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Number of Governors of Georgia by party affiliation

Party	Governors
Democratic	47
None or non-party Whig	23
Democratic-Republican	18
Republican	3
Whig	2
Military	1

The following is a 'list of Governors of the State of Georgia' and governors of the British colony of Georgia.

Contents

Colonial governors

Governors of Georgia

Notes

Other high offices held

Living former governors

Source

Colonial governors

★ James Oglethorpe, ''Resident Trustee'', 1733 - 1743 (Oglethorpe County)

★ William Stephens, ''President'', 1743 - 1751

★ Henry Parker, ''President'', 1751 - 1752

★ Patrick Graham, ''President'', 1752 - 1754

★ John Reynolds, 1754 - 1757

★ Henry Ellis, 1757 - 1760

★ James Mark Prevost, 1779

★ James Wright, 1760 - 1776, 1779 - 1782

Governors of Georgia

Name	Took office	Left office	Party	Namesake	Lt. Governor[1]	Notes
William Ewen[2]	June 22 1775	December 11 1775	Whig[3]		None
George Walton2	December 11 1775	February 20 1776	Whig3	Walton County	None
William Ewen2	February 20 1776	May 1 1776	Whig3		None
Archibald Bulloch[4]	May 1 1776	March 4 1777	Whig3	Bulloch County	None	Died in office.
Button Gwinnett4	March 4 1777	May 8 1777	Whig3	Gwinnett County	None	[5]
John A. Treutlen	May 8 1777	January 10 1778	Whig3	Treutlen County	None
John Houstoun	January 10 1778	January 7 1779	Whig3	Houston County	None
William Glascock[6]	January 7 1779	July 24 1779	Whig3		None
Seth John Cuthbert[7]	July 24 1779	August 6 1779	Whig3		None	[8]
John Wereat7	August 6 1779	November 4 1779	Whig3		None
George Walton	November 4 1779	January 4 1780	Whig3	Walton County	None
Richard Howly	January 4 1780	February 16 1780	Whig3		None
Humphrey Wells	February 16 1780	February 18 1780	Whig3		None	[9]
Stephen Heard6	February 18 1780	August 1780	Whig3	Heard County	None
Myrick Davies6	August 1780	August 18 1781	Whig3		None
Nathan Brownson	August 18 1781	January 3 1782	none		None
John Martin	January 3 1782	January 8 1783	none		None
Lyman Hall	January 8 1783	January 9 1784	none	Hall County	None
John Houstoun	January 9 1784	January 6 1785	none	Houston County	None
Samuel Elbert	January 6 1785	January 9 1786	none	Elbert County	None
Edward Tellfair	January 9 1786	January 9 1787	none	Telfair County	None
George Mathews	January 9 1787	January 26 1788	none		None
George Handley	January 26 1788	January 7 1789	none		None
George Walton	January 7 1789	November 9 1790	Democratic-Republican	Walton County	None
Edward Telfair	November 9 1790	November 7 1793	Democratic-Republican	Telfair County	None
George Mathews	November 7 1793	January 15 1796	Democratic-Republican		None
Jared Irwin	January 15 1796	January 12 1798	Democratic-Republican	Washington County	None
James Jackson	January 12 1798	March 3 1801	Democratic-Republican, Jackson faction	Jackson County	None	Resigned to take elected seat in the United States Senate.
David Emanuel	March 3 1801	November 7 1801	Democratic-Republican, Jackson faction	Emanuel County	None	As president of the state senate, filled unexpired term.
Josiah Tattnall, Jr.	November 7 1801	November 4 1802	Democratic-Republican, Jackson faction	Tattnall County	None	[10]
John Milledge	November 4 1802	September 23 1806	Democratic-Republican, Jackson faction	Milledgeville	None
Jared Irwin	September 23 1806	November 10 1809	Democratic-Republican, Jackson faction	Irwin County	None
David B. Mitchell	November 10 1809	November 5 1813	Democratic-Republican, Jackson faction		None
Peter Early	November 5 1813	November 20 1815	Democratic-Republican, Jackson faction	Early County	None
David B. Mitchell	November 20 1815	March 4 1817	Democratic-Republican, Jackson faction		None	[11]
William Rabun	March 4 1817	October 24 1819	Democratic-Republican, Troup faction[12]	Rabun County	None
Matthew Talbot	October 24 1819	November 5 1819	Democratic-Republican, Clark faction	Talbot County	None
John Clark	November 5 1819	November 7 1823	Democratic-Republican, Clark faction		None
George M. Troup	November 7 1823	November 7 1827	Democratic-Republican, Troup faction	Troup County	None
