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Governor of Kentucky
The Governor of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of the U.S. state of Kentucky, and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's army, navy, and militia forces. The office is presently held by Democrat Steve Beshear.
Candidates for the office of governor of Kentucky must be at least...
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Isaac Shelby
Isaac Shelby (December 11, 1750 – July 18, 1826) was the first and fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He was also a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War,...
Date of birth:
- Dec 11, 1750
Date of death:
- Jul 18, 1826 (age 75 years)
Party:
James Garrard
James Garrard (January 14, 1749 – January 9, 1822) was an American soldier who served as the second Governor of Kentucky from 1796 to 1804. He was also a Baptist minister, but his secretary of state, Unitarian minister Henry Toulmin, influenced him...
Date of birth:
- Jan 14, 1749
Date of death:
- Jan 9, 1822 (age 73 years)
Party:
Christopher Greenup
Christopher Greenup (c. 1750 – April 27, 1818) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative and the third Governor of Kentucky. Little is known about his early life; the first reliable records about him are documents recording his...
Date of birth:
- 1750
Date of death:
- Apr 27, 1818 (age 68 years)
Party:
Charles Scott
Charles Scott (April 1739 – October 22, 1813) was an American soldier and politician who served as Governor of Kentucky from 1808 to 1812. Orphaned at an early age, Scott served under Edward Braddock and George Washington in the French and Indian...
Date of birth:
- 1733
Date of death:
- 1823 (age 90 years)
Party:
George Madison
George Madison (June 1763 – October 14, 1816) was the sixth Governor of Kentucky. He was the first governor of Kentucky to die in office, serving only a few weeks in 1816. Little is known of Madison's early life. He was a member of the influential...
Date of birth:
- Jun 1763
Date of death:
- Oct 14, 1816 (age 53 years)
Party:
Gabriel Slaughter
Gabriel Slaughter (December 12, 1767 – September 19, 1830) was the seventh Governor of Kentucky and was the first person to ascend to that office upon the death of the sitting governor. His family moved to Kentucky from Virginia when he was very...
Date of birth:
- 1767
Date of death:
- 1820 (age 53 years)
Party:
John Adair
John Adair (January 9, 1757 – May 19, 1840) was an American pioneer, soldier and statesman. He was the seventh governor of Kentucky and represented the state in both the U.S. House and Senate. Adair enlisted in the state militia and served in the...
Date of birth:
- Jan 9, 1757
Date of death:
- May 19, 1840 (age 83 years)
Party:
Joseph Desha
Joseph Desha (December 9, 1768 – October 11, 1842) was a U.S. Representative and the ninth governor of Kentucky. Desha was the first Kentucky governor not to have served in the Revolutionary War. He did, however, serve under William Henry Harrison...
Date of birth:
- Dec 9, 