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Number of Governors of Kentucky by party affiliation

Party	Governors
Democratic	29
Republican	8
Democratic-Republican	8
Whig	6
National Republican	2
National Union	2
Know-Nothing Party	1

The following is a complete list of Governors of the U.S. State of Kentucky. As head of the executive branch of the state's government,^[1] is given broad appointment power, and names many state commissioners and department heads without the need for legislative approval. The governor is also empowered to reorganize the state government or reduce it in size.^[2] He or she serves as commander-in-chief of the state's army, navy, and militia forces.^[3] Historically, the office has been regarded as one of the most powerful executive positions in the United States.^[2]

Fifty-seven individuals have held the office of governor of Kentucky. Prior to a 1992 amendment to the state's constitution, the governor of Kentucky was prohibited from succeeding himself in office, though four men (Isaac Shelby, John L. Helm, James B. McCreary, and A. B. "Happy" Chandler) served multiple non-consecutive terms. Paul Patton, the first governor eligible for a second consecutive term under the amendment, won his reelection bid in 1999. Current governor Ernie Fletcher is seeking reelection in 2007.

Contents 1 History of the office 2 List of Governors 3 See also 4 References

During the Civil War, a group of Confederate sympathizers met at the Russellville Convention to form a Confederate government for the state of Kentucky. While this government never successfully displaced the government in Frankfort, two men were elected governor of the Confederate government: George W. Johnson and, on Johnson's death, Richard Hawes. The Confederate government disbanded shortly after the end of the Civil War in 1865.^[4]

William Goebel, who was elected to the office in the disputed election of 1899, remains the only governor of any U.S. state to die from assassination while in office.^[5] Martha Layne Collins, who held the office from 1983 to 1987, was the first woman to serve as governor of Kentucky and was, at the time of her election, only the third woman to serve as governor of any U.S. state.^[2]

