List of governors of Indiana

The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Indiana. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Indiana's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws.

Governors

Governors of the Territory of Indiana

Indiana Territory was formed on July 4, 1800, from the Northwest Territory. Despite remaining a territory for nearly 16 years, it had only two governors appointed by the President of the United States before it became a state.

Governors of the Territory of Indiana

No.	Governor		Term in office	Appointed by
1		William Henry Harrison	January 10, 1801 – December 28, 1812	John Adams
				Thomas Jefferson
				James Madison
—		John Gibson	December 28, 1812 – March 3, 1813	acting[a]
2		Thomas Posey	March 3, 1813 – November 7, 1816	James Madison

Governors of the State of Indiana

Indiana was admitted to the Union on December 11, 1816.

The original 1816 Constitution of Indiana provided for the election of a governor and a lieutenant governor every three years, limited to six years out of any nine-year period.^[2] The second and current constitution of 1851 lengthened terms to four years and set the commencement of the governor's term on the second Monday in the January following the election.^[3] Governors were allowed to serve for four years in any eight-year period,^[3] but a 1972 amendment permitted governors to serve for eight years in any twelve-year period.^[4] Should the office of governor become vacant, the lieutenant governor becomes governor.^[5] If the office of lieutenant governor is vacant, the president pro tempore of the Indiana Senate becomes governor;^[5] this has happened once, when James B. Ray succeeded William Hendricks.^[6]

Governors of the State of Indiana

No.[b]	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor[c]
1			Jonathan Jennings	November 7, 1816 – September 12, 1822 (resigned)[d]	Democratic- Republican	1816		Christopher Harrison (resigned December 18, 1818)[e]
							Vacant
						1819		Ratliff Boon
2			Ratliff Boon	September 12, 1822 – December 5, 1822 (successor took office)	Democratic- Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
3			William Hendricks	December 5, 1822 – February 12, 1825 (resigned)[f]	Democratic- Republican	1822		Ratliff Boon (resigned January 30, 1824)
							Vacant
4			James B. Ray	February 12, 1825 – December 7, 1831 (term limited)	Independent	Succeeded from President of the Senate[g]
						1825		John H. Thompson
						1828		Milton Stapp
5			Noah Noble	December 7, 1831 – December 6, 1837 (term limited)	Whig	1831		David Wallace
						1834
6			David Wallace	December 6, 1837 – December 9, 1840 (term limited)	Whig	1837		David Hillis
7			Samuel Bigger	December 9, 1840 – December 6, 1843 (lost election)	Whig	1840		Samuel Hall
8			James Whitcomb	December 6, 1843 – December 27, 1848 (resigned)[h]	Democratic	1843		Jesse D. Bright (resigned December 8, 1845)
							Vacant
						1846		Paris C. Dunning
9			Paris C. Dunning	December 27, 1848 – December 5, 1849 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
10			Joseph A. Wright	December 5, 1849 – January 12, 1857 (term limited)	Democratic	1849		James Henry Lane
						1852[i]		Ashbel P. Willard
11			Ashbel P. Willard	January 12, 1857 – October 4, 1860 (died in office)	Democratic	1856		Abram A. Hammond
12			Abram A. Hammond	October 4, 1860 – January 14, 1861 (successor took office)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
13			Henry Smith Lane	January 14, 1861 – January 16, 1861 (resigned)[j]	Republican	1860		Oliver P. Morton
14			Oliver P. Morton	January 16, 1861 – January 24, 1867 (resigned)[k]	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
						1864		Conrad Baker[l]
15			Conrad Baker	January 24, 1867 – January 13, 1873 (term limited)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
						1868		William Cumback (resigned January 11, 1871)
							Vacant
16			Thomas A. Hendricks	January 13, 1873 – January 8, 1877 (term limited)	Democratic	1872		Leonidas Sexton
17			James D. Williams	January 8, 1877 – November 20, 1880 (died in office)	Democratic	1876		Isaac P. Gray
18			Isaac P. Gray	November 20, 1880 – January 10, 1881 (successor took office)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
19			Albert G. Porter	January 10, 1881 – January 12, 1885 (term limited)	Republican	1880		Thomas Hanna
20			Isaac P. Gray	January 12, 1885 – January 14, 1889 (term limited)	Democratic	1884		Mahlon Dickerson Manson (resigned July 1886)
							Vacant
21			Alvin Peterson Hovey	January 14, 1889 – November 23, 1891 (died in office)	Republican	1888		Ira Joy Chase
22			Ira Joy Chase	November 23, 1891 – January 9, 1893 (lost election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
23			Claude Matthews	January 9, 1893 – January 11, 1897 (term limited)	Democratic	1892		Mortimer Nye
24			James A. Mount	January 11, 1897 – January 14, 1901 (term limited)	Republican	1896		William S. Haggard
25			Winfield T. Durbin	January 14, 1901 – January 9, 1905 (term limited)	Republican	1900		Newton W. Gilbert
26			Frank Hanly	January 9, 1905 – January 11, 1909 (term limited)	Republican	1904		Hugh Thomas Miller
27			Thomas R. Marshall	January 11, 1909 – January 13, 1913 (term limited)	Democratic	1908		Frank J. Hall
28			Samuel M. Ralston	January 13, 1913 – January 8, 1917 (term limited)	Democratic	1912		William P. O'Neill
29			James P. Goodrich	January 8, 1917 – January 10, 1921 (term limited)	Republican	1916		Edgar D. Bush
30			Warren T. McCray	January 10, 1921 – April 30, 1924 (resigned)[m]	Republican	1920		Emmett Forest Branch
31			Emmett Forest Branch	April 30, 1924 – January 12, 1925 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
32			Edward L. Jackson	January 12, 1925 – January 14, 1929 (term limited)	Republican	1924		F. Harold Van Orman
33			Harry G. Leslie	January 14, 1929 – January 9, 1933 (term limited)	Republican	1928		Edgar D. Bush
34			Paul V. McNutt	January 9, 1933 – January 11, 1937 (term limited)	Democratic	1932		M. Clifford Townsend
35			M. Clifford Townsend	January 11, 1937 – January 13, 1941 (term limited)	Democratic	1936		Henry F. Schricker
36			Henry F. Schricker	January 13, 1941 – January 8, 1945 (term limited)	Democratic	1940		Charles M. Dawson
37			Ralph F. Gates	January 8, 1945 – January 10, 1949 (term limited)	Republican	1944		Richard T. James (resigned April 1, 1948)
							Vacant
								Rue J. Alexander (appointed April 14, 1948) (died January 2, 1949)
							Vacant
38			Henry F. Schricker	January 10, 1949 – January 12, 1953 (term limited)	Democratic	1948		John A. Watkins
39			George N. Craig	January 12, 1953 – January 14, 1957 (term limited)	Republican	1952		Harold W. Handley
40			Harold W. Handley	January 14, 1957 – January 9, 1961 (term limited)	Republican	1956		Crawford F. Parker
41			Matthew E. Welsh	January 9, 1961 – January 11, 1965 (term limited)	Democratic	1960		Richard O. Ristine
42			Roger D. Branigin	January 11, 1965 – January 13, 1969 (term limited)	Democratic	1964		Robert L. Rock
43			Edgar Whitcomb	January 13, 1969 – January 8, 1973 (not candidate for election)[n]	Republican	1968		Richard E. Folz
44			Otis Bowen	January 8, 1973 – January 12, 1981 (term limited)	Republican	1972		Robert D. Orr
						1976
45			Robert D. Orr	January 12, 1981 – January 9, 1989 (term limited)	Republican	1980		John Mutz
						1984
46			Evan Bayh	January 9, 1989 – January 13, 1997 (term limited)	Democratic	1988		Frank O'Bannon
						1992
47			Frank O'Bannon	January 13, 1997 – September 13, 2003 (died in office)	Democratic	1996		Joe E. Kernan
						2000
48			Joe E. Kernan	September 13, 2003 – January 10, 2005 (lost election)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
								Kathy Davis (appointed October 20, 2003)
49			Mitch Daniels	January 10, 2005 – January 14, 2013 (term limited)	Republican	2004		Becky Skillman
						2008
50			Mike Pence	January 14, 2013 – January 9, 2017 (not candidate for election)	Republican	2012		Sue Ellspermann (resigned March 2, 2016)
							Vacant
								Eric Holcomb (appointed March 3, 2016)
51			Eric Holcomb	January 9, 2017 – present[o]	Republican	2016		Suzanne Crouch

