List of Governors of Pennsylvania

Governor of Pennsylvania
Flag of the Governor
Incumbent Tom Corbett since January 18, 2011
Residence	Governor's Residence
Term length	Four years, can succeed self once
Inaugural holder	Thomas Mifflin
Formation	December 21, 1790
Deputy	Jim Cawley
Salary	$174,914 (2010)[1]
Website	governor.state.pa.us

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the head of the executive branch of Pennsylvania's government^[2] and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.^[3]

The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to approve or veto bills passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature.^[4] and to convene the legislature.^[5] The governor may grant pardons except in cases of impeachment, but only when recommended by the Board of Pardons.^[6]

There have been seven presidents and 46 governors of Pennsylvania, with two governors serving non-consecutive terms, totaling 55 terms in both offices. The longest term was that of the first governor, Thomas Mifflin, who served three full terms as governor in addition to two years as president. The shortest term belonged to John Bell, who served only 19 days as acting governor after his predecessor resigned. The current governor is Tom Corbett, whose term began on January 18, 2011.

Governors

Pennsylvania was one of the original thirteen colonies, and was admitted as a state on December 12, 1787. Prior to declaring its independence, Pennsylvania was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain; see the list of colonial governors for the pre-statehood period.

Presidents of the Supreme Executive Council

Benjamin Franklin, sixth President of Pennsylvania, and first U.S. Postmaster General

The first constitution in 1776 created the Supreme Executive Council as the executive branch, with the President as its head.^[7] The president was chosen annually by the council, though with no specific term dates.^[8]

The original 1776 constitution created the position of "vice-president", though no provision was made if the office of president became vacant, which occurred four times. Contemporary sources continue to label the chief executive in such times as the vice president, without any notion of succeeding to the presidency. One acting president, George Bryan, has since been recognized as a full-fledged governor, due to his acting as president for over six months.

#	President	Took office	Left office	Vice President
1	Thomas Wharton Jr.	March 5, 1777	May 23, 1778 [note 1]	George Bryan
2	George Bryan	May 23, 1778	December 1, 1778	acting as president [note 2]
3	Joseph Reed	December 1, 1778	November 15, 1781	George Bryan [note 3]
				Matthew Smith [note 3]
				William Moore
4	William Moore	November 15, 1781	November 7, 1782	James Potter
5	John Dickinson	November 7, 1782	October 18, 1785	James Ewing
				James Irvine [note 3]
				Charles Biddle
6	Benjamin Franklin	October 18, 1785	November 5, 1788	Charles Biddle
				Peter Muhlenberg [note 3]
				David Redick
7	Thomas Mifflin	November 5, 1788	December 21, 1790	George Ross

Governors of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Thomas Mifflin, last President and first Governor of Pennsylvania Thomas McKean, second Governor of Pennsylvania, President of Delaware, and President of the Continental Congress Andrew Gregg Curtin, 15th Governor of Pennsylvania, and United States Ambassador to Russia John W. Geary, 16th Governor of Pennsylvania, and first mayor of San Francisco, California William Scranton, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania, and Ambassador to the United Nations Dick Thornburgh, 41st Governor of Pennsylvania, and U.S. Attorney General Tom Ridge, 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania, and first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security

The 1790 constitution abolished the council and replaced the president with a governor,^[9] and established a three-year term for governor commencing on the third Tuesday of the December following the election, with governors not allowed to serve more than nine out of any twelve years.^[10] The 1838 constitution moved the start of the term to the third Tuesday of the January following the election, and allowed governors to only serve six out of any nine years.^[11] The 1874 constitution lengthened the term to four years, and prohibited governors from succeeding themselves.^[12] The current constitution of 1968 changed this to allow governors to serve two consecutive terms.^[13] There are no limits on the number of terms a governor may serve in total as long as there is a four year break after a second term.

