List of Governors of Vermont

The Governor of Vermont is the state government's chief executive. As of 2015, Vermont is one of only two states (New Hampshire being the other) that elects Governors for two-year terms.

Until 1870, Vermont elected their governors for one-year terms.^[1]

List

The following is a list of Governors of Vermont:

As the independent Vermont Republic

Parties

      No party

#	Governor	Party	Term
1	Thomas Chittenden	No party affiliation	1778–1789
2	Moses Robinson	No party affiliation	1789–1790
3	Thomas Chittenden	No party affiliation	1790–1791

As a U.S. state

Parties

      Democratic       Democratic-Republican       Federalist       No party       National Republican       Republican       Whig

#	Governor	Party	Term
1	Thomas Chittenden	No party affiliation	March 4, 1791 – August 25, 1797	West
2	Paul Brigham	Democratic-Republican	August 25, 1797 – October 16, 1797	East
3	Isaac Tichenor	Federalist	October 16, 1797 – October 9, 1807	West
4	Israel Smith	Democratic-Republican	October 9, 1807 – October 14, 1808	West
5	Isaac Tichenor	Federalist	October 14, 1808 – October 14, 1809	West
6	Jonas Galusha	Democratic-Republican	October 14, 1809 – October 23, 1813	West
7	Martin Chittenden	Federalist	October 23, 1813 – October 14, 1815	West
8	Jonas Galusha	Democratic-Republican	October 14, 1815 – October 23, 1820	West
9	Richard Skinner	Democratic-Republican	October 23, 1820 – October 10, 1823	West
10	Cornelius P. Van Ness	Democratic-Republican	October 10, 1823 – October 13, 1826	West
11	Ezra Butler	National Republican	October 13, 1826 – October 10, 1828	East
12	Samuel C. Crafts	National Republican	October 10, 1828 – October 18, 1831	East
13	William A. Palmer	Anti-Masonic	October 18, 1831 – November 2, 1835	East
14	Silas H. Jennison	Whig	November 2, 1835 – October 15, 1841	West
15	Charles Paine	Whig	October 15, 1841 – October 13, 1843	East
16	John Mattocks	Whig	October 13, 1843 – October 11, 1844	East
17	William Slade	Whig	October 11, 1844 – October 9, 1846	West
18	Horace Eaton	Whig	October 9, 1846 – October 1848	East
19	Carlos Coolidge	Whig	October 1848 – October 11, 1850	East
20	Charles K. Williams	Whig	October 11, 1850 – October 1852	West
21	Erastus Fairbanks	Whig	October 1852 – October 1853	East
22	John S. Robinson	Democratic	October 1853 – October 13, 1854	West
23	Stephen Royce	Whig (1st term) / Republican (2nd term)	October 13, 1854 – October 10, 1856	West
24	Ryland Fletcher	Republican	October 10, 1856 – October 10, 1858	East
25	Hiland Hall	Republican	October 10, 1858 – October 12, 1860	West
26	Erastus Fairbanks	Republican	October 12, 1860 – October 11, 1861	East
27	Frederick Holbrook	Republican	October 11, 1861 – October 9, 1863	East
28	J. Gregory Smith	Republican	October 9, 1863 – October 13, 1865	West
29	Paul Dillingham	Republican	October 13, 1865 – October 13, 1867	East
30	John B. Page	Republican	October 13, 1867 – October 15, 1869	West
31	Peter T. Washburn	Republican	October 15, 1869 – February 7, 1870	East
32	George W. Hendee	Republican	February 7, 1870 – October 6, 1870	West
33	John W. Stewart	Republican	October 6, 1870 – October 3, 1872	West
34	Julius Converse	Republican	October 3, 1872 – October 8, 1874	East
35	Asahel Peck	Republican	October 8, 1874 – October 5, 1876	West
36	Horace Fairbanks	Republican	October 5, 1876 – October 3, 1878	East
37	Redfield Proctor	Republican	October 3, 1878 – October 7, 1880	West
38	Roswell Farnham	Republican	October 7, 1880 – October 5, 1882	East
39	John L. Barstow	Republican	October 5, 1882 – October 2, 1884	West
40	Samuel E. Pingree	Republican	October 2, 1884 – October 7, 1886	East
41	Ebenezer J. Ormsbee	Republican	October 7, 1886 – October 4, 1888	West
42	William P. Dillingham	Republican	October 4, 1888 – October 2, 1890	East
43	Carroll S. Page	Republican	October 2, 1890 – October 6, 1892	West
44	Levi K. Fuller	Republican	October 6, 1892 – October 4, 1894	East
45	Urban A. Woodbury	Republican	October 4, 1894 – October 8, 1896	West
46	Josiah Grout	Republican	October 8, 1896 – October 6, 1898	East
47	Edward C. Smith	Republican	October 6, 1898 – October 4, 1900	West
48	William W. Stickney	Republican	October 4, 1900 – October 3, 1902	East
49	John G. McCullough	Republican	October 3, 1902 – October 6, 1904	West
50	Charles J. Bell	Republican	October 6, 1904 – October 4, 1906	East
51	Fletcher D. Proctor	Republican	October 4, 1906 – October 8, 1908	West
52	George H. Prouty	Republican	October 8, 1908 – October 5, 1910	East
53	John A. Mead	Republican	October 5, 1910 – October 3, 1912	West
54	Allen M. Fletcher	Republican	October 3, 1912 – January 7, 1915	East
55	Charles W. Gates	Republican	January 7, 1915 – January 4, 1917	West
56	Horace F. Graham	Republican	January 4, 1917 – January 9, 1919	East
57	Percival W. Clement	Republican	January 9, 1919 – January 6, 1921	West
58	James Hartness	Republican	January 6, 1921 – January 4, 1923	East
59	Redfield Proctor, Jr.	Republican	January 4, 1923 – January 8, 1925	West
60	Franklin S. Billings	Republican	January 8, 1925 – January 6, 1927	East
61	John E. Weeks	Republican	January 6, 1927 – January 8, 1931	West
62	Stanley C. Wilson	Republican	January 8, 1931 – January 10, 1935	East
63	Charles M. Smith	Republican	January 10, 1935 – January 7, 1937	West
64	George David Aiken	Republican	January 7, 1937 – January 9, 1941	East
65	William H. Wills	Republican	January 9, 1941 – January 4, 1945	West
66	Mortimer R. Proctor	Republican	January 4, 1945 – January 9, 1947	West
67	Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.	Republican	January 9, 1947 – January 16, 1950	East
68	Harold J. Arthur	Republican	January 16, 1950 – January 4, 1951	West
69	Lee E. Emerson	Republican	January 4, 1951 – January 6, 1955	East
70	Joseph B. Johnson	Republican	January 6, 1955 – January 8, 1959	East
71	Robert T. Stafford	Republican	January 8, 1959 – January 5, 1961	West
72	F. Ray Keyser, Jr.	Republican	January 5, 1961 – January 10, 1963	East
73	Philip H. Hoff	Democratic	January 10, 1963 – January 9, 1969	West
74	Deane C. Davis	Republican	January 9, 1969 – January 4, 1973	East
75	Thomas P. Salmon	Democratic	January 4, 1973 – January 6, 1977	East
76	Richard A. Snelling	Republican	January 6, 1977 – January 10, 1985	West
77	Madeleine M. Kunin	Democratic	January 10, 1985 – January 10, 1991	West
78	Richard A. Snelling	Republican	January 10, 1991 – August 13, 1991	West
79	Howard Dean	Democratic	August 13, 1991 – January 9, 2003	West
80	Jim Douglas	Republican	January 9, 2003 – January 6, 2011	West
81	Peter Shumlin	Democratic	January 6, 2011 –	East[2]

