbent governor, having taken office on January 1, 2011.
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[edit] Courtesy title
The governor of Michigan traditionally receives the courtesy title of His/Her Excellency, though it has fallen out of use in recent years. [1] More commonly, the governor, as with other elected state office-holders, is addressed as The Honorable (abbreviated The Hon. or Hon.).
[edit] Territorial governors
Prior to becoming its own territory, parts of Michigan were part of Northwest Territory (see List of Governors of Ohio), Indiana Territory (see List of Governors of Indiana) and Illinois Territory (see List of Governors of Illinois).
The following are governors of the Territory of Michigan and the State of Michigan.
Name | Dates served |
---|---|
William Hull | March 1, 1805 to October 29, 1813 |
Lewis Cass | October 29, 1813 to August 6, 1831 |
George Bryan Porter | August 6, 1831 to July 6, 1834 |
Stevens T. Mason[1] | July 6, 1834 to September 15, 1835 |
John S. Horner[2] | September 15, 1835 to July 3, 1836 |
[edit] State governors
From statehood until the election of 1966, governors were elected to two-year terms. Elections are held in November and the governor assumes office the following January, except in the case of death or resignation. From statehood until 1851, elections were held in odd-numbered years. A new state constitution was drafted in 1850 and took effect in 1851. As part of the process bringing the constitution into effect, there was a single one-year term of governor in 1851. Thereafter elections were held on even years.
The constitution adopted in 1963 changed the governor's term to four years, starting in 1967. Since then, gubernatorial elections have been offset by two years from U.S. Presidential elections (e.g., Presidential elections were in 2000 and 2004, gubernatorial elections were in 1998 and 2002). The winner of the gubernatorial election takes office at noon on January 1 of the year following the election.
In 1992, an amendment to the Constitution of Michigan imposed a lifetime term limit of two four-year terms for the office of governor. Prior to this, they were not limited as to how many terms they could serve. John Engler, who was in the midst of his first term as Governor when the governor at the time, was allowed to run for two more terms in 1994 and 1998 before being prevented from running again in 2002.
# | Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Lt. Governor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Stevens T. Mason[2] | October 6, 1835 | January 7, 1840 | Democratic | Edward Mundy | |
2 | William Woodbridge | January 7, 1840 | February 23, 1841 | Whig | J. Wright Gordon | [3] |
3 | J. Wright Gordon | February 23, 1841 | January 3, 1842 | Whig | Thomas J. Drake | [4] |
4 | John S. Barry | January 3, 1842 | January 5, 1846 | Democratic | Origen D. Richardson | |
5 | Alpheus Felch | January 5, 1846 | March 3, 1847 | Democratic | William L. Greenly | [3] |
6 | William L. Greenly | March 4, 1847 | January 3, 1848 | Democratic | Charles P. Bush | [4] |
7 | Epaphroditus Ransom | January 3, 1848 | January 7, 1850 | Democratic | William M. Fenton | |
8 | John S. Barry | January 7, 1850 | January 1, 1852 | Democratic | William M. Fenton | |
9 | Robert McClelland[5] | January 1, 1852 | March 7, 1853 | Democratic | Calvin Britain | [6] |
Andrew Parsons | ||||||
10 | Andrew Parsons | March 8, 1853 | January 3, 1855 | Democratic | George Griswold | [4] |
11 | Kinsley S. Bingham | January 3, 1855 | January 5, 1859 | Republican | George Coe | |
12 | Moses Wisner | January 5, 1859 | January 2, 1861 | Republican | Edmund B. Fairfield | |
13 | Austin Blair | January 2, 1861 | January 3, 1865 | Republican | James M. Birney | |
Joseph R. Williams | ||||||
Henry T. Backus | ||||||
Charles S. May | ||||||
14 | Henry H. Crapo | January 3, 1865 | January 6, 1869 | Republican | Ebenezer Grosvenor | |
Dwight May | ||||||
15 | Henry P. Baldwin | January 6, 1869 | January 1, 1873 | Republican | Morgan Bates | |
16 | John J. Bagley | January 1, 1873 | January 3, 1877 | Republican | Henry H. Holt | |
17 | Charles Croswell | January 3, 1877 | January 1, 1881 | Republican | Alonzo Sessions | |
18 | David Jerome | January 1, 1881 | January 1, 1883 | Republican | Moreau S. Crosby | |
19 | Josiah Begole | January 1, 1883 | January 1, 1885 | Democratic | Moreau S. Crosby | |
20 | Russell Alger | January 1, 1885 | January 1, 1887 | Republican | Archibald Buttars | |
21 | Cyrus G. Luce | January 1, 1887 | January 1, 1891 | Republican | James H. MacDonald | |
William Ball | ||||||
22 | Edwin B. Winans | January 1, 1891 | January 1, 1893 | Democratic | John Strong | |
23 | John T. Rich | January 1, 1893 | January 1, 1897 | Republican | J. Wight Giddings | |
Alfred Milnes | ||||||
Joseph R. McLaughlin | ||||||
24 | Hazen S. Pingree | January 1, 1897 | January 1, 1901 | Republican | Thomas B. Dunstan | |
Orrin W. Robinson | ||||||
