LIST_OF_GOVERNORS OF ARKANSAS

(Redirected from Governor of Arkansas)

Number of Governors of Arkansas by party affiliation

Party	Governors
Democratic	48
Republican	7

The following is a 'list of Governors of the State of Arkansas' and Arkansas Territory. The Governor of Arkansas is the chief executive of the state, and commander-in-chief of its military forces. To be governor, one must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the United States, and have been a resident of the state for seven years. The governor has the power to veto bills passed by the legislature and to grant pardons in all cases, except for treason and impeachment.
The first state constitution, ratified in 1836, established four-year terms for governors and the requirement that they be residents of the state for ten years. The fifth constitution in 1874, following the American Civil War and Reconstruction, limited the executive's power while increasing the legislative's, lowering gubernatorial terms to two years and changed the residency requirement to seven years. Amendment 63 to the Arkansas Constitution, passed in 1984, increased the terms of both governor and lieutenant governor to four years. A referendum in 1992 limited the governor to two terms.
Until 1925, should the office of governor be rendered empty through death, resignation, removal, or other disability, the president of the state senate would act as governor, until such time as a new governor were elected or the disability removed, or the acting governor's senate term expired. This led to some situations where the governorship changed hands in quick succession, due to senate terms ending or new presidents of the senate being elected. For example, William Kavanaugh Oldham served only six days in 1913 before he was replaced as president of the senate. Should the president of the senate be similarly incapacitated, the next in line for the governorship was the speaker of the state house of representatives.
Amendment 6 to the state constitution, passed in 1914 but not recognized until 1925, created the office of lieutenant governor, to be elected at the same time as governor for the same term. In case of removal of the governor, the lieutenant governor now became acting governor.
The current governor is Mike Beebe, who took office on January 9 2007.
Arkansas was part of Louisiana Territory, later renamed Missouri Territory, from 1805 to 1819; see List of Governors of Missouri for this period.

Contents

List of governors

Governors of Arkansas Territory

Governors of Arkansas

Notes

Other high offices held

Living former governors

References

List of governors

Governors of Arkansas Territory

Arkansas Territory (named Arkansaw Territory until around 1822^[1]) was split from Missouri Territory on July 4 1819.
As secretary of the territory from 1819 to 1829, Robert Crittenden served as acting governor whenever the appointed governor was not in the state. This meant he was in fact the first person to be governor of Arkansas Territory, since James Miller did not arrive in the territory until nine months after his appointment. Similarly, after George Izard was appointed governor, he did not arrive in the territory for nearly two months, during which Crittenden was again acting governor. He also acted as governor during the times when the territory had no appointed governor.

#	Picture	Name	Took office	Left office	Party	Appointed by	Notes
1		James Miller	March 3 1819	December 27 1824	None	James Monroe	[2][3]
2		George Izard	March 4 1825	November 22 1828	None	James Monroe	[4]Died in office.
						John Quincy Adams
3		John Pope	March 9 1829	March 9 1835	Democratic	Andrew Jackson	[5][6]
4		William Savin Fulton	March 9 1835	June 15 1836	Democratic	Andrew Jackson	[7]

Governors of Arkansas

The state of Arkansas was admitted to the union on June 15 1836.