If the office of governor becomes vacant through death, resignation, or conviction on impeachment, the lieutenant governor becomes governor for the remainder of the term; if the office is only temporarily vacant due to disability of the governor, the lieutenant governor only acts out the duties of governor.^[14] Should both offices be vacant, the president pro tempore of the state senate becomes governor.^[15] The position of lieutenant governor was created in the 1874 constitution; prior to then, the speaker of the senate would act as governor in cases of vacancy. Originally, the lieutenant governor could only act as governor; it was not until the 1968 constitution that the lieutenant governor could actually become governor in that fashion. The office of governor has been vacant for an extended period once, a 17-day gap in 1848 between the death of the previous governor and the swearing in of his acting successor. Governors and lieutenant governors are elected on the same ticket.^[16]

      Anti-Masonic (1)       Democratic (12)       Democratic-Republican (6)        None (1)       Republican (26)       Whig (1)

#	Governor		Took office	Left office	Party	Lt. Governor [note 4]		Terms [note 5]
1		Thomas Mifflin	December 21, 1790	December 17, 1799	None [note 6]	None		3 [note 7]
2		Thomas McKean	December 17, 1799	December 20, 1808	Democratic- Republican			3
3		Simon Snyder	December 20, 1808	December 16, 1817	Democratic- Republican			3
4		William Findlay	December 16, 1817	December 19, 1820	Democratic- Republican			1
5		Joseph Hiester	December 19, 1820	December 16, 1823	Democratic- Republican			1
6		John Andrew Shulze	December 16, 1823	December 15, 1829	Democratic- Republican			2
7		George Wolf	December 15, 1829	December 15, 1835	Democratic- Republican			2
8		Joseph Ritner	December 15, 1835	January 15, 1839	Anti-Masonic			1 [note 8]
9		David R. Porter	January 15, 1839	January 21, 1845	Democratic			2 [note 9]
10		Francis R. Shunk	January 21, 1845	July 9, 1848	Democratic			1 1⁄2 [note 10]
—		Office vacant	July 9, 1848	July 26, 1848	—			— [note 11]
11		William F. Johnston	July 26, 1848	January 20, 1852	Whig			1 1⁄2 [note 12]
12		William Bigler	January 20, 1852	January 16, 1855	Democratic			1
13		James Pollock	January 16, 1855	January 19, 1858	Whig			1
14		William F. Packer	January 19, 1858	January 15, 1861	Democratic			1
15		Andrew Gregg Curtin	January 15, 1861	January 15, 1867	Republican			2
16		John W. Geary	January 15, 1867	January 21, 1873	Republican			2
17		John F. Hartranft	January 21, 1873	January 21, 1879	Republican		None	2 [note 13]
							John Latta
18		Henry M. Hoyt	January 21, 1879	January 16, 1883	Republican		Charles Warren Stone	1
19		Robert E. Pattison	January 16, 1883	January 18, 1887	Democratic		Chauncey Forward Black	1
20		James A. Beaver	January 18, 1887	January 20, 1891	Republican		William T. Davies	1
19		Robert E. Pattison	January 20, 1891	January 15, 1895	Democratic		Louis Arthur Watres	1
21		Daniel H. Hastings	January 15, 1895	January 17, 1899	Republican		Walter Lyon	1
22		William A. Stone	January 17, 1899	January 20, 1903	Republican		John P. S. Gobin	1
23		Samuel W. Pennypacker	January 20, 1903	January 15, 1907	Republican		William M. Brown	1
24		Edwin Sydney Stuart	January 15, 1907	January 17, 1911	Republican		Robert S. Murphy	1
25		John K. Tener	January 17, 1911	January 19, 1915	Republican		John Merriman Reynolds	1
26		Martin Grove Brumbaugh	January 19, 1915	January 21, 1919	Republican		Frank B. McClain	1
27		William Cameron Sproul	January 21, 1919	January 16, 1923	Republican		Edward E. Beidleman	1
28		Gifford Pinchot	January 16, 1923	January 18, 1927	Republican		David J. Davis	1
29		John Stuchell Fisher	January 18, 1927	January 20, 1931	Republican		Arthur James	1
28		Gifford Pinchot	January 20, 1931	January 15, 1935	Republican		Edward C. Shannon	1
30		George Howard Earle III	January 15, 1935	January 17, 1939	Democratic		Thomas Kennedy	1
31		Arthur James	January 17, 1939	January 19, 1943	Republican		Samuel S. Lewis	1
32		Edward Martin	January 19, 1943	January 2, 1947	Republican		John C. Bell, Jr.	1⁄2 [note 14]
33		John C. Bell, Jr.	January 2, 1947	January 21, 1947	Republican		vacant	1⁄2 [note 15]
34		James H. Duff	January 21, 1947	January 16, 1951	Republican		Daniel B. Strickler	1
35		John S. Fine	January 16, 1951	January 18, 1955	Republican		Lloyd H. Wood	1
36		George M. Leader	January 18, 1955	January 20, 1959	Democratic		Roy E. Furman	1
37		David L. Lawrence	January 20, 1959	January 15, 1963	Democratic		John Morgan Davis	1
38		William Scranton	January 15, 1963	January 17, 1967	Republican		Raymond P. Shafer	1
39		Raymond P. Shafer	January 17, 1967	January 19, 1971	Republican		Raymond J. Broderick	1
40		Milton Shapp	January 19, 1971	January 16, 1979	Democratic		Ernest P. Kline	2 [note 16]
41		Dick Thornburgh	January 16, 1979	January 20, 1987	Republican		William Scranton, III	2
42		Robert P. Casey	January 20, 1987	January 17, 1995	Democratic		Mark Singel	2 [note 17]
43		Tom Ridge	January 17, 1995	October 5, 2001	Republican		Mark S. Schweiker	1 1⁄2 [note 18]
44		Mark S. Schweiker	October 5, 2001	January 21, 2003	Republican		Robert Jubelirer	1⁄2 [note 19]
45		Ed Rendell	January 21, 2003	January 18, 2011	Democratic		Catherine Baker Knoll	2
							Joe Scarnati
46		Tom Corbett	January 18, 2011	Incumbent	Republican		Jim Cawley	1 [note 20]

