Governor of Missouri |
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Seal of Missouri |
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Style | The Honorable |
Residence | Missouri Governor's Mansion |
Term length | Four years, renewable once (maximumly lifetime) |
Inaugural holder | Alexander McNair 1820 |
Formation | Constitution of Missouri |
Following is a list of Governors of Missouri since its territory became part of the United States.
Party | Governors |
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Democratic | 38 |
Republican | 13 |
Democratic-Republican | 3 |
Liberal Republican | 1 |
Missouri was part of the Louisiana Purchase in which the United States purchased from France in 1803. In its first year it was part of Louisiana. In 1804 all of the territory above what is modern day Louisiana was broken off and administered by a governor based in St. Louis, Missouri until statehood.
Prior to the purchase both France and Spain administered the territory in a similar manner. France initially had a commandant in charge of Upper Louisiana. Spain around 1770 began having a lieutenant governor in St. Louis and governor in New Orleans, Louisiana ruling the whole territory . For a list of governors under Spanish and French rule see Louisiana Governor. For a list of lieutenant governors ruling Upper Louisiana under French and Spanish control see List of commandants of the Illinois Country.
Since the state capitol moved to Jefferson City in 1826 the governor has lived on the same block in the Missouri Governor's Mansion a block east of the Missouri State Capitol (although the current mansion is the third one).
The current governor of Missouri is Jay Nixon.
Contents |
# | Name | Appointed | Left office | Appointed by |
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1 | Amos Stoddard (commandant) | March 10, 1804 | October 1, 1804 | Thomas Jefferson |
On March 26, 1804, an act of congress divided Louisiana into two territories or districts: land south of the 33rd parallel became the Territory of Orleans; land north of the 33rd parallel, the District of Louisiana. The act took effect October 1, 1804, upon which the District of Louisiana was placed under the governance of Indiana Territory, then governed by William Henry Harrison.[1]
# | Name | Appointed | Left office | Appointed by |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | William Henry Harrison | October 1, 1804 | July 4, 1805 | Thomas Jefferson |
The citizens of the District of Louisiana, unhappy with the governance specified by the act of 1804, set about immediately to petition congress for a return to a military-style government to which they were accustomed under Spanish rule. Congress responded by passing an act on March 3, 1805 which changed the name of the District of Louisiana to the Territory of Louisiana. Power was vested in a governor who was appointed by the President to a term of 3 years. During times of vacancy, the secretary would act as governor.[1]
On June 4, 1812, the Territory of Louisiana was renamed to the Territory of Missouri to avoid confusion with the newly admitted state of Louisiana. Later, Arkansas Territory was separated from the Territory of Missouri on July 4, 1819.[1]
# | Governor | Appointed | Left office | Appointed by |
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1 | James Wilkinson | July 4, 1805 | March 3, 1807[B] | Thomas Jefferson |
2 | Meriwether Lewis | March 3, 1807 | October 11, 1809[C][D] | Thomas Jefferson |
3 | Benjamin Howard | April 17, 1810 | October 31, 1812[E] | James Madison |
4 | William Clark | July 1, 1813 | September 18, 1820 | James Madison, James Monroe |
Democratic-Republican (3) Democratic (38) Republican (13) Liberal Republican (1)
# | Took office | Left office | Party | Terms[G] | ||||
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1 | Alexander McNair | September 18, 1820 | November 15, 1824 | Democratic-Republican | William Henry Ashley | 1 | ||
2 | Frederick Bates | November 15, 1824 | August 4, 1825 | Democratic-Republican | Benjamin Harrison Reeves | ⅓[C] | ||
3 | Abraham J. Williams | August 4, 1825 | January 20, 1826 | Democratic-Republican | vacant | ⅓[H] | ||
