List of Governors of Tennessee

Governor of Tennessee
Flag of the Governor
Incumbent Bill Haslam since January 15, 2011
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Tennessee Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	John Sevier 1796
Salary	$178,356 (2013)[1]
Website	www.tn.gov/governor/

This is a list of people who have served as Governor of Tennessee.

The governor's term in office is limited by the Tennessee state constitution. The first constitution, enacted in 1796, set a term of two years for the governor and provided that no person could serve as governor for more than six years in any eight-year period.^[2] The term of office was lengthened to four years, without the possibility of consecutive terms, by constitutional amendments adopted in 1953.^[3] Under the current provisions of the state constitution, as amended in 1978, the governor is elected to a four-year term and may serve no more than two terms consecutively.^[3][4]

For a period of nearly five decades in the 20th century, the Tennessee Democratic Party held the Tennessee governorship continuously. However, since 1967 no two successive governors have belonged to the same party.

According to the Tennessee Blue Book, Tennessee has had 49 governors, including the incumbent, Bill Haslam.^[5] This tally does not include William Blount (the territorial governor) or Robert L. Caruthers (who never took office), though the Blue Book includes them in its list of governors.^[6] All governors are counted only once, regardless of number of terms served (e.g., John Sevier is considered the 1st governor, rather than the 1st and 3rd governor). The Blue Book does not include Edward H. East in its list of governors.

Southwest Territory

The Territory South of the River Ohio, commonly called the Southwest Territory, was formed in 1790 from lands ceded by North Carolina to the United States government. The territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Tennessee in 1796.

Parties

      Democratic-Republican

State of Tennessee

Parties

      Democratic       Federalist       Democratic-Republican       Whig       Republican       Unionist/Military

Other high offices held by governors

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

Living former governors

As of May 2015, four former governors were alive, the oldest being Winfield Dunn (1971–1975, born 1927). The most recent death of governor was Ned McWherter (1987–1995), on April 4, 2011, who is also the most recently serving governor to have died.

Notes

References

Tennessee Government and Politics: Democracy in the Volunteer State p. 43, John R. Vile and Mark E. Byrnes. 1998, Vanderbilt University Press

External links

• Tennessee Blue Book: Historical Listings of Constitutional Officers
• Tennessee Blue Book: Past Governors of Tennessee

Years in Tennessee (1796–present) 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Governors of Tennessee Sevier Roane Sevier Blount McMinn Carroll Houston Hall Carroll Cannon Polk Jones A. Brown N. Brown Trousdale Campbell Johnson Harris Johnson East Brownlow Senter J. Brown Porter Marks Hawkins Bate R. Taylor Buchanan Turney R. Taylor McMillin Frazier Cox Patterson Hooper Rye Roberts A. Taylor Peay Horton McAlister Browning Cooper McCord Browning Clement Ellington Clement Ellington Dunn Blanton Alexander McWherter Sundquist Bredesen Haslam

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