Governor of Massachusetts

Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Flag of the Governor
Seal of the Governor
Incumbent Deval Patrick since January 4, 2007
Style	His Excellency
Term length	Four years, no term limit
Inaugural holder	John Hancock
Formation	October 25, 1780
Website	Office of the Governor

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current Governor is Democrat Deval Patrick. The next election will be 2014, which will bring a new governor as the incumbent Deval Patrick has stated that he will not seek re-election after his current term.

Constitutional role

Part the Second, Chapter II, Section I, Article I of the Massachusetts Constitution reads,

There shall be a supreme executive magistrate, who shall be styled, The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and whose title shall be – His Excellency. The Governor of Massachusetts is the chief executive of the Commonwealth, and is supported by a number of subordinate officers. He, like most other state officers, senators, and representatives, was originally elected annually. In 1918 this was changed to a two-year term, and since 1966 the office of Governor has carried a four-year term. The Governor of Massachusetts does not receive a palace, other official residence, or housing allowance. Instead, he resides in his own private residence. The title "His Excellency" is a throwback to the royally-appointed Governors of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The first Governor to use the title was Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont in 1699; since he was an Earl, it was thought proper to call him "Your Excellency." The title was retained until 1742, when an order from King George II forbade its further use. However, the framers of the state constitution revived it because they found it fitting to dignify the Governor with this title. The Governor also serves as Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth's armed forces. The power of this position has declined as the states of the United States are not individual nations and are actually subnational units.

Succession

According to the state constitution, whenever the chair of the Governor is vacant, the Lieutenant Governor shall take over as acting Governor. The first time this came into use was five years after the constitution's adoption in 1785, when Governor John Hancock resigned the post, leaving Lieutenant Governor Thomas Cushing as acting Governor. Most recently, Jane Swift became acting Governor upon the resignation of Paul Cellucci. Under this system, the Lieutenant Governor retains his or her position and title as "Lieutenant Governor" and never becomes Governor; only acting Governor.

The Lieutenant Governor, when acting as Governor, is referred to as "the Lieutenant-Governor, acting governor" in official documents. An example of this is found in Chapter 45 of the Acts of 2001, where a veto by Swift was overridden by the General Court:

House of Representatives, July 2, 2001.

This Bill having been returned by the Lieutenant-Governor, Acting Governor with her objections thereto in writing (see House 4281) has been passed by the House of Representatives, notwithstanding said objections, two-thirds of the House (137 yeas to 15 nays) having agreed to pass the same.

Sent to the Senate for its action. Salvatore F. DiMasi, Acting Speaker. Steven T. James, Clerk. Senate, July 12, 2001.

Passed by the Senate, notwithstanding the objections of the Lieutenant-Governor, Acting Governor, two-thirds of the members present (37 yeas to 1 nay) having approved the same.

Linda J. Melconian, Acting President. Patrick F. Scanlan, Clerk.

Approved November 1, 2001.

The Massachusetts constitution does not use the term "acting governor". All modern constitutions have rejected such language. The Massachusetts courts have found, without rejecting the term, that the full authority of the office of the Governor devolves to the Lieutenant Governor upon vacancy in the office of Governor, i.e., there is no circumstance short of death, resignation, or impeachment that would relieve the "acting governor" from the full responsibilities of being the Governor.

When the constitution was first adopted, the Governor's Council was charged with acting as Governor in the event that both the Governorship and Lieutenant Governorship were vacant. This occurred in 1799 when Governor Increase Sumner died in office on June 7, 1799, leaving Lieutenant Governor Moses Gill as acting governor. Acting Governor Gill never received a lieutenant, and died himself on May 20, 1800, between that year's election and the inauguration of the victor, Caleb Strong. The Governor's Council consequently served as the executive for ten days; the council's chair, Thomas Dawes, was the closest person to Governorship during this time, but was at no point named Governor or acting Governor.

Article LV of the Constitution, enacted in 1918, created a new line of succession that did not entrust the Governorship to an eight-member council, instead creating a succession line involving all of the major constitutional offices.

The new and current line of succession is as follows:

• Governor (Deval Patrick)
• Lieutenant Governor (Tim Murray)
• Secretary of the Commonwealth (Bill Galvin)
• Attorney General (Martha Coakley)
• Treasurer and Receiver-General (Steven Grossman)
• State Auditor (Suzanne Bump)

Cabinet

The Governor has a 10-person cabinet, each of whom oversees a portion of the government under direct administration (as opposed to independent executive agencies). See Government of Massachusetts for a complete listing.