4 | John Miller | January 20, 1826 | November 19, 1832 | Democratic | Daniel Dunklin | 1⅓[I] | ||
5 | Daniel Dunklin | November 19, 1832 | September 30, 1836 | Democratic | Lilburn W. Boggs | ½[J] | ||
6 | Lilburn W. Boggs | September 30, 1836 | November 16, 1840 | Democratic | Franklin Cannon | 1½[K] | ||
7 | Thomas Reynolds | November 16, 1840 | February 9, 1844 | Democratic | Meredith Miles Marmaduke | ½[C] | ||
8 | Meredith Miles Marmaduke | February 9, 1844 | November 20, 1844 | Democratic | vacant | ½[L] | ||
9 | John C. Edwards | November 20, 1844 | November 20, 1848 | Democratic | James Young | 1 | ||
10 | Austin Augustus King | November 20, 1848 | January 3, 1853 | Democratic | Thomas Lawson Price | 1 | ||
11 | Sterling Price | January 3, 1853 | January 5, 1857 | Democratic | Wilson Brown | 1 | ||
12 | Trusten Polk | January 5, 1857 | February 27, 1857 | Democratic | Hancock Lee Jackson | ⅓[M] | ||
13 | Hancock Lee Jackson | February 27, 1857 | October 22, 1857 | Democratic | vacant | ⅓[N] | ||
14 | Robert Marcellus Stewart | October 22, 1857 | January 3, 1861 | Democratic | Hancock Lee Jackson | ⅓[I] | ||
15 | Claiborne Fox Jackson | January 3, 1861 | July 23, 1861 | Democratic | Thomas Caute Reynolds | ⅓[O] | ||
16 | Hamilton Rowan Gamble | July 31, 1861 | January 31, 1864 | Republican | William Willard Preble Hall | ⅓[P][C] | ||
17 | Willard Preble Hall | January 31, 1864 | January 2, 1865 | Republican | vacant | ⅓[L] | ||
18 | Thomas Clement Fletcher | January 2, 1865 | January 12, 1869 | Republican | George Rappeen Smith | 1 | ||
19 | Joseph W. McClurg | January 12, 1869 | January 4, 1871 | Republican | Edwin O. Stanard | 1 | ||
20 | B. Gratz Brown | January 4, 1871 | January 3, 1873 | Liberal Republican | Joseph J. Gravely | 1 | ||
21 | Silas Woodson | January 3, 1873 | January 12, 1875 | Democratic | Charles Phillip Johnson | 1 | ||
22 | Charles Henry Hardin | January 12, 1875 | January 8, 1877 | Democratic | Norman Jay Coleman | 1 | ||
23 | John Smith Phelps | January 8, 1877 | January 10, 1881 | Democratic | Henry Clay Brockmeyer | 1 | ||
24 | Thomas Theodore Crittenden | January 10, 1881 | January 12, 1885 | Democratic | Robert Alexander Campbell | 1 | ||
25 | John S. Marmaduke | January 12, 1885 | December 28, 1887 | Democratic | Albert P. Morehouse | ½[C] | ||
26 | Albert P. Morehouse | December 28, 1887 | January 14, 1889 | Democratic | vacant | ½[L] | ||
27 | David R. Francis | January 14, 1889 | January 9, 1893 | Democratic | Stephen Hugh Claycomb | 1 | ||
28 | William Joel Stone | January 9, 1893 | January 11, 1897 | Democratic | John Baptiste O'Meara | 1 | ||
29 | Lawrence Vest Stephens | January 11, 1897 | January 14, 1901 | Democratic | August Henry Bolte | 1 | ||
30 | Alexander Monroe Dockery | January 14, 1901 | January 9, 1905 | Democratic | John Adams Lee | 1 | ||
Thomas L. Rubey | ||||||||
31 | Joseph W. Folk | January 9, 1905 | January 11, 1909 | Democratic | John C. McKinley | 1 | ||
32 | Herbert S. Hadley | January 9, 1909 | January 13, 1913 | Republican | Jacob Friedrich Gmelich | 1 | ||
33 | Elliot Woolfolk Major | January 13, 1913 | January 8, 1917 | Democratic | William Rock Painter | 1 | ||
34 | Frederick D. Gardner | January 8, 1917 | January 10, 1921 | Democratic | Wallace Crossley | 1 | ||
35 | Arthur M. Hyde | January 10, 1921 | January 12, 1925 | Republican | Hiram Lloyd | 1 | ||
36 | Samuel Aaron Baker | January 12, 1925 | January 14, 1929 | Republican | Phillip Allen Bennett | 1 | ||
37 | Henry S. Caulfield | January 14, 1929 | January 9, 1933 | Republican | Edward Henry Winter | 1 | ||
38 | Guy Brasfield Park | January 9, 1933 | January 11, 1937 | Democratic | Frank Gaines Harris | 1 | ||
39 | Lloyd C. Stark | January 11, 1937 | February 26, 1941 | Democratic | Frank Gaines Harris | 1[Q] | ||
40 | Forrest C. Donnell | February 26, 1941 | January 8, 1945 | Republican | Frank Gaines Harris | 1[R] | ||
41 | Phil M. Donnelly | January 8, 1945 | January 10, 1949 | Democratic | Walter Naylor Davis | 1 | ||
42 | Forrest Smith | January 10, 1949 | January 12, 1953 | Democratic | James T. Blair, Jr. | 1 | ||
