List of governors of Alaska
| Governor of Alaska | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Residence | Alaska Governor's Mansion |
| Term length | Four years, renewable once |
| Inaugural holder | William A. Egan |
| Formation | January 3, 1959 |
| Deputy | Valerie Davidson |
| Salary | $145,000 [1] |
| Website | gov.alaska.gov |
The Governor of Alaska is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Alaska. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Alaska's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws.
Eleven people have served as governor of the State of Alaska over 13 distinct terms, though Alaska had over 30 civilian and military governors during its long history as a United States territory. Only two governors, William A. Egan and Bill Walker, were born in Alaska. Two people, Egan and Wally Hickel, have been elected to multiple non-consecutive terms as governor. Hickel is also noted for a rare third party win in American politics, having been elected to a term in 1990 representing the Alaskan Independence Party. The longest-serving governor of the state was Egan, who was elected three times and served nearly 12 years. The longest-serving territorial governor was Ernest Gruening, who served 13½ years.
The current governor is Independent Bill Walker, who took office on December 1, 2014.
Governors before statehood
Alaska was purchased by the United States from the Russian Empire in 1867, with formal transfer occurring on October 18, 1867,[2] which is now celebrated as Alaska Day. Before 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the jurisdiction of the Department of War and administered by the U.S. Army officers until 1877, when the Army was withdrawn from Alaska.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.[3]
Some believe 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.[4]
| No. | Commander | Position | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Jefferson C. Davis | Army Colonel | October 18, 1867 – August 31, 1870 |
| 2 | 
|
George K. Brady | Army Captain | September 1, 1870 – September 22, 1870 |
| 3 | 
|
John C. Tidball | Army Major | September 23, 1870 – September 19, 1871 |
| 4 | Harvey A. Allen | Army Major | September 20, 1871 – January 3, 1873 | |
| 5 | 
|
Joseph Stewart | Army Major | January 4, 1873 – April 20, 1874 |
| 6 | George B. Rodney Jr. | Army Captain | April 21, 1874 – August 16, 1874 | |
| 7 | Joseph B. Campbell | Army Captain | August 17, 1874 – June 14, 1876 | |
| 8 | John Mendenhall | Army Major | June 15, 1876 – March 4, 1877 | |
| 9 | Arthur Morris | Army Captain | March 5, 1877 – June 14, 1877 | |
| 10 | Montgomery P. Berry | Collector of Customs | June 14, 1877 – August 13, 1877 | |
| 11 | Henry Charles DeAhna | Collector of Customs | August 14, 1877 – March 26, 1878 | |
| 12 | M. D. Ball | Collector of Customs | March 27, 1878 – June 13, 1879 | |
| 13 | 
|
Lester A. Beardslee | Navy Captain | June 14, 1879 – September 12, 1880 |
| 14 | 
|
Henry Glass | Navy Commander | September 13, 1880 – August 9, 1881 |
| 15 | Edward P. Lull | Navy Commander | August 10, 1881 – October 18, 1881 | |
| 16 |
|
Henry Glass | Navy Commander | October 19, 1881 – March 12, 1882 |
| 17 | Frederick Pearson | Navy Commander | March 13, 1882 – October 3, 1882 | |
| 18 | Edgar C. Merriman | Navy Commander | October 4, 1882 – September 13, 1883 | |
| 19 | 
|
Joseph Coghlan | Navy Commander | September 15, 1883 – September 13, 1884 |
| 20 | Henry E. Nichols | Navy Lieutenant commander | 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.
| No. | Governor | Term in 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 | _pic.109_Governor_SHEAKLEY.jpg)
|
James Sheakley | June 18, 1893 – June 23, 1897 |
Grover Cleveland |
| 5 | 
|
John Green Brady | June 23, 1897 – March 2, 1906[a] |
William McKinley |
| 6 | 
|
Wilford Bacon Hoggatt | March 10, 1906[6] – May 20, 1909 |
Theodore Roosevelt |
| 7 | 
|
Walter Eli Clark | May 20, 1909 – August 24, 1912 |
William Howard Taft |
Governors of the Territory of Alaska
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.