Traditions

When the Governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the office of Governor remains vacant for the rest of the 4 year term. The Lieutenant Governor does not succeed but only discharges powers and duties as acting Governor. However, if a vacancy in the office of Governor continues for six months, and the six months expire more than five months before the next regular biennial state election midway through the Governor's term, a special election is held at that time to fill the vacancy for the balance of the unexpired four-year term.

The front doors of the state house are only opened when a Governor leaves office or a head of state comes to visit the State House, or for the return of flags from Massachusetts regiments at the end of wars. The tradition of the ceremonial door originated when departing Governor Benjamin Butler kicked open the front door and walked out by himself in 1884.

Incoming Governors usually choose at least one past Governor's portrait to hang in their office.

Immediately before being sworn into office, the Governor-elect receives four symbols from the departing Governor: the ceremonial pewter "Key" for the Governor's office door, the Butler Bible, the "Gavel", and a two-volume set of the Massachusetts General Statutes with a personal note from the departing Governor to his/her successor added to the back of the text. The Governor-elect is then escorted by the Sergeant-at-Arms to the House Chamber and sworn in by the Senate President before a joint session of the House and Senate.

Lone walk

Upon completion of their term, the departing Governor takes a "lone walk" down the Grand Staircase, through the House of Flags, into Doric Hall, out the central doors and down the steps of the Massachusetts State House. Benjamin Butler started the tradition in 1884. Some walks have been modified with some past Governors having their wives, friends or staff accompany them. A 19-gun salute is offered during the walk and frequently the steps are lined by the outgoing Governor's friends and supporters.

In January 1991, outgoing Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Murphy, the first woman elected to statewide office in Massachusetts, walked down the stairs before Governor Michael Dukakis. In a break from tradition, the January 2007 inauguration of Governor Deval Patrick took place the day after outgoing Governor Mitt Romney took the long walk down the front steps.

Governor's residence

Despite several proposals for establishing an official residence for the Governor of Massachusetts, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts does not have a Governor's Mansion.

In 1955, Governor Foster Furcolo turned down a proposal to establish the Shirley-Eustis House in Roxbury, built by royal Governor William Shirley, as the official residence.

At one time, Governor John A. Volpe accepted the donation of the Endicott Estate in Dedham from the heirs of Henry Bradford Endicott. He intended to renovate the 19th century mansion into a splendid Governor's residence. After Volpe resigned to become Secretary of Transportation in the Nixon Administration, the plan was aborted by his successor in consideration of budgetary constraints and because the location was considered too far from the seat of power, the State House in Boston.

Prior to their early-20th century demolitions, the Province House and the Hancock Manor were also proposed as official residences.

Since the Governor has no official residence, the expression "corner office," rather than "Governor's mansion," is commonly used in the press as a figure of speech for the office of Governor.

List of Governors

Since 1780, 65 people have been elected governor, six to non-consecutive terms, and seven lieutenant governors have acted as governor without subsequently being elected governor. Prior to 1918 constitutional reforms, both the governor's office and that of lieutenant governor were vacant on one occasion, when the state was governed by the Governor's Council.

Colonial Massachusetts

Further information: List of colonial governors of Massachusetts

The colonial history of Massachusetts begins with the founding first of the Plymouth Colony in 1620, and then the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628. The Dominion of New England combined these and other New England colonies into a single unit in 1686, but collapsed in 1689. In 1692 the Province of Massachusetts Bay was established, merging Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, which then included the territory of present-day Maine.

Colonial governors of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony were elected annually by a limited subset of the male population (known as freemen), while Dominion officials and those of the 1692 province were appointed by the British crown. In 1774 General Thomas Gage became the last royally-appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was recalled to England after the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, by which time the Massachusetts Provincial Congress exercised de facto control of Massachusetts territory outside British-occupied Boston. Between 1775 and the establishment of the Massachusetts State Constitution in 1780 the state was governed by the provincial congress and an executive council.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts: 1780–present

In the table below, acting governors are denoted in the leftmost column by the letter "A", and are not counted as actual governors. The longest-serving governor was Michael Dukakis, who served twelve years in office, although they were not all consecutive. The longest period of uninterrupted service by any governor was nine years, by Levi Lincoln, Jr. The shortest service period by an elected governor was one year, achieved by several 19th century governors. Increase Sumner, elected by a landslide to a third consecutive term in 1799, was on his deathbed and died not long after taking the oath of office; this represents the shortest part of an individual term served by a governor. Sumner was one of four governors to die in office; seven governors resigned, most of them to assume another office.

