List of Governors of Pennsylvania

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This is a list of Governors of Pennsylvania. The office of Pennsylvania governor was created by the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1790. Before 1790, those who are listed below had held the office called president of the state Supreme Executive Council. Between 1874 and 1971, Governors were prohibited from serving two consecutive terms.

[edit] Presidents of the Supreme Executive Council to 1790


President Term Party Notes
Thomas Wharton Jr. 1777
1778
None
George Bryan 1778 None
Joseph Reed 1778
1781
None
William Moore 1781
1782
None
John Dickinson 1782
1785
None Previously President of Delaware
Benjamin Franklin 1785
1788
None
Thomas Mifflin 1788
1790
None

[edit] Governors since 1790


Governor Term Party Notes
Thomas Mifflin 21 December 1790
17 December 1799
Federalist
Thomas McKean 17 December 1799
20 December 1808
Democratic-Republican
Simon Snyder 20 December 1808
16 December 1817
Democratic-Republican
William Findlay 16 December 1817
19 December 1820
Democratic-Republican
Joseph Hiester 19 December 1820
16 December 1823
Democratic-Republican
John Andrew Shulze 16 December 1823
15 December 1829
Democratic-Republican
George Wolf 15 December 1829
15 December 1835
Democratic-Republican
Joseph Ritner 15 December 1835
15 January 1839
Anti-Masonic
David Rittenhouse Porter 15 January 1839
21 January 1845
Democratic First Governor under Pennsylvania Constitution of 1838
Francis Rawn Shunk 21 January 1845
9 July 1848
Democratic Resigned
Office vacant[1] 9 July 1848
26 July 1848
   
William Freame Johnston 26 July 1848
20 January 1852
Whig
William Bigler 20 January 1852
16 January 1855
Democratic
James Pollock 16 January 1855
19 January 1858
Whig
William Fisher Packer 19 January 1858
15 January 1861
Democratic
Andrew Gregg Curtin 15 January 1861
15 January 1867
Republican
John White Geary 15 January 1867
21 January 1873
Republican
John Frederick Hartranft 21 January 1873
21 January 1879
Republican First Governor under Pennsylvania Constitution of 1874
Henry Martin Hoyt 21 January 1879
16 January 1883
Republican
Robert Emory Pattison 16 January 1883
18 January 1887
Democratic
James Addams Beaver 18 January 1887
20 January 1891
Republican
Robert Emory Pattison 20 January 1891
15 January 1895
Democratic Second administration
Daniel Hartman Hastings 15 January 1895
17 January 1899
Republican
William Alexis Stone 17 January 1899
20 January 1903
Republican
Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker 20 January 1903
15 January 1907
Republican
Edwin Sydney Stuart 15 January 1907
17 January 1911
Republican
John Kinley Tener 17 January 1911
19 January 1915
Republican
Martin Grove Brumbaugh 19 January 1915
21 January 1919
Republican
William Cameron Sproul 21 January 1919
16 January 1923
Republican
Gifford Pinchot 16 January 1923
18 January 1927
Republican
John Stuchell Fisher 18 January 1927
20 January 1931
Republican
Gifford Pinchot 20 January 1931
15 January 1935
Republican Second administration
George Howard Earle 15 January 1935
17 January 1939
Democratic
Arthur Horace James 17 January 1939
19 January 1943
Republican
Edward Martin 19 January 1943
3 January 1947
Republican Resigned[2]
John Cromwell Bell, Jr. 3 January 1947
21 January 1947
Republican
James Henderson Duff 21 January 1947
16 January 1951
Republican
John Sydney Fine 16 January 1951
18 January 1955
Republican
George Michael Leader 18 January 1955
20 January 1959
Democratic
David Leo Lawrence 20 January 1959
15 January 1963
Democratic
William Warren Scranton 15 January 1963
17 January 1967
Republican
Raymond Philip Shafer 17 January 1967
19 January 1971
Republican
Milton Jerrold Shapp (Shapiro) 19 January 1971
16 January 1979
Democratic First Governor under Pennsylvania Constitution of 1968
Richard Lewis "Dick" Thornburgh 16 January 1979
20 January 1987
Republican
Robert Patrick Casey[3] 20 January 1987
17 January 1995
Democratic
Thomas Joseph Ridge 17 January 1995
5 October 2001
Republican Resigned[4]
Mark Stephen Schweiker 5 October 2001
21 January 2003
Republican Acting Governor, September 13 through October 5, 2001
Edward Gene Rendell 21 January 2003 Democratic
  1. ^ Following Governor Shunk's resignation due to illness, an interregnum of 17 days occurred before Governor Johnston was sworn in, during which time the office was vacant. Under the state's constitution of the time, the Speaker of the Senate should have become Governor upon Shunk's resignation. Johnston however was not officially notified until six days after Shunk's death (17 days following his resignation).
  2. ^ Governor Martin resigned to take a seat in the United States Senate.
  3. ^ At 5 a.m. on June 14, 1993, Governor Casey transferred executive authority to Lieutenant Governor Mark 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 on the evening December 13, 1993. Because Casey never officially resigned, however, Singel was only an "acting governor."
  4. ^ On September 13, 2001, Governor Ridge was enlisted to aid in national homeland security efforts following the September 11th terrorist attacks, temporarily transferring his powers to Schweiker. He later resigned to accept the position of Director of Homeland Security (now Secretary of Homeland Security).

A number of surnames of governors are used as names of east-west streets in the South Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, the state's largest city. Names used in this manner, from north to south and from earliest to latest service as governor, include Wharton, Reed, Dickinson, Mifflin, McKean, Snyder, Wolf, Ritner, Porter, Shunk, Johnston, Bigler, Pollock, Packer, Curtin, Geary, Hartranft, and Pattison. There is also a street named Moore in South Philadelphia, but not in the appropriate place in the series, and a street named Franklin running north-south. A similar series of streets named for counties in Pennsylvania exists in North Philadelphia. In addition, many of these surnames are used for residence halls at The Pennsylvania State University, particularly in East, South and Pollock Halls (see: http://www.hfs.psu.edu/east/).

[edit] See also

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