#	Governor	Party	Term	Lieutenant Governor[6]
1	Isaac Shelby	Democratic-Republican	1792–1796	None[7]
2	James Garrard	Democratic-Republican	1796–1804	None (1796–1800)[7] Alexander Scott Bullitt (1800–1804)
3	Christopher Greenup	Democratic-Republican	1804–1808	John Caldwell (1804) None (1804–1808)
4	Charles Scott	Democratic-Republican	1808–1812	Gabriel Slaughter
5	Isaac Shelby	Democratic-Republican	1812–1816	Richard Hickman
6	George Madison	Democratic-Republican	1816–1816	Gabriel Slaughter
7	Gabriel Slaughter	Democratic-Republican	1816–1820	None
8	John Adair	Democratic-Republican	1820–1824	William T. Barry
9	Joseph Desha	Democratic-Republican	1824–1828	Robert B. McAfee
10	Thomas Metcalfe	National Republican	1828–1832	John Breathitt
11	John Breathitt	Democratic	1832–1834	James T. Morehead
12	James T. Morehead	National Republican	1834–1836	James Guthrie (1834) None (1835)
13	James Clark	Whig	1836–1839	Charles A. Wickliffe
14	Charles A. Wickliffe	Whig	1839–1840	None
15	Robert P. Letcher	Whig	1840–1844	Manlius V. Thomson
16	William Owsley	Whig	1844–1848	Archibald Dixon
17	John J. Crittenden	Whig	1848–1850	John L. Helm
18	John L. Helm	Whig	1850–1851	None
19	Lazarus W. Powell	Democratic	1851–1855	John B. Thompson
20	Charles S. Morehead	Know-Nothing Party	1855–1859	James G. Hardy
21	Beriah Magoffin	Democratic	1859–1862	Linn Boyd (1859) None (1860–1862)
22	James F. Robinson	National Union	1862–1863	None
23	Thomas E. Bramlette	National Union	1863–1867	Richard T. Jacob
24	John L. Helm	Democratic	1867–1867	John W. Stevenson
25	John W. Stevenson	Democratic	1867–1871	Preston H. Leslie
26	Preston H. Leslie	Democratic	1871–1875	John G. Carlisle
27	James B. McCreary	Democratic	1875–1879	John C. Underwood
28	Luke P. Blackburn	Democratic	1879–1883	James E. Cantrill
29	J. Proctor Knott	Democratic	1883–1887	James R. Hindman
30	Simon B. Buckner	Democratic	1887–1891	James Bryan
31	John Young Brown	Democratic	1891–1895	Mitchell C. Alford
32	William O. Bradley	Republican	1895–1899	William J. Worthington
33	William S. Taylor	Republican	1899–1900	John Marshall
34	William Goebel	Democratic	1900–1900	J. C. W. Beckham
35	J. C. W. Beckham	Democratic	1900–1907	None (1900–1902) William P. Thorne (1903–1907)
36	Augustus E. Willson	Republican	1907–1911	W.H. Cox
37	James B. McCreary	Democratic	1911–1915	Edward J. McDermott
38	Augustus O. Stanley	Democratic	1915–1919	James D. Black
39	James D. Black	Democratic	1919–1919	Charles M. Harriss
40	Edwin P. Morrow	Republican	1919–1923	Thruston Ballard
41	William J. Fields	Democratic	1923–1927	Henry Denhardt
42	Flem D. Sampson	Republican	1927–1931	James Breathitt, Jr.
43	Ruby Laffoon	Democratic	1931–1935	A. B. "Happy" Chandler I
44	A. B. "Happy" Chandler I	Democratic	1935–1939	Keen Johnson
45	Keen Johnson	Democratic	1939–1943	Rodes K. Myers
46	Simeon S. Willis	Republican	1943–1947	Kenneth H. Tuggle
47	Earle C. Clements	Democratic	1947–1950	Lawrence W. Wetherby
48	Lawrence W. Wetherby	Democratic	1950–1955	Louis Cox (1950) Emerson Beauchamp (1951–1955)
49	A. B. "Happy" Chandler I	Democratic	1955–1959	Harry Lee Waterfield
50	Bert T. Combs	Democratic	1959–1963	Wilson Wyatt
51	Edward T. Breathitt	Democratic	1963–1967	Harry Lee Waterfield
52	Louie B. Nunn	Republican	1967–1971	Wendell H. Ford
53	Wendell H. Ford	Democratic	1971–1974	Julian M. Carroll
54	Julian M. Carroll	Democratic	1974–1979	Thelma Stovall
55	John Y. Brown, Jr.	Democratic	1979–1983	Martha Layne Collins
56	Martha Layne Collins	Democratic	1983–1987	Steve Beshear
57	Wallace G. Wilkinson	Democratic	1987–1991	Brereton C. Jones
58	Brereton Jones	Democratic	1991–1995	Paul E. Patton
59	Paul E. Patton	Democratic	1995–2003	Steve Henry
60	Ernie Fletcher	Republican	2003—	Steve Pence

• Governor of Kentucky

Governors of Kentucky

Shelby • Garrard • Greenup • Scott • Shelby • Madison • Slaughter • Adair • Desha • Metcalfe • J. Breathitt • J. Morehead • Clark • Wickliffe • Letcher • Owsley • Crittenden • Helm • Powell • C. Morehead • Magoffin • Robinson • Bramlette • Helm • Stevenson • Leslie • McCreary • Blackburn • Knott • Buckner • Brown • Bradley • Taylor • Goebel • Beckham • Willson • McCreary • Stanley • Black • Morrow • Fields • Sampson • Laffoon • Chandler • Johnson • Willis • Clements • Wetherby • Chandler • Combs • E. Breathitt • Nunn • Ford • Carroll • Brown Jr. • Collins • Wilkinson • Jones • Patton • Fletcher Kentucky also had two Confederate Governors: George W. Johnson and Richard Hawes.

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