  Democratic (20)   Democratic-Republican (6)   Federalist (3)   Know Nothing (1)   None (6)   Republican (31)   Whig (7)

#	Governor	Years	Party	Lt. Governor	Electoral history
1	John Hancock	October 25, 1780 – February 17, 1785	None	Thomas Cushing (1780–1788)	Resigned due to claimed illness (recurring gout).
A	Thomas Cushing	February 17, 1785 – May 27, 1785			Lost re-election
2	James Bowdoin	May 27, 1785 – May 30, 1787			Lost re-election
3	John Hancock	May 30, 1787 – October 8, 1793			Died
				Benjamin Lincoln (1788–1789)
				Samuel Adams (1789–1794)
4	Samuel Adams	October 8, 1793 – June 2, 1797			Retired
				Moses Gill (1794–1800)
5	Increase Sumner	June 2, 1797 – June 7, 1799	Federalist		Died
A	Moses Gill	June 7, 1799 – May 20, 1800	None		Died
A	Governor's Council	May 20, 1800 – May 30, 1800		None
6	Caleb Strong	May 30, 1800 – May 29, 1807	Federalist	Samuel Phillips, Jr. (1801–1802)	Lost re-election
				Edward Robbins (1802–1806)
7	James Sullivan	May 29, 1807 – December 10, 1808	Democratic- Republican	Levi Lincoln, Sr.	Died
A	Levi Lincoln, Sr.	December 10, 1808 – May 1, 1809	Democratic- Republican		Lost re-election
8	Christopher Gore	May 1, 1809 – June 10, 1810	Federalist	David Cobb	Lost re-election
9	Elbridge Gerry	June 10, 1810 – March 4, 1812	Democratic- Republican	William Gray	Lost re-election
10	Caleb Strong	March 4, 1812 – May 30, 1816	Federalist	William Phillips, Jr.	Retired
11	John Brooks	May 30, 1816 – May 31, 1823	Federalist		[data missing]
12	William Eustis	May 31, 1823 – February 6, 1825	Democratic- Republican	Levi Lincoln, Jr. (1823–1824)	Died
				Marcus Morton (1824–1825)
A	Marcus Morton	February 6, 1825 – May 26, 1825	Democratic- Republican		[data missing]
13	Levi Lincoln, Jr.	May 26, 1825 – January 9, 1834	Democratic- Republican	Thomas L. Winthrop (1826–1833)	Retired
14	John Davis	January 9, 1834 – March 1, 1835	Whig	Samuel Turell Armstrong	Resigned to become US Senator
A	Samuel Turell Armstrong	March 1, 1835 – January 13, 1836	Whig		[data missing]
15	Edward Everett	January 13, 1836 – January 18, 1840	Whig	George Hull	[data missing]
16	Marcus Morton	January 18, 1840 – January 7, 1841	Democratic		[data missing]
17	John Davis	January 7, 1841 – January 17, 1843	Whig		[data missing]
18	Marcus Morton	January 17, 1843 – January 1844	Democratic	Henry H. Childs	[data missing]
19	George N. Briggs	January 1844 – January 11, 1851	Whig	John Reed, Jr.	[data missing]
20	George S. Boutwell	January 11, 1851 – January 14, 1853	Democratic	Henry W. Cushman	[data missing]
21	John H. Clifford	January 14, 1853 – January 12, 1854	Whig	Elisha Huntington	[data missing]
22	Emory Washburn	January 12, 1854 – January 4, 1855	Whig	William C. Plunkett	[data missing]
23	Henry Gardner	January 4, 1855 – January 7, 1858	Know-Nothing	Simon Brown (1855–1856)	[data missing]
				Henry W. Benchley (1856–1858)
24	Nathaniel Prentice Banks	January 7, 1858 – January 3, 1861	Republican	Eliphalet Trask	[data missing]
25	John Albion Andrew	January 3, 1861 – January 4, 1866	Republican	John Z. Goodrich (1861)	[data missing]
				John Nesmith (1862)
				Joel Hayden (1863–1866)
26	Alexander H. Bullock	January 4, 1866 – January 7, 1869	Republican	William Claflin	[data missing]
27	William Claflin	January 7, 1869 – January 4, 1872	Republican	Joseph Tucker (1869–1873)	[data missing]
28	William B. Washburn	January 4, 1872 – April 29, 1874	Republican		Resigned to become US Senator.
				Thomas Talbot (1873–1875)
A	Thomas Talbot	April 29, 1874 – January 7, 1875	Republican		[data missing]
29	William Gaston	January 7, 1875 – January 6, 1876	Democratic	Horatio G. Knight	[data missing]
30	Alexander H. Rice	January 6, 1876 – January 2, 1879	Republican		[data missing]
31	Thomas Talbot	January 2, 1879 – January 8, 1880	Republican	John Davis Long	[data missing]
32	John Davis Long	January 8, 1880 – January 4, 1883	Republican	Byron Weston	[data missing]
33	Benjamin F. Butler	January 4, 1883 – January 3, 1884	Democratic	Oliver Ames	[data missing]
34	George D. Robinson	January 3, 1884 – January 6, 1887	Republican		[data missing]
35	Oliver Ames	January 6, 1887 – January 7, 1890	Republican	John Q. A. Brackett	[data missing]
36	John Q. A. Brackett	January 7, 1890 – January 8, 1891	Republican	William H. Haile (1890–1893)	[data missing]
37	William Russell	January 8, 1891 – January 4, 1894	Democratic		[data missing]
