List of Governors of Alaska

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The following is a list of the Governors of the State of Alaska and the territories which preceded it: the Department of Alaska, District of Alaska, and Alaska Territory. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Alaska's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Alaska Legislature^[2], to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment.^[3]

The state constitution for the election of a governor and lieutenant governor every four years on the same ticket, with their terms commencing on the first Monday in the December following the election.^[4] Governors are allowed to succeed themselves once, having to wait four years after their second term in a row before being allowed to run again.^[5] Should the office of governor become vacant for any reason, the lieutenant governor assumes the title of governor.^[6] The original constitution of 1956 created the office of secretary of state, which was functionally identical to a lieutenant governor, and was renamed to "lieutenant governor" in 1970.^[7]

Nine people have served as governor of the state, though due to its long history as a United States territory, it had over thirty additional civilian and military governors since being acquired in the Alaska purchase. Two people have served as state governor twice, William A. Egan and Walter J. Hickel, the latter of which had nearly 32 years between his terms. The longest-serving governor of the state is William A. Egan, who nearly 12 years over two distinct terms. The longest-serving territorial governor was Ernest Gruening, who served 13 and a half years. The current governor is Sarah Palin, who took office in 2006 as the first female governor of Alaska.

[edit] List of Governors

Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867, with formal transfer occurring on October 18, 1867. Prior to then, it was known as Russian America or Russian Alaska, controlled by the governors and general managers of the Russian-American Company.

[edit] Commanders of Department of Alaska

The vast region was initially designated the Department of Alaska, under the jurisdiction of the Department of War and administered by U.S. Army officers until 1877, when the Army was withdrawn from Alaska.^{[citation needed]} The Department of the Treasury then took control, with the Collector of Customs as the highest ranking federal official in the territory.^{[citation needed]} In 1879, the U.S. Navy was given jurisdiction over the department.^{[citation needed]}

Supposedly, the first American administrator of Alaska was Polish immigrant Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski. However, the Anchorage Daily News was unable to find any conclusive information to support or disprove this claim.^[A]

[edit] Governors of the District of Alaska

On May 17, 1884, the Department of Alaska was redesignated the District of Alaska, an incorporated but unorganized territory with a civil government. The governor was appointed by the President.

[edit] Governors of Alaska Territory

The District of Alaska was organized into Alaska Territory on August 24, 1912.

[edit] Governors of Alaska

Alaska was admitted to the union on January 3, 1959. Since then, it has had 9 governors, serving 11 distinct terms.

#	Picture	Governor	Took office	Left office	Party	Lieutenant Governor[13]	Terms[14]
1		William A. Egan	January 3, 1959	December 5, 1966	Democratic	Hugh Wade	2
2		Walter J. Hickel	December 5, 1966	January 29, 1969	Republican	Keith Miller	½[15]
3		Keith Miller	January 29, 1969	December 7, 1970	Republican	Robert W. Ward	½[16]
4		William A. Egan	December 7, 1970	December 2, 1974	Democratic	H. A. "Red" Boucher	1
5		Jay Hammond	December 2, 1974	December 6, 1982	Republican	Lowell Thomas, Jr.	2
						Terry Miller
6		Bill Sheffield	December 6, 1982	December 1, 1986	Democratic	Stephen McAlpine	1
7		Steve Cowper	December 1, 1986	December 3, 1990	Democratic	Stephen McAlpine	1
8		Walter J. Hickel	December 3, 1990	December 5, 1994	Alaskan Independence[17]	Jack Coghill	1
9		Tony Knowles	December 5, 1994	December 2, 2002	Democratic	Fran Ulmer	2
10		Frank Murkowski	December 2, 2002	December 4, 2006	Republican	Loren Leman	1
11		Sarah Palin	December 4, 2006	Incumbent	Republican	Sean Parnell	1[18]

[edit] Notes

[edit] Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, and other governorships held by governors.^[B] All representatives and senators mentioned represented Alaska except where noted. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

[edit] Living former governors

As of February 2008, seven former governors were alive, the oldest being Michael Anthony Stepovich (1957–1958, born 1919). The most recent governor to die was Jay Hammond (1974–1982), on August 2, 2005.

[edit] See also

• List of Lieutenant Governors of Alaska

[edit] References

General

• Governors of Alaska by the National Governors Association.
• Gates, Nancy (2006). The Alaska Almanac: Facts about Alaska. Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co., 85-87. ISBN 0882406523. 

Specific

[edit] External links

• Office of the Governor of Alaska
• Past Governors of Alaska