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Party	Lt. Governor[8]	Notes
1	James Sevier Conway	September 13 1836	November 4 1840	Democratic	None
2	Archibald Yell	November 4 1840	April 29 1844	Democratic	None	[9]
3	Samuel Adams	April 29 1844	November 5 1844	Democratic	None	[10]
4	Thomas Stevenson Drew	November 5 1844	January 10 1849	Democratic	None	[11]
5	Richard C. Byrd	January 10 1849	April 19 1849	Democratic	None	[12]
6	John Selden Roane	April 19 1849	November 15 1852	Democratic	None	[13]
7	Elias Nelson Conway	November 15 1852	November 16 1860	Democratic	None
8	Henry Massey Rector	November 16 1860	November 4 1862	Democratic	None
9	Harris Flanagin	November 4 1862	April 18 1864	Democratic	None
10	Isaac Murphy	April 18 1864	July 2 1868	Republican	None
11	Powell Clayton	July 2 1868	March 17 1871	Republican	None	Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
12	Ozra Amander Hadley	March 17 1871	January 6 1873	Republican	None	As president of the state senate, acted as governor for unexpired term.
13	Elisha Baxter	January 6 1873	November 12 1874	Republican	None	[14]
14	Augustus Hill Garland	November 12 1874	January 11 1877	Democratic	None
15	William Read Miller	January 11 1877	January 11 1881	Democratic	None
16	Thomas James Churchill	January 11 1881	January 13 1883	Democratic	None
17	James Henderson Berry	January 13 1883	January 17 1885	Democratic	None
18	Simon Pollard Hughes, Jr.	January 17 1885	January 8 1889	Democratic	None
19	James Philip Eagle	January 8 1889	January 10 1893	Democratic	None
20	William Meade Fishback	January 10 1893	January 8 1895	Democratic	None
21	James Paul Clarke	January 8 1895	January 12 1897	Democratic	None
22	Daniel Webster Jones	January 12 1897	January 8 1901	Democratic	None
23	Jefferson Davis	January 8 1901	January 8 1907	Democratic	None
24	John Sebastian Little	January 8 1907	February 15 1907	Democratic	None	[15]
25	John Isaac Moore	February 15 1907	May 14 1907	Democratic	None	[16]
26	Xenophon Overton Pindall	May 14 1907	January 11 1909	Democratic	None	[17]
27	Jesse M. Martin	January 11 1909	January 14 1909	Democratic	None	[18]
28	George Washington Donaghey	January 14 1909	January 16 1913	Democratic	None
29	Joseph Taylor Robinson	January 16 1913	March 8 1913	Democratic	None
30	William Kavanaugh Oldham	March 8 1913	March 13 1913	Democratic	None	[19]
31	Junius Marion Futrell	March 13 1913	July 23 1913	Democratic	None	[20]
32	George Washington Hays	July 23 1913	January 10 1917	Democratic	''vacant''
33	Charles Hillman Brough	January 10 1917	January 11 1921	Democratic	''vacant''
34	Thomas Chipman McRae	January 11 1921	January 13 1925	Democratic	''vacant''
35	Tom Jefferson Terral	January 13 1925	January 11 1927	Democratic	''vacant''
36	John Ellis Martineau	January 11 1927	March 4 1928	Democratic	Harvey Parnell	[21]
37	Harvey Parnell	March 4 1928	January 10 1933	Democratic	William Lee Cazort	As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term, and was subsequently elected in his own right.
					Lawrence Elery Wilson
38	Junius Marion Futrell	January 10 1933	January 12 1937	Democratic	William Lee Cazort
39	Carl Edward Bailey	January 12 1937	January 14 1941	Democratic	Robert L. Bailey
40	Homer Martin Adkins	January 14 1941	January 9 1945	Democratic	Robert L. Bailey
					James L. Shaver
41	Benjamin Travis Laney	January 9 1945	January 11 1949	Democratic	James L. Shaver
					Nathan Green Gordon
42	Sid McMath	January 11 1949	January 13 1953	Democratic	Nathan Green Gordon
43	Francis Cherry	January 13 1953	January 11 1955	Democratic	Nathan Green Gordon
44	Orval Faubus	January 11 1955	January 10 1967	Democratic	Nathan Green Gordon
45	Winthrop Rockefeller	January 10 1967	January 12 1971	Republican	Maurice Britt
46	Dale Bumpers	January 12 1971	January 3 1975	Democratic	Bob C. Riley
47	Bob C. Riley	January 3 1975	January 14 1975	Democratic	''Acting as governor''	As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term.
48	David Pryor	January 14 1975	January 3 1979	Democratic	Joe Purcell
49	Joe Purcell	January 3 1979	January 9 1979	Democratic	''Acting as governor''
50	Bill Clinton	January 9 1979	January 19 1981	Democratic	Joe Purcell
51	Frank D. White	January 19 1981	January 11 1983	Republican	Winston Bryant
52	Bill Clinton	January 11 1983	December 12 1992	Democratic	Winston Bryant	[22]
					Jim Guy Tucker
53	Jim Guy Tucker	December 12 1992	July 15 1996	Democratic	Mike Huckabee	[23]
54	Mike Huckabee	July 15 1996	January 9 2007	Republican	Winthrop P. Rockefeller
55	Mike Beebe	January 9 2007	''Incumbent''	Democratic	Bill Halter	[24]