43 | Phil M. Donnelly | January 12, 1953 | January 14, 1957 | Democratic | James T. Blair, Jr. | 1 | ||
44 | James T. Blair, Jr. | January 14, 1957 | January 9, 1961 | Democratic | Edward V. Long | 1 | ||
45 | John M. Dalton | January 9, 1961 | January 11, 1965 | Democratic | Hilary A. Bush | 1 | ||
46 | Warren E. Hearnes | January 11, 1965 | January 8, 1973 | Democratic | Thomas F. Eagleton | 2 | ||
William S. Morris | ||||||||
47 | Christopher "Kit" Bond | January 8, 1973 | January 10, 1977 | Republican | William C. Phelps | 1 | ||
48 | Joseph P. Teasdale | January 10, 1977 | January 12, 1981 | Democratic | William C. Phelps | 1 | ||
49 | Christopher "Kit" Bond | January 12, 1981 | January 14, 1985 | Republican | Kenneth J. Rothman | 1 | ||
50 | John Ashcroft | January 14, 1985 | January 11, 1993 | Republican | Harriett Woods | 2 | ||
Mel Carnahan | ||||||||
51 | Mel Carnahan | January 11, 1993 | October 16, 2000 | Democratic | Roger B. Wilson | 1½[C] | ||
52 | Roger B. Wilson | October 17, 2000 | January 8, 2001 | Democratic | Joe Maxwell | ½[L][S] | ||
53 | Bob Holden | January 8, 2001 | January 10, 2005 | Democratic | Joe Maxwell | 1 | ||
54 | Matt Blunt | January 10, 2005 | January 12, 2009 | Republican | Peter Kinder | 1 | ||
55 | Jay Nixon | January 12, 2009 | "Incumbent" | Democratic | Peter Kinder | 1 |
Missouri was officially recognized as a Confederate state by the Confederate government and was represented in the Confederate Congress and by a star on the Confederate flag. During the War, Missouri was also claimed by the Union and had two competing state governments. This unusual situation also existed to some degree in the border state of Kentucky.
The first Missouri secession convention voted to remain in the Union in January 1861, but a series of military conflicts ensued. Missouri Unionists and the federal government eventually gained control of the state capitol and established a provisional state government in July that remained loyal to the Union. Meanwhile, the Missouri legislature, made up largely of Southern sympathizers, passed a resolution to secede and join the Confederacy, which was signed by Governor Jackson in October.
This is a table of congressional, other governorships, and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Missouri except where noted. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.
Name | Gubernatorial term | U.S. Congress | Other offices held | |
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House | Senate | |||
Benjamin Howard | 1809–1812 (territorial) | U.S. Representative from Kentucky | ||
John Miller | 1826–1832 | H | ||
John C. Edwards | 1844–1848 | H | ||
Austin Augustus King | 1848–1853 | H | ||
Sterling Price | 1853–1857 | H | ||
Trusten Polk | 1857 | S* | ||
Willard Preble Hall | 1864–1865 | H | ||
Joseph W. McClurg | 1869–1871 | H | ||
B. Gratz Brown | 1871–1873 | S | ||
John S. Phelps | 1877–1881 | H | Military Governor of Arkansas[11] | |
Thomas Theodore Crittenden | 1881–1885 | H | ||
David R. Francis | 1889–1893 | Ambassador to Russia, U.S. Secretary of the Interior | ||
William J. Stone | 1893–1897 | H | S | |
Alexander Monroe Dockery | 1901–1905 | H | ||
Arthur M. Hyde | 1921–1925 | U.S. Secretary of Agriculture | ||
Henry S. Caulfield | 1929–1933 | H | ||
Forrest C. Donnell | 1941–1945 | S | ||
Christopher "Kit" Bond | 1973–1977, 1981–1985 | S | ||
John Ashcroft | 1985–1993 | S | U.S. Attorney General | |
Mel Carnahan | 1993–2000 | Posthumously elected U.S. Senator |
As of April 2011[update], six former governors were alive, the oldest being Joseph P. Teasdale (1977–1981, born 1936). The most recent governor to die was Warren E. Hearnes (1968–1973), August 16, 2009.
Name | Gubernatorial term | Date of birth |
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Christopher "Kit" Bond | 1973–1977, 1981–1985 | March 6, 1939 |
Joseph P. Teasdale | 1977–1981 | March 29, 1936 |
John Ashcroft | 1985–1993 | May 9, 1942 |
Roger B. Wilson | 2000–2001 | October 10, 1948 |
Bob Holden | 2001–2005 | August 24, 1949 |
Matt Blunt | 2005–2009 | November 20, 1970 |
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