Other high offices held

This is a table of other governorships, congressional and other federal offices, and ranking diplomatic positions in foreign countries held by Pennsylvania governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Pennsylvania except where noted.

† Denotes those offices from which the governor resigned to take the governorship.

Name	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held	Source
		House	Senate
Joseph Reed	1778–1781			Delegate to the Continental Congress; elected to the U.S. House but declined his seat.	[19]
John Dickinson	1782–1785			President of Delaware, Delegate to the Continental Congress from Delaware, Delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania	[20]
Benjamin Franklin	1785–1788			Minister to France, Minister to Sweden	[21]
Thomas Mifflin	1790–1799			President of the Continental Congress	[22]
Thomas McKean	1799–1808			President of Delaware, President of the Continental Congress	[23]
Simon Snyder	1808–1817			Some records say he was elected to the U.S. Senate, but some only say state senate. The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress has no record of a U.S. Senate term.	[24]
William Findlay	1817–1820		S		[25]
Joseph Hiester	1820–1823	H†			[26]
George Wolf	1829–1835	H†			[27]
William Bigler	1852–1855		S		[28]
James Pollock	1855–1858	H			[29]
Andrew Gregg Curtin	1861–1867	H		Ambassador to Russia	[30]
John W. Geary	1867–1876			Governor of Kansas Territory	[31]
William A. Stone	1899–1903	H†			[32]
John K. Tener	1911–1915	H†			[33]
George Howard Earle III	1935–1939			Ambassador to Austria†	[34]
Edward Martin	1943–1947		S		[35]
James H. Duff	1947–1951		S		[36]
William Scranton	1963–1967		H	Ambassador to the United Nations	[37]
Dick Thornburgh	1979–1987			U.S. Attorney General	[38]
Tom Ridge	1995–2001		H	U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security	[39]

Living former governors

As of January 2011^[update], six former governors are alive. The most recent death of a former governor was that of Raymond P. Shafer (1967–1971), on December 12, 2006.