				Roger Wolcott (1893–1897)
38	Frederic T. Greenhalge	January 4, 1894 – March 5, 1896	Republican		Died
39	Roger Wolcott	March 5, 1896 – January 4, 1900	Republican		[data missing]
				Winthrop M. Crane (1897–1900)
40	Winthrop M. Crane	January 4, 1900 – January 8, 1903	Republican	John L. Bates	[data missing]
41	John L. Bates	January 8, 1903 – January 5, 1905	Republican	Curtis Guild, Jr.	[data missing]
42	William Lewis Douglas	January 5, 1905 – January 4, 1906	Democratic		[data missing]
43	Curtis Guild, Jr.	January 4, 1906 – January 7, 1909	Republican	Ebenezer Sumner Draper	[data missing]
44	File:EbenezerSumnerDraper.jpg Ebenezer Sumner Draper	January 7, 1909 – January 5, 1911	Republican	Louis A. Frothingham	[data missing]
45	Eugene Foss	January 5, 1911 – January 8, 1914	Democratic	Louis A. Frothingham (1911–1912)	[data missing]
				Robert Luce (1912–1913)
				David I. Walsh (1913–1914)
46	David I. Walsh	January 8, 1914 – January 6, 1916	Democratic	Edward P. Barry (1914–1915)	[data missing]
				Grafton D. Cushing (1915–1916)
47	Samuel W. McCall	January 6, 1916 – January 2, 1919	Republican	Calvin Coolidge	[data missing]
48	Calvin Coolidge	January 2, 1919 – January 6, 1921	Republican	Channing H. Cox	[data missing]
49	Channing H. Cox	January 6, 1921 – January 8, 1925	Republican	Alvan T. Fuller	[data missing]
50	Alvan T. Fuller	January 8, 1925 – January 3, 1929	Republican	Frank G. Allen	[data missing]
51	Frank G. Allen	January 3, 1929 – January 8, 1931	Republican	William S. Youngman	[data missing]
52	Joseph B. Ely	January 8, 1931 – January 3, 1935	Democratic	William S. Youngman (1929–1933)	[data missing]
				Gaspar G. Bacon (1933–1935)
53	James Michael Curley	January 3, 1935 – January 7, 1937	Democratic	Joseph L. Hurley	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
54	Charles F. Hurley	January 7, 1937 – January 5, 1939	Democratic	Francis E. Kelly	Lost renomination
55	Leverett Saltonstall	January 5, 1939 – January 3, 1945	Republican	Maurice J. Tobin	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
56	Maurice J. Tobin	January 3, 1945 – January 2, 1947	Democratic	Robert F. Bradford	Lost re-election
57	Robert F. Bradford	January 2, 1947 – January 6, 1949	Republican	Arthur W. Coolidge	Lost re-election
58	Paul A. Dever	January 6, 1949 – January 8, 1953	Democratic	Charles F. Sullivan	[data missing]
59	Christian Herter	January 8, 1953 – January 3, 1957	Republican	Sumner G. Whittier	Retired
60	Foster Furcolo	January 3, 1957 – January 5, 1961	Democratic	Robert F. Murphy (1957–1960)	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
61	John A. Volpe	January 5, 1961 – January 3, 1963	Republican	Edward F. McLaughlin, Jr.	[data missing]
62	File:Epeabody.jpg Endicott Peabody	January 3, 1963 – January 7, 1965	Democratic	Francis X. Bellotti	[data missing]
63	John A. Volpe	January 7, 1965 – January 22, 1969	Republican	Elliot Richardson (1965–1967)	Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of Transportation
				Francis W. Sargent (1967–1969)
64	Francis W. Sargent	January 22, 1969 – January 2, 1975	Republican		Acted as governor for the duration of Volpe's term, and was then elected governor
				Donald R. Dwight (1971–1975)
65	Michael Dukakis	January 2, 1975 – January 4, 1979	Democratic	Thomas P. O'Neill III	Lost renomination
66	Edward J. King	January 4, 1979 – January 6, 1983	Democratic		Lost renomination
67	Michael Dukakis	January 6, 1983 – January 3, 1991	Democratic	John Kerry (1983–1985)	Retired
				Evelyn Murphy (1987–1991)
68	William Weld	January 3, 1991 – July 29, 1997	Republican	Paul Cellucci (1991–1999)	First elected in 1990 Re-elected in 1994 Resigned when appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico but was not confirmed by the US Senate
69	Paul Cellucci	July 29, 1997 – April 10, 2001	Republican		Acted as governor for the duration of Weld's term, and was then elected governor Resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to Canada
				Jane Swift
A	File:Jane Swift 2008.jpg Jane Swift	April 10, 2001 – January 2, 2003	Republican		Retired
70	Mitt Romney	January 2, 2003 – January 4, 2007	Republican	Kerry Healey	Elected in 2002 Retired
71	File:Official portrait of Deval Patrick.jpg Deval Patrick	January 4, 2007 – Present	Democratic	Tim Murray	Elected in 2006 Re-elected in 2010

