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Governor of Alaska

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Golbez (talk | contribs) at 03:17, 17 September 2008 (moved List of governors of Alaska to List of Governors of Alaska over redirect: rv; fits all other lists (see List of Presidents of the United States). If this were "List of people that have been governors of Alaska" then lower-case would be p). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Number of Governors of Alaska by party affiliation[1]
Party Governors
Democratic 5
Republican 5
Alaskan Independence 1

The Governor of Alaska is the head of the executive branch of Alaska's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Alaska Legislature,[A] to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment.[B] There have been eleven governors of the state of Alaska, though it had over thirty civilian and military governors during its long history as a United States territory.

The state constitution provides for the election of a governor and lieutenant governor every four years on the same ticket, with their terms commencing on the first Monday in the December following the election.[C] Governors are allowed to succeed themselves once, having to wait four years after their second term in a row before being allowed to run again.[D] Should the office of governor become vacant, the lieutenant governor assumes the title of governor.[E] The original constitution of 1956 created the office of secretary of state, which was functionally identical to a lieutenant governor, and was renamed to "lieutenant governor" in 1970.[F]

Two people have served as state governor twice, William A. Egan and Walter J. Hickel, the latter of which had nearly 32 years between his terms. The longest-serving governor of the state was Egan, who served nearly 12 years over two distinct terms. The longest-serving territorial governor was Ernest Gruening, who served 13+1⁄2 years. The current governor is Sarah Palin, who took office in 2006 as the first female governor of Alaska.

List of Governors

Jefferson C. Davis, first commander of the Department of Alaska
Alfred P. Swineford, second governor of the District of Alaska
Ernest Gruening, seventh governor of Alaska Territory, and one of the first two U.S. senators from Alaska
Walter J. Hickel, second and eighth governor of Alaska, and 38th United States Secretary of the Interior
Jay Hammond, fifth governor of Alaska
Frank Murkowski, tenth governor of Alaska
Sarah Palin, 11th and current governor of Alaska

Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867, with formal transfer occurring on October 18, 1867, which is now celebrated as Alaska Day.[G] Prior to then, it was known as Russian America or Russian Alaska, controlled by the governors and general managers of the Russian-American Company.

Commanders of the Department of Alaska

The vast region was initially designated the Department of Alaska, under the jurisdiction of the Department of War and administered by U.S. Army officers until 1877, when the Army was withdrawn from Alaska. The Department of the Treasury then took control, with the Collector of Customs as the highest ranking federal official in the territory. In 1879, the U.S. Navy was given jurisdiction over the department.[H]

Supposedly, the first American administrator of Alaska was Polish immigrant Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski. However, the Anchorage Daily News was unable to find any conclusive information to support this claim.[I]

# Commander Took office Left office
United States Army
1 Brevet Major General Jefferson C. Davis October 18, 1867 August 31, 1870
2 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel George K. Brady September 1, 1870 September 22, 1870
3 Maj. John C. Tidball September 23, 1870 September 19, 1871
4 Maj. Harvey A. Allen September 20, 1871 January 3, 1873
5 Maj. Joseph Stewart January 4, 1873 April 20, 1874
6 Captain George R. Rodney April 21, 1874 August 16, 1874
7 Capt. Joseph B. Campbell August 17, 1874 June 14, 1876
8 Capt. John Mendenhall June 15, 1876 March 4, 1877
9 Capt. Arthur Morris March 5, 1877 June 14, 1877
United States Department of the Treasury
10 Montgomery P. Berry June 14, 1877 August 13, 1877
11 H.C. DeAhna August 14, 1877 March 26, 1878
12 Mottrom D. Ball March 27, 1878 June 13, 1879
United States Navy
13 Capt. Lester A. Beardslee June 14, 1879 September 12, 1880
14 Commander Henry Glass September 13, 1880 August 9, 1881
15 Cmdr. Edward P. Lull August 10, 1881 October 18, 1881
16 Cmdr. Henry Glass October 19, 1881 March 12, 1882
17 Cmdr. Frederick Pearson March 13, 1882 October 3, 1882
18 Cmdr. Edgar C. Merriman October 4, 1882 September 13, 1883
19 Cmdr. Joseph B. Coghlan September 15, 1883 September 13, 1884
20 Cmdr. Henry E. Nichols September 14, 1884 September 15, 1884

Governors of the District of Alaska

On May 17, 1884, the Department of Alaska was redesignated the District of Alaska, an incorporated but unorganized territory with a civil government. The governor was appointed by the President of the United States.

# Governor Took office Left office Appointed by
1 John Henry Kinkead July 4, 1884 May 7, 1885 Chester A. Arthur
2 Alfred P. Swineford May 7, 1885 April 20, 1889 Grover Cleveland
3 Lyman Enos Knapp April 20, 1889 June 18, 1893 Benjamin Harrison
4 James Sheakley June 18, 1893 June 23, 1897 Grover Cleveland
5 John Green Brady June 23, 1897 March 2, 1906[2] William McKinley
6 Wilford Bacon Hoggatt March 2, 1906 May 20, 1909 Theodore Roosevelt
7 Walter Eli Clark May 20, 1909 April 18, 1913 William Howard Taft

Governors of Alaska Territory

The District of Alaska was organized into Alaska Territory on August 24, 1912. Governors continued to be appointed by the President of the United States.