Name	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
George M. Leader	1955–1959	January 17, 1918 (1918-01-17) (age 93)
William Scranton	1963–1967	July 19, 1917 (1917-07-19) (age 94)
Dick Thornburgh	1979–1987	July 16, 1932 (1932-07-16) (age 79)
Tom Ridge	1995–2001	August 26, 1945 (1945-08-26) (age 66)
Mark Schweiker	2001–2003	January 31, 1953 (1953-01-31) (age 58)
Ed Rendell	2003–2011	January 5, 1944 (1944-01-05) (age 67)

Notes

1. ^ Died in office.
2. ^ As Vice President of the Supreme Executive Council, acted as president. Four vice presidents acted as president at various times; however, Bryan's lengthy term has caused his term to since be recognized as being equivalent to president. Contemporary sources listed him only as vice president, acting out the duties of president.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Resigned; no reason was recorded by the Supreme Executive Council.
4. ^ The office of lieutenant governor was not created until the 1873 Constitution, first being filled in 1875.
5. ^ The fractional terms of some governors are not to be understood absolutely literally; rather, they are meant to show single terms during which multiple governors served, due to resignations, deaths and the like.
6. ^ The Federalist Party nominated Mifflin, but he himself carried no party label.
7. ^ Mifflin was elected governor three times under the 1790 Constitution, having previously been elected once as President of the Supreme Executive Council.
8. ^ Ritner was the last to serve before the 1838 constitution limited governors to serving six years out of any nine years; that constitution also changed the term to commence the next January from the election, extending Ritner's term by a month.
9. ^ First governor to serve under the 1838 constitution.
10. ^ Resigned due to illness; he died of tuberculosis only 11 days later.
11. ^ Following Francis R. Shunk's resignation, an interregnum of 17 days occurred before the speaker of the state senate, William F. Johnston, was sworn in.
12. ^ As speaker of the state senate, filled unexpired term, and was subsequently elected governor in his own right.
13. ^ First governor under the 1874 constitution, which prevented governors from succeeding themselves and lengthened terms to four years. Since Hartranft was originally elected under the previous constitution, he was allowed to succeed himself. Hartranft's first term was shortened from three to two years to fit the electoral schedule of the new constitution.
14. ^ Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate. While official sources state Martin resigned on January 3, most contemporary sources reported his resignation as occurring on January 2.^[17][18]
15. ^ As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term.
16. ^ First governor under the 1968 constitution, and thus eligible to succeed himself.
17. ^ On June 14, 1993, Casey transferred executive authority to Lieutenant Governor Singel, and later that day underwent a heart-liver transplant operation. Singel acted as governor until Casey resumed the powers and duties of the office six months later on December 13, 1993. Because Casey never officially resigned, Singel was only an acting governor.
18. ^ Resigned to be Director of the Office of Homeland Security.
19. ^ As lieutenant governor, filled unexpired term.
20. ^ Governor Corbett's first term expires on January 20, 2015; he is not yet term limited.

References

General

• "Governors Database: Pennsylvania". National Governors Association. National Governors Association. 2008. http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.8fd3d12ab65b304f8a278110501010a0?submit=Submit&State=PA. Retrieved April 1, 2008. 

Constitutions

• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 1968. http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Constitution.html. Retrieved April 21, 2008. 
• "1874 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". Constitution Party of Pennsylvania. http://www.constitutionpartypa.com/PA%20Constitution/CONSTITUTION%20OF%20PA%201874.pdf. Retrieved July 13, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
• "1838 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". Constitution Party of Pennsylvania. http://www.constitutionpartypa.com/PA%20Constitution/CONSTITUTION%20OF%20PENNSYLVANIA%201838.pdf. Retrieved July 13, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
• "1790 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". Constitution Party of Pennsylvania. http://www.constitutionpartypa.com/PA%20Constitution/1790%20PA%20Constitution.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-21. ^{[dead link]}
• "1776 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". Constitution Party of Pennsylvania. http://www.constitutionpartypa.com/PA%20Constitution/1776%20Constitution%20of%20Pennsylvania.pdf. Retrieved July 13, 2010. ^{[dead link]}

