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

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