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Massachusetts. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Name	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
John Hancock	1787–1793, 1780–1785			Delegate to the Continental Congress (including twice as President of the Continental Congress)
Thomas Cushing	1785 (acting)			Delegate to the Continental Congress
Samuel Adams	1793–1797			Delegate to the Continental Congress
Caleb Strong	1800–1807, 1812–1816		S	Delegate to the Continental Congress
James Sullivan	1807–1808			Delegate to the Continental Congress, but did not attend
Levi Lincoln, Sr.	1808–1809 (acting)	H		U.S. Attorney General
Christopher Gore	1813–1816		S
Elbridge Gerry	1810–1812	H		Delegate to the Continental Congress, Vice President of the United States
William Eustis	1823–1825	H		Ambassador to the Netherlands, U.S. Secretary of War
Marcus Morton	1825 (acting), 1840–1841, 1843–1844	H
Levi Lincoln, Jr.	1825–1834	H
John Davis	1834–1835, 1841–1843	H	S*
Edward Everett	1836–1840	H	S	Ambassador to Great Britain, U.S. Secretary of State
George N. Briggs	1844–1851	H
George S. Boutwell	1851–1853	H	S	U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
Nathaniel Prentice Banks	1858–1861	H		Speaker of the House
William B. Washburn	1874–1874	H	S*
Alexander H. Rice	1876–1879	H
John Davis Long	1880–1883	H		U.S. Secretary of the Navy
Benjamin Franklin Butler	1883–1884	H
George D. Robinson	1884–1887	H
Frederic T. Greenhalge	1894–1896	H
Winthrop M. Crane	1900–1903		S
Eugene Foss	1911–1914	H
David I. Walsh	1914–1916		S
Samuel W. McCall	1916–1919	H
Calvin Coolidge	1919–1921			Vice President of the United States, President of the United States
Alvan T. Fuller	1925–1929	H
James Michael Curley	1935–1937	H
Leverett Saltonstall	1939–1945		S
Maurice J. Tobin	1945–1947			U.S. Secretary of Labor
Christian Herter	1953–1957	H		U.S. Secretary of State
Foster Furcolo	1957–1961	H
John A. Volpe	1961–1963, 1965–1969			U.S. Secretary of Transportation*
Paul Cellucci	1997–2001			Ambassador to Canada*

Living former governors

As of April 2011, five former and acting governors were alive, the oldest being Michael Dukakis (1975–1979, 1983–1991, born 1933). The most recent governor to die was Edward J. King (1979–1983), on September 18, 2006.

Name	Term(s)	Date of birth (and age)
Michael Dukakis	1975–1979, 1983–1991	(1933-11-03) November 3, 1933
William Weld	1991–1997	(1945-07-31) July 31, 1945
Paul Cellucci	1997–1999 (acting), 1999–2001	(1948-04-24) April 24, 1948
Jane Swift	2001–2003 (acting)	(1965-02-24) February 24, 1965
Mitt Romney	2003–2007	(1947-03-12) March 12, 1947

See also

• List of colonial governors of Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Governor's Council
• Government of Massachusetts

References

External links

• Office of the Governor
• CNN.com 2006 election results