Notes

1. John Gibson is sometimes known as Indiana's second territorial governor. He actually only served as acting governor of the Indiana Territory during the absences of Governor William Henry Harrison.^[1]
2. The official site labels Eric Holcomb as the 51st governor;^[7] based on this, repeat non-consecutive terms are numbered.
3. Does not include acting lieutenant governors. All lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor.
4. Jennings resigned to take an elected seat in the United States House of Representatives.
5. Jennings was appointed a United States commissioner to conclude a treaty with native tribes on April 15, 1818; after this time, Harrison was acting as governor. However, by accepting the post, Harrison believed Jennings had vacated the seat, and thus felt he had succeeded Jennings to the governorship. The state legislature declined to confirm this, and Harrison resigned on December 18, 1818.^[8]
6. Hendricks resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
7. As the office of lieutenant governor was vacant, Ppresident pro tempore of the Senate Ray succeeded Hendricks.
8. Whitcomb resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
9. First term under the 1851 constitution, which lengthened terms to four years.^[3]
10. Lane resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
11. Morton resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
12. Baker acted as governor from October 1865 to March 1866 while Morton sought treatment for a stroke and handed over executive powers.^[9]
13. McCray resigned following his conviction for mail fraud, and served three years in prison until he was pardoned by President Herbert Hoover.^[10]
14. It is unknown if the 1972 constitutional amendment allowing for a second term would have impacted Whitcomb; either way, he did not run in the 1972 election.
15. Holcomb's first term expires on January 11, 2021.

References

1. "John Gibson Letters". Indiana State Library. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
2. 1816 Const. art. IV, § 3
3. IN Const. art. V, § 1
4. McLauchlan p. 94
5. IN Const. art. V, § 10
6. Woollen, p. 56
7. "About the Governor". State of Indiana. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
8. 1919 Year Book, p. 981
9. "Indiana Governor Conrad Baker". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on January 4, 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
10. "Warren Terry McCray". Indiana Historical Bureau. Archived from the original on November 16, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2008.