Other high offices held

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

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
Moses Robinson	1789–1790 (Vt. Republic)		S
Isaac Tichenor	1797–1807 1808–1809		S
Israel Smith	1807–1808	H	S
Richard Skinner	1820–1823	H
Cornelius P. Van Ness	1823–1826			United States Minister to Spain, Collector of the Port of New York
Ezra Butler	1826–1828	H
Samuel C. Crafts	1828–1831	H	S
William A. Palmer	1831–1835		S
John Mattocks	1843–1844	H
William Slade	1844–1846	H
Hiland Hall	1858–1860	H
Paul Dillingham	1865–1867	H
George W. Hendee	1870	H
John W. Stewart	1870–1872	H	S
Redfield Proctor	1878–1880		S	United States Secretary of War
William P. Dillingham	1888–1890		S
Carroll S. Page	1890–1892		S
John E. Weeks	1927–1931	H
George Aiken	1937–1941		S
William H. Wills	1941–1945			Member, Federal Communications Commission
Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.	1947–1950		S	Judge, United States District Court for the District of Vermont
Robert Stafford	1959–1961	H	S
Madeleine M. Kunin	1985–1991			United States Deputy Secretary of Education; United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Living former governors of Vermont

As of May 2015, there are five former governors of Vermont who are currently living at this time, the oldest governor of Vermont being Philip H. Hoff (served 1963–1969, born 1924). The most recent governor of Vermont to die was F. Ray Keyser, Jr. (served 1961–1963, born 1927), on March 7, 2015. The most recently serving governor of Vermont to die was Richard A. Snelling (served 1977–1985 and 1991, born 1927), in office on August 13, 1991.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
Philip H. Hoff	1963–1969	June 29, 1924
Thomas P. Salmon	1973–1977	August 19, 1932
Madeleine M. Kunin	1985–1991	September 28, 1933
Howard Dean	1991–2003	November 17, 1948
Jim Douglas	2003–2011	June 21, 1951

Mountain Rule

From the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s until the 1960s, only Republicans won general elections for Vermont's statewide offices. One method that made this possible was imposition of the "Mountain Rule." Under the provisions of the Mountain Rule, one U.S. Senator was a resident of the east side of the Green Mountains and one resided on the west side, and the governorship and lieutenant governorship alternated between residents of the east and west side. Nominees for Governor and Lieutenant Governor were allowed two one-year terms and, later, one two-year term. For nearly 100 years, likely Republican candidates for office in Vermont agreed to abide by the Mountain Rule in the interests of party unity. Several factors led to the eventual weakening of the Mountain Rule, including: the long time political dispute between the Proctor (conservative) and Aiken–Gibson (liberal) wings of the party; primaries rather than conventions to select nominees; the direct election of U.S. Senators; and several active third parties, including the Progressives, the Prohibition Party, and the Local Option movement. In the 1960s, the rise of the Vermont Democratic Party and the construction of Interstate 89 also contributed to the end of the Mountain Rule. Though I-89 is a north-south route, it traverses Vermont from east to west and changed the way Vermonters viewed how the state was divided.^[3][4]

References

1. pdf
2. Samuel B. Hand, Vermont Historical Society, Vermont History magazine, Mountain Rule Revisited, Summer/Fall 2003, pages 149–150
3. Newspaper article, The Mountain Rule in Vermont, New York Times, February 12, 1895
4. Magazine article, Mountain Rule Revisited, by Samuel B. Hand, Vermont History Magazine, published by Vermont Historical Society, Summer/Fall 2003, pages 139 to 151