| No. | Portrait | Term in office | Appointed by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Walter Eli Clark | August 24, 1912 – April 18, 1913 |
William Howard Taft |
| 2 | 
|
John Franklin Alexander Strong | April 18, 1913 – April 12, 1918[b] |
Woodrow Wilson |
| 3 | 
|
Thomas Riggs Jr. | April 12, 1918 – June 16, 1921 | |
| 4 | 
|
Scott Cordelle Bone | June 16, 1921 – August 16, 1925 |
Warren G. Harding |
| 5 | 
|
George Alexander Parks | August 16, 1925 – April 19, 1933 |
Calvin Coolidge |
| 6 | John Weir Troy | April 19, 1933 – December 6, 1939 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | |
| 7 | .jpg)
|
Ernest Gruening[c] | December 6, 1939 – April 10, 1953 | |
| 8 | B. Frank Heintzleman | April 10, 1953 – January 3, 1957[d] |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| — | 
|
Waino Hendrickson | January 3, 1957 – April 8, 1957 |
Acting[e] |
| 9 | 
|
Mike Stepovich | April 8, 1957 – August 9, 1958[f] |
Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| — |
|
Waino Hendrickson | August 9, 1958 – January 3, 1959 |
Acting[e] |
Governors of the State of Alaska
Alaska was admitted to the Union on January 3, 1959.
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.[11] 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.[12] Should the office of governor become vacant, the lieutenant governor assumes the title of governor.[13] 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.[14]
Notes
- ^ Brady was forced to resign due to his involvement with the fraudulent Reynolds–Alaska Development Company.[5]
- ^ Resigned on request after it was discovered he was still a Canadian citizen.[7]
- ^ 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 territory.[8]
- ^ Resigned; was reportedly unhappy with the job, and did not expect to be reappointed.[9]
- ^ a b As secretary of Alaska, acted as governor for remainder of term.[10]
- ^ Resigned to run for United States Senate, losing that election.[10]
- ^ The office of lieutenant governor was named secretary of state until 1970.[14]
- ^ Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
- ^ Hickel resigned to become United States Secretary of the Interior; as secretary of state, Miller succeeded him.
- ^ Hickel was elected as a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, and switched to the Republican party in April 1994.[15]
- ^ Represented the Alaskan Independence Party.
- ^ Palin resigned, citing the costs of ethics investigations;[16] as lieutenant governor, Parnell succeeded her.
- ^ Campbell's position was termed "Temporary Substitute Lieutenant Governor[17] until he was confirmed by the Alaska Legislature on August 10, 2009.[18]
- ^ Governor Walker's first term expires on December 3, 2018.
- ^ Governor-elect Dunleavy's first term begins on December 3, 2018, and expires on December 5, 2022.
References
- General
- "Alaska: Past Governors Bios". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Gates, Nancy (2007). The Alaska Almanac: Facts about Alaska (30th ed.). Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co. pp. 85–87. ISBN 0-88240-652-3. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
- Constitution
- "Constitution of the State of Alaska". Alaska State Legislature. 1956. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- Specific
- ^ "The Governors: Compensation, Staff, Travel and Residence" (PDF). The Council of State Governments. April 3, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "Purchase of Alaska, 1867". United States Department of State Office of the Historian. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ^ Gates p. 86
- ^ Ruskin, Liz (2002-12-20). "Barking up the wrong Pole: Hero wasn't governor". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
- ^ Janson, Lone (1975). The Copper Spike. Alaska Northwest Publishing Co. p. 44. ISBN 0-88240-045-2.
- ^ "New Governor of Alaska". New York Times. March 11, 1906. p. 5.
- ^ Gruening, Ernest (1973). Many Battles: The Autobiography of Ernest Gruening. Liveright. p. 216. ISBN 0-87140-565-2.
- ^ Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. University of Washington Press. 1997. p. 319. ISBN 0-295-97558-X.
- ^ Naske, Claus-M. (1985). A History of Alaska Statehood. University Press of America. p. 244. ISBN 0-8191-4556-4.
- ^ a b Naske, Claus-M.; Herman E. Slotnick (1979). Alaska: A History of the 49th State. Eerdmans. p. 309. ISBN 0-8028-7041-4.
- ^ AK Const. art. III, § 4
- ^ AK Const. art. III, § 5
- ^ AK Const. art. III, § 11
- ^ a b AK Const. amendments
- ^ "Alaska's Gov. Hickel Rejoins Gop Amid Speculation Over Another Term". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. April 15, 1994. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
- ^ "Legal Bills Swayed Palin, Official Says". The New York Times. July 5, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ^ Forgey, Pat (July 28, 2009). "Alaska gets first ever 'temporary substitute' lt. governor". Juneau Empire. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "House Journal, Alaska State Legislature, Twenty-Sixth Legislature, First Special Session". legis.state.ak.us. State of Alaska. August 10, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
External links
| District (1884–1912) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Territorial (1912–1959) |
| |
| State (since 1959) | ||