25 | Aaron T. Bliss | January 1, 1901 | January 1, 1905 | Republican | Orrin W. Robinson | |
Alexander Maitland | ||||||
26 | Fred M. Warner | January 1, 1905 | January 2, 1911 | Republican | Alexander Maitland | |
Patrick H. Kelley | ||||||
27 | Chase Osborn | January 2, 1911 | January 1, 1913 | Republican | John Q. Ross | |
28 | Woodbridge Nathan Ferris | January 1, 1913 | January 1, 1917 | Democratic | John Q. Ross | |
Luren Dickinson | ||||||
29 | Albert Sleeper | January 1, 1917 | January 1, 1921 | Republican | Luren Dickinson | |
30 | Alex Groesbeck | January 1, 1921 | January 1, 1927 | Republican | Thomas Read | |
George W. Welsh | ||||||
31 | Fred Green | January 1, 1927 | January 1, 1931 | Republican | Luren Dickinson | |
32 | Wilber Marion Brucker | January 1, 1931 | January 1, 1933 | Republican | Luren Dickinson | |
33 | William Comstock | January 1, 1933 | January 1, 1935 | Democratic | Allen E. Stebbins | |
34 | Frank Fitzgerald | January 1, 1935 | January 1, 1937 | Republican | Thomas Read | |
35 | Frank Murphy | January 1, 1937 | January 1, 1939 | Democratic | Leo J. Nowicki | |
36 | Frank Fitzgerald | January 1, 1939 | March 16, 1939 | Republican | Luren Dickinson | [7] |
37 | Luren Dickinson | March 16, 1939 | January 1, 1941 | Republican | Matilda Dodge Wilson | [4] |
38 | Murray Van Wagoner | January 1, 1941 | January 1, 1943 | Democratic | Frank Murphy | |
39 | Harry Kelly | January 1, 1943 | January 1, 1947 | Republican | Eugene C. Keyes | |
Vernon J. Brown | ||||||
40 | Kim Sigler | January 1, 1947 | January 1, 1949 | Republican | Eugene C. Keyes | |
41 | G. Mennen Williams | January 1, 1949 | January 1, 1961 | Democratic | John W. Connolly | |
William C. Vandenberg | ||||||
Clarence A. Reid | ||||||
Philip A. Hart | ||||||
John B. Swainson | ||||||
42 | John Swainson | January 1, 1961 | January 1, 1963 | Democratic | T. John Lesinski | |
43 | George W. Romney | January 1, 1963 | January 22, 1969 | Republican | T. John Lesinski | [8] |
William Milliken | ||||||
44 | William Milliken | January 22, 1969 | January 1, 1983 | Republican | Thomas F. Schweigert | [9] |
James H. Brickley | ||||||
James Damman | ||||||
James H. Brickley | ||||||
45 | James Blanchard | January 1, 1983 | January 1, 1991 | Democratic | Martha Griffiths | |
46 | John Engler | January 1, 1991 | January 1, 2003 | Republican | Connie Binsfeld | [10] |
Dick Posthumus | ||||||
47 | Jennifer Granholm | January 1, 2003 | January 1, 2011 | Democratic | John D. Cherry, Jr. | |
48 | Rick Snyder | January 1, 2011 | Incumbent | Republican | Brian Calley |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ George Bryan Porter died in office on July 6, 1834. Territorial Secretary, Stevens T. Mason, was authorized to become Acting Governor, though there was no formal succession and he was never officially named as Territorial Governor.
- ^ a b On August 29, 1835, in order to appease Ohio over the Toledo War border dispute, President Andrew Jackson appointed Charles Shuler, a judge in Pennsylvania, to replace Stevens T. Mason as Secretary and Acting Governor. Shuler declined the appointment. On September 15, Jackson appointed John S. Horner as Secretary and Acting Governor to replace Mason, though Horner did not commence his duties until September 21, 1835. In October 1835, Michigan authorized a state constitution and elected Mason as governor of the new state, although the U.S. Congress did not recognize the state until 1837. Horner was mostly ignored by the people of Michigan and he became Secretary of Wisconsin Territory in July 1836.
- ^ a b Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
- ^ a b c d As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term.
- ^ After a new state constitution was drafted in 1850, McClelland was elected to a single one-year term in 1851. He was then re-elected to a full two-year term in 1852.
- ^ Resigned to become United States Secretary of the Interior.
- ^ Died in office.
- ^ Resigned to become United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
- ^ As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term, and was later elected in his own right.
- ^ Binsfeld served during the first two terms; Posthumus served the third term.
[edit] Other high offices held
This is a table of congressional and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Michigan. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.
[edit] Living former governors
As of April 2011[update], four former governors were alive, the oldest being William Milliken (1969–1983, born 1922). The most recent governor to die was George W. Romney (1963–1969), on July 26, 1995.
Name | Gubernatorial term | Date of birth | Age |
---|---|---|---|
William Milliken | 1969–1983 | March 26, 1922 | 90 |
James Blanchard | 1983–1991 | August 8, 1942 | 69 |
John Engler | 1991–2003 | October 12, 1948 | 63 |
Jennifer Granholm | 2003–2011 | February 5, 1959 | 53 |
[edit] External links
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