Specific

1. ^ "Statutory Cost of Living Increases for Salaries of State Officials and the Heads of Departments, Boards and Commissions". State of Pennsylvania. http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol39/39-52/2393.html. Retrieved July 10, 2010. 
2. ^ PA Constitution article IV, § 2
3. ^ PA Constitution article IV, § 7
4. ^ PA Constitution article IV, § 15
5. ^ PA Constitution article IV, § 12
6. ^ PA Constitution article IV, § 9
7. ^ 1776 Constitution § 3
8. ^ 1776 Constitution § 19
9. ^ 1790 Constitution article II, § 1
10. ^ 1790 Constitution article IV, § 3
11. ^ 1838 Constitution article II, § 3
12. ^ 1874 Constitution article IV, § 3
13. ^ PA Constitution article IV, § 3
14. ^ PA Constitution article IV, § 13
15. ^ PA Constitution article IV, § 14
16. ^ "Executive Branch of the Several States". The Green Papers. http://www.thegreenpapers.com/slg/executive.phtml. Retrieved April 30, 2008. 
17. ^ "Martin Quits Today as Penna. Governor; Bell to Take Over". Gettysburg Times. January 2, 1947. http://www.newspaperarchive.com/LandingPage.aspx?type=glpnews&search=martin%201947%20governor&img=\\na0004\281030\3006548.html. Retrieved April 30, 2008. 
18. ^ Stevens, Sylvester Kirby (1964). Pennsylvania: Birthplace of a Nation. New York: Random House. pp. 375. 
19. ^ "Joseph Reed". University of Pennsylvania Archives and Records Center. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/reed_jos.html. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
20. ^ "John Dickinson". Delaware's Governors. State of Delaware. http://www.state.de.us/facts/history/dicknbio.htm. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
21. ^ "Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)". U.S. Department of State. http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/franklin-benjamin. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
22. ^ "Thomas Mifflin". U.S. Army. http://www.history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/mifflin.htm. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
23. ^ "Delaware's Governors". State of Delaware. http://www.state.de.us/facts/history/delgov1.htm. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
24. ^ Wagenseller, George Washington (1919). Snyder County Annals Volume 1. Middleburgh, Pennsylvania: The Middleburgh Post. pp. 8. http://books.google.com/?id=r0J72_VrGQgC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=simon+snyder+senate. 
25. ^ "Findlay, John". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000120. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
26. ^ "HIESTER, Joseph". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000574. Retrieved April 30, 2008. 
27. ^ "WOLF, George". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000673. Retrieved April 30, 2008. 
28. ^ "Bigley, William". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000459. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
29. ^ "Pollock, James". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000416. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
30. ^ "Curtin, Andrew Gregg". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C001004. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
31. ^ "Kansas Governors". Kansas State Historical Society. http://www.kshs.org/people/governors.htm. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
32. ^ "STONE, William Alexis". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000966. Retrieved April 30, 2008. 
33. ^ "TENER, John Kinley". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000123. Retrieved April 30, 2008. 
34. ^ "Former U.S. Ambassadors to Austria". U.S. Department of State. http://photos.state.gov/libraries/austria/19452/pdfs/formerambassadors.pdf. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
35. ^ "Martin, Edward". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000177. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
36. ^ "Duff, James Henderson". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000516. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
37. ^ "History of USUN Ambassadors". United States Mission to the U.N.. http://archive.usun.state.gov/ambassadors/history/scranton.html. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
38. ^ "Dick Thornburgh". The Dick Thornburgh Papers. University of Pittsburgh. http://www.library.pitt.edu/thornburgh/biography.html. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
39. ^ "Tom Ridge, Homeland Security Secretary 2003 - 2005". Division of Homeland Security. http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/history/editorial_0586.shtm. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 

External links

• Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania