President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The President Pro Tempore (more commonly, "Pro-Tem") of the North Carolina Senate is the highest-ranking (internally elected) officer of one house of the North Carolina General Assembly. The President of the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, but the President Pro-Tem actually holds most of the power and presides in the absence of the Lt. Governor. He or she, a senior member of the party with a majority of seats, appoints senators to committees and also appoints certain members of state boards and commissions. Until 1868, North Carolina had no Lieutenant Governor, and the highest ranking officer of the Senate was known as the Speaker. The Speaker of the Senate was next in line if the office of Governor became vacant. This occurred on two occasions.

1 North Carolina Senate Presiding Officers
- 1.1 Speakers
- 1.2 Presidents Pro Tempore
2 Historical notes
3 See also
4 References

[edit] North Carolina Senate Presiding Officers

[edit] Speakers

Samuel Ashe 1777
Whitmell Hill 1778
Allen Jones 1778-79
Abner Nash 1779-80
Alexander Martin 1780-82
Richard Caswell 1782-84
Alexander Martin 1785
James Coor 1786-87
Alexander Martin 1787-88
Richard Caswell 1789
Charles Johnston 1789
William Lenoir 1790-95
Benjamin Smith 1795-99
Joseph Riddick 1800-04
Alexander Martin 1805
Joseph Riddick 1806-11
George Outlaw 1812-14
John Branch 1815-17
Bartlett Yancey 1817-28
Jesse Speight 1828-29
Bedford Brown 1829-30
David F. Caldwell 1830-32
William D. Moseley 1832-35
Hugh Waddell 1836-37
Andrew Joyner 1838-41
Lewis D. Wilson 1842-43
Burgess S. Gaither 1844-45
Andrew Joyner 1846-47
Calvin Graves 1848-49
Andrew Joyner 1849
Weldon N. Edwards 1850-52
Warren Winslow 1854-55
William W. Avery 1856-57
Henry T. Clark 1858-61
Giles Mebane 1862-65
Thomas Settle 1865-66
C. S. Winstead 1866
Matthias Manly 1866-67
Joseph H. Wilson 1867

[edit] Presidents Pro Tempore

Edward J. Warren 1870-72
James T. Morehead 1872-75
James L. Robinson 1876-77
William A. Graham 1879-80
William T. Dorch 1881-1883
E. T. Boykin 1885-1887
Edwin W. Kerr 1889
William D. Turner 1891
John L. King 1893
E. L. Franck, Jr. 1895-1897
R. L. Smith 1899-1900
F. A. Whitaker 1899-1900
Henry A. London 1901-03
Charles A. Webb 1905-08
Whitehead Klutz 1909
Henry N. Pharr 1911-13
Oliver Max Gardner 1915
Fordyce C. Harding 1917
Lindsey C. Warren 1917
William L. Long 1921-24
William H. S. Burgwyn 1925
William L. Long 1927
Thomas L. Johnson 1929
Rivers D. Johnson 1931
William G. Clark 1933
Paul D. Grady 1935
Andrew H. Johnston 1937-38
James A. Bell 1937-38
Whitman E. Smith 1939
John D. Larkins, Jr. 1941
John H. Price 1943
Archie C. Gay 1945
Joseph L. Blythe 1947
James C. Pittman 1949
Rufus G. Rankin 1951
Edwin Pate 1953
Paul E. Jones 1955-56
Claude Currie 1957
Robert F. Morgan 1959
William L. Crew 1961
Ralph H. Scott 1963
Robert B. Morgan 1965-66
Herman A. Moore 1967
Neill H. McGeachy 1969
Frank N. Patterson, Jr. 1971
Gordon Allen 1971-74
John T. Henley 1975-78
W. Craig Lawing 1979-84
J. J. Harrington 1985-88
Henson P. Barnes 1989-91
Marc Basnight 1992-Present

[edit] Historical notes

Presidents Pro Tem are elected at the beginning of each biennial session, in January of odd-numbered years. As is evident from the foregoing list, from 1868 to 1992, it was rare for a President Pro-Tem to serve more than two terms. Marc Basnight, however, has become arguably the most powerful North Carolina Senate leader in history and one of the state's most influential politicians.