# Governor Took office Left office Appointed by Notes
1 John Franklin Alexander Strong April 18, 1913 April 12, 1918 Woodrow Wilson [3]
2 Thomas Christmas Riggs, Jr. April 12, 1918 June 16, 1921 Woodrow Wilson
3 Scott Cordelle Bone June 16, 1921 August 16, 1925 Warren G. Harding
4 George Alexander Parks August 16, 1925 April 19, 1933 Calvin Coolidge
5 John Weir Troy April 19, 1933 December 6, 1939 Franklin Delano Roosevelt
6 Ernest Gruening December 6, 1939 April 10, 1953 Franklin Delano Roosevelt [4]
7 Benjamin Franklin Heintzleman April 10, 1953 January 3, 1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower [5]
— Waino Edward Hendrickson January 3, 1957 April 8, 1957 acting [6]
8 Michael Anthony Stepovich April 8, 1957 August 9, 1958 Dwight D. Eisenhower [7]
— Waino Edward Hendrickson August 9, 1958 January 3, 1959 acting [6]

Governors of Alaska

Alaska was admitted to the Union on January 3, 1959. Since then, it has had 9 governors, serving 11 distinct terms.

  Democratic   Republican   Alaskan Independence

# Governor Took office Left office Party Lieutenant Governor[8] Terms[9]
1 William A. Egan January 3, 1959 December 5, 1966 Democratic Hugh Wade 2
2 Walter J. Hickel December 5, 1966 January 29, 1969 Republican Keith Miller ½[10]
3 Keith Miller January 29, 1969 December 7, 1970 Republican Robert W. Ward ½[11]
4 William A. Egan December 7, 1970 December 2, 1974 Democratic H. A. "Red" Boucher 1
5 Jay Hammond December 2, 1974 December 6, 1982 Republican Lowell Thomas, Jr. 2
Terry Miller
6 Bill Sheffield December 6, 1982 December 1, 1986 Democratic Stephen McAlpine 1
7 Steve Cowper December 1, 1986 December 3, 1990 Democratic Stephen McAlpine 1
8 Walter J. Hickel December 3, 1990 December 5, 1994 Alaskan Independence[12] Jack Coghill 1
9 Tony Knowles December 5, 1994 December 2, 2002 Democratic Fran Ulmer 2
10 Frank Murkowski December 2, 2002 December 4, 2006 Republican Loren Leman 1
11 Sarah Palin December 4, 2006 incumbent Republican Sean Parnell 1[13]

Notes

  1. ^ This table only includes state governors, not territorial governors; does not include Walter Hickel's switch back to the Republican Party in his second term, since he was elected on the AIP ticket and spent the bulk of his term with that party.
  2. ^ Forced to resign due to his involvement with the fraudulent Reynolds-Alaska Development Company.[J]
  3. ^ Resigned; was asked to resign after it was discovered he was still a Canadian citizen.[K]
  4. ^ During most of World War II, Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., was the military commander of Alaska, and held much executive power over the district.
  5. ^ Resigned; was reportedly unhappy with the job, and did not expect to be reappointed.[L]
  6. ^ a b As secretary of Alaska, acted as governor.
  7. ^ Resigned to run for U.S. Senate; he lost that election.[M]
  8. ^ The office of lieutenant governor was named "secretary of state" until 1970.
  9. ^ The fractional terms of some governors are not to be understood absolutely literally; rather, they are meant to show single terms during which multiple governors served, due to resignations, deaths and the like.
  10. ^ Resigned to become United States Secretary of the Interior.
  11. ^ As secretary of state, filled unexpired term.
  12. ^ Switched to the Republican Party in April 1994.
  13. ^ Governor Palin's term expires December 6, 2010; she is not yet term limited.

Other high offices held

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

Name Gubernatorial term Other offices held
John Henry Kinkead[O] 1884–1885 (district) Governor of Nevada
James Sheakley[P] 1893–1897 (district) U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania
Ernest Gruening[Q] 1939–1953 (territorial) U.S. Senator
Walter J. Hickel 1966–1969, 1990–1994 U.S. Secretary of the Interior*
Frank Murkowski 2002–2006 U.S. Senator†[R]

Living former governors

As of September 2008, seven former governors were alive, the oldest being Michael Anthony Stepovich (1957–1958, born (1919-03-12) March 12, 1919 (age 105)). The most recent former governor to die was Jay Hammond (1974–1982), on August 2, 2005.

Name Gubernatorial term Date of birth
Michael Anthony Stepovich 1957–1958 (territorial) (1919-03-12) March 12, 1919 (age 105)
Walter J. Hickel 1966–1969, 1990–1994 (1919-08-18) August 18, 1919 (age 104)
Keith Miller 1969–1970 (1925-03-01) March 1, 1925 (age 99)
Bill Sheffield 1982–1986 (1928-06-26) June 26, 1928 (age 96)
Steve Cowper 1986–1990 (1938-08-21) August 21, 1938 (age 85)
Tony Knowles 1994–2002 (1941-01-01) January 1, 1941 (age 83)
Frank Murkowski 2002–2006 (1933-03-28) March 28, 1933 (age 91)

References

General
  • "Governors of Alaska". National Governors Association. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
  • Gates, Nancy (2006). The Alaska Almanac: Facts about Alaska. Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co. pp. 85–87. ISBN 0882406523.
Constitutions
Specific
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