Notes

1. The territory was formally organized with the name "Arkansaw", but spellings including "Arkansas" and "Arkansa" remained common until around 1822, when the popularity of the ''Arkansas Gazette'' helped standardize the spelling as "Arkansas".
2. James Miller was appointed territorial governor on March 3 1819, the same date the bill organizing Arkansaw Territory was signed. However, to avoid the hot southern summer, he delayed his departure from New Hampshire until September, and took a non-direct route, finally arriving in the territory on December 26 1819. Robert Crittenden, Secretary of the territory, served as acting governor while Miller was delayed.
3. Resigned citing poor health. At the time of his resignation, he had been absent from the territory for 18 months.
4. George Izard did not arrive in Arkansas Territory until May 31 1825; Robert Crittenden, Secretary of the territory, acted as governor in his stead, though Crittenden himself was out of state when Izard arrived.
5. The office was vacant from November 22 1828 until the spring of 1829. By the time notice of George Izard's death reached Washington, D.C., Andrew Jackson had been elected president, and the senate refused to approve John Quincy Adams's choice for governor, preferring to wait until Jackson took office.
6. Pope arrived in the territory in May 1829.
7. William Savin Fulton served as governor until statehood, when he was elected to the United States Senate.
8. The office of lieutenant governor was not created until 1914, and was not filled until 1926. The amendment to the state constitution creating the office was narrowly voted in by the electorate in 1914. The Speaker of the House declared that the measure had lost because it did not receive a majority of the highest vote total from that election. In 1925, it was discovered that a 1910 law amended this requirement such that only a majority of the votes on the specific question was required. Therefore, the 1914 initiative was declared to be valid.
9. Resigned to run for the United States House of Representatives, winning the election.
10. As president of the state senate, acted as governor for unexpired term.
11. Resigned due to the low salary he received as governor.
12. As president of the state senate, acted as governor until special election.
13. Elected in a special election to fill unexpired term.
14. Removed from office for a short time due to the Brooks-Baxter War.
15. Resigned after suffering a nervous breakdown soon after taking office.
16. As president of the state senate, acted as governor until the legislature adjourned.
17. As the new president pro tempore of the state senate, became acting governor until his senate term expired.
18. Acted as governor for three days between the end of Governor Pindall's senate term and the next elected governor's term.
19. As president of the state senate, acted as governor for six days before a new president of the senate was elected.
20. As newly-elected president of the senate, acted as governor until special election.
21. Resigned to be a judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
22. Resigned after being elected President of the United States.
23. Resigned after being convicted of mail fraud in the Whitewater scandal, and felons may not hold office as governor.
24. Governor Beebe's first term expires in 2011; he is not yet term limited.

Other high offices held

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

Name	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
James Miller	1819–1825 (territorial)			Elected U.S. Representative from New Hampshire but did not take his seat.
John Pope	1829–1835 (territorial)			U.S. Representative and Senator from Kentucky (including President ''pro tempore'' of the Senate)
William Savin Fulton	1835–1836 (territorial)		S
Archibald Yell	1840–1844	H
Powell Clayton	1868–1871		S ★	Ambassador to Mexico
Augustus Hill Garland	1874–1877		S	Confederate Representative, Confederate Senator, U.S. Attorney General
James Henderson Berry	1883–1885		S
William Meade Fishback	1893–1895			Elected to the U.S. Senate but was refused his seat
James Paul Clarke	1895–1897		S	President ''pro tempore'' of the U.S. Senate
Jefferson Davis	1901–1907		S
John Sebastian Little	1907	H
Joseph Taylor Robinson	1913	H	S ★	Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate
Thomas Chipman McRae	1921–1925	H
Dale Bumpers	1971–1975		S ★
David Pryor	1975–1979	H	S ★
Bill Clinton	1979–1981, 1983–1992			President of the United States ★
Jim Guy Tucker	1992–1996	H

Living former governors

As of August 2007, five former governors were alive, the oldest being Dale Bumpers (1971–1975, born 1925). The most recent governor to die was Sid McMath (1949–1953), on October 4 2003. The most recently-serving governor to die was Frank D. White (1981–1983), on May 21 2003.

Name	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
Dale Bumpers	1971–1975	August 12 1925
David Pryor	1975–1979	August 29 1934
Bill Clinton	1979–1981, 1983–1992	August 19 1946
Jim Guy Tucker	1992–1996	June 12 1943
Mike Huckabee	1996–2007	August 24 1955

References

;General

★ Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe

★ Constitution Of The State Of Arkansas Of 1874

★ The Road from Conway to Clinton: Biographies of Arkansas's Governors

★ The Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Category: Politics and Government

★ Governors of Arkansas

★ About The Office - Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
;Specific


★ [A] Arkansas Constitutions

★ [B] State Gubernatorial Term Limits

★ [C] Timeline - 1822: Indian Peace Treaty

★ [D] James Miller (1776-1851)

★ [E] Timeline - 1824: Expansion

★ [F] George Izard (1776-1828)

★ [G] The Romance of American Expansion, , Henry Addington, Bruce, Moffat, Yard & Company, 1909,

★ [H] Timeline - 1828: Final Indian Treaty

★ [I] Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives, , Nancy A., Williams, University of Arkansas Press, 2000,

★ [J] Governors of Arkansas Portrait Gallery, Territorial Governors 1819-1836

★ [K] About The Office - Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

★ [L] Governors of Arkansas

★ [M] POPE, John

★ [N] FULTON, William Savin