John Forsyth	November 7 1827	November 4 1829	Democratic-Republican, Troup faction	Forsyth County	None
George R. Gilmer	November 4 1829	November 9 1831	Democratic-Republican, Troup faction	Gilmer County	None
Wilson Lumpkin	November 9 1831	November 4 1835	Union (Democratic)	Lumpkin County	None
William Schley	November 4 1835	November 8 1837	Union (Democratic)	Schley County	None
George R. Gilmer	November 8 1837	November 6 1839	State Rights (Whig)	Gilmer County	None
Charles J. McDonald	November 6 1839	November 8 1843	Union (Democratic)		None
George W. Crawford	November 8 1843	November 3 1847	Whig	Crawford County	None
George W. Towns	November 3 1847	November 5 1851	Democratic	Towns County	None
Howell Cobb	November 5 1851	November 9 1853	Constitutional Union (Democratic)	(''not'' Cobb County)	None
Herschel V. Johnson	November 9 1853	November 6 1857	Democratic	Johnson County	None
Joseph E. Brown	November 6 1857	June 17[ 1865	Democratic		None	[13]
James Johnson	June 17 1865	December 14 1865	Democratic		None	[14]
Charles J. Jenkins	December 14 1865	January 13 1868	Democratic	Jenkins County	None	[15]
Thomas H. Ruger	January 13 1868	July 4 1868	Military		None	[16]
Rufus B. Bullock	July 4 1868	October 30 1871	Republican		None	[17]
Benjamin Conley	October 30 1871	January 12 1872	Republican		None	As president of the state senate, became governor until election.
James M. Smith	January 12 1872	January 12 1877	Democratic		None
Alfred H. Colquitt	January 12 1877	November 4 1882	Democratic	(''not'' Colquitt County)	None
Alexander H. Stephens	November 4 1882	March 5 1883	Democratic	Stephens County	None
James S. Boynton	March 5 1883	May 10 1883	Democratic		None
Henry D. McDaniel	May 10 1883	November 9 1886	Democratic		None
John B. Gordon	November 9 1886	November 8 1890	Democratic	(''not'' Gordon County)	None
William J. Northen	November 8 1890	October 27 1894	Democratic		None
William Y. Atkinson	October 27 1894	October 29 1898	Democratic	Atkinson County	None
Allen D. Candler	October 29 1898	October 25 1902	Democratic	Candler County	None
Joseph M. Terrell	October 25 1902	June 29 1907	Democratic	(''not'' Terrell County)	None
Hoke Smith	June 29 1907	June 26 1909	Democratic		None
Joseph M. Brown	June 26 1909	July 1 1911	Democratic		None
Hoke Smith	July 1 1911	November 16 1911	Democratic		None
John M. Slaton	November 16 1911	January 25 1912	Democratic		None
Joseph M. Brown	January 25 1912	June 28 1913	Democratic		None
John M. Slaton	June 28 1913	June 26 1915	Democratic		None
Nathaniel E. Harris	June 26 1915	June 30 1917	Democratic		None
Hugh M. Dorsey	June 30 1917	June 25 1921	Democratic		None
Thomas W. Hardwick	June 25 1921	June 30 1923	Democratic		None
Clifford Walker	June 30 1923	June 25 1927	Democratic		None
Lamartine G. Hardman	June 25 1927	June 27 1931	Democratic		None
Richard Russell, Jr.	June 27 1931	January 10 1933	Democratic		None
Eugene Talmadge	January 10 1933	January 12 1937	Democratic		None
Eurith D. Rivers	January 12 1937	1941	Democratic		None
Eugene Talmadge	January 14 1941	January 12 1943	Democratic		None
Ellis Arnall	January 12 1943	January 14 1947	Democratic		None
Herman Talmadge	January 14 1947	March 18 1947	Democratic		Melvin E. Thompson	[18]
Melvin E. Thompson	March 18 1947	November 17 1948	Democratic		''Vacant''	18
Herman Talmadge	November 17 1948	January 11 1955	Democratic		Marvin Griffin	18
Marvin Griffin	January 11 1955	January 13 1959	Democratic		Ernest Vandiver
Ernest Vandiver	January 13 1959	January 15 1963	Democratic		Garland T. Byrd
Carl E. Sanders	January 15 1963	January 11 1967	Democratic		Peter Zack Greer
Lester Maddox	January 11 1967	January 12 1971	Democratic		George T. Smith
Jimmy Carter	January 12 1971	January 14 1975	Democratic		Lester Maddox
George Busbee	January 14 1975	January 11 1983	Democratic		Zell Miller
Joe Frank Harris	January 11 1983	January 13 1991	Democratic		Zell Miller
Zell Miller	January 13 1991	January 11 1999	Democratic		Pierre Howard
Roy Barnes	January 11 1999	January 13 2003	Democratic		Mark Taylor
Sonny Perdue	January 13 2003	''Incumbent''	Republican		Mark Taylor	[19]
					Casey Cagle

Notes

1. The office of Lieutenant Governor was created in 1945, first being filled in 1947.
2. President of Council of Safety.
3. Not a formal political party, and not to be confused with the 19th-century Whig Party.
4. President.
5. Died in office; after losing his bid for re-election, Button Gwinnett was wounded in a duel with Lachlin McIntosh on May 6 1777, and died of his wounds two days later.
6. President of Executive Council.
7. President of Supreme Executive Council.
8. Temporary governor.
9. Resigned in favor of Stephen Heard.
10. Resigned due to declining health.
11. Resigned to be agent to the Creek Indians.
12. The Troup party was essentially the continuation of the Jackson faction (followers of James Jackson).
13. Resigned following the defeat of the Confederate States of America.
14. Provisional governor appointed by President Andrew Johnson following American Civil War.
15. Removed from office by the military because he refused to allow state funds to be used for a racially integrated state constitutional convention; the state was still under military occupation during Reconstruction.
16. Provisional governor appointed by General George Meade.
17. Resigned; Rufus Bullock fled the state to avoid impeachment; he was arrested in 1876 and found not guilty of embezzlement.
18. Eugene Talmadge was elected to a third term in 1946, but died before taking office. Ellis Arnall, governor at the time, claimed the office, as did Lieutenant Governor Melvin Thompson. The state legislature chose Eugene Talmadge's son, Herman Talmadge, to be governor, but the state supreme court declared this unconstitutional and declared Thompson rightful governor, and Talmadge stepped down after 67 days. Talmadge later defeated Thompson in a special election.
19. Governor Purdue's second term expires January 10 2011; he is term limited.

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, and Confederate offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Georgia.
★ denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Name	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
George Walton	1775–1776, 1779–1780, 1789–1790	H	S	Continental Delegate
Archibald Bulloch	1776–1777			Continental Delegate
Button Gwinnett	1777			Continental Delegate
John Houstoun	1778–1779, 1784–1785			Continental Delegate
John Wereat	1779			Continental Delegate
Richard Howly	1780			Continental Delegate
Nathan Brownson	1781–1782			Continental Delegate
Lyman Hall	1783–1784			Continental Delegate
Samuel Elbert	1785–1786			Continental Delegate
Edward Telfair	1786–1786, 1790–1793			Continental Delegate
George Mathews	1787–1788, 1793–1796	H
James Jackson	1798–1801	H	S ★
Josiah Tattnall	1801–1802		S
John Milledge	1802–1806	H	S ★
Peter Early	1813–1815	H
George Troup	1823–1827	H	S
John Forsyth	1827–1829	H	S	U.S. Secretary of State
George R. Gilmer	1829–1831, 1837–1839	H
Wilson Lumpkin	1831–1835	H	S
William Schley	1835–1837	H
George W. Crawford	1843–1847	H		U.S. Secretary of War
George W. Towns	1847–1851	H
Howell Cobb	1851–1853	H		Speaker of the House, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Acting President of the Confederate States
Herschel V. Johnson	1853–1857		S	Confederate Senator
Joseph E. Brown	1868–1870		S
James Johnson	1865	H
James Milton Smith	1872–1877			Confederate Representative
Alfred H. Colquitt	1877–1882	H	S
Alexander H. Stephens	1882–1883	H		Confederate Representative, Vice President of the Confederate States; elected to the U.S. Senate but was refused his seat
John Brown Gordon	1886–1890		S
Allen D. Candler	1898–1902	H
Joseph M. Terrell	1902–1907		S
Hoke Smith	1907–1909, 1911		S ★	U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Thomas W. Hardwick	1921–1923	H	S
Richard Russell, Jr.	1931–1933		S	President ''pro tempore'' of the Senate
Herman Talmadge	1947, 1948–1955		S
Jimmy Carter	1971–1975			President of the United States
Zell Miller	1991–1999		S

Living former governors

As of August 2007, five former governors were alive, the oldest being Jimmy Carter (1971–1975, born 1924). The most recent governor to die was Ernest Vandiver (1959–1963), on February 21 2005. The most recently-serving governor to die was George Busbee (1975–1983), on July 16 2004.

Name	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
Carl Sanders	1963–1967	May 15 1925
Jimmy Carter	1971–1975	October 1 1924
Joe Frank Harris	1983–1991	February 16 1936
Zell Miller	1991–1999	February 24 1932
Roy Barnes	1999–2003	March 11 1948

Source

★ ''A History of Georgia'', second ed. Kenneth Coleman, general editor. University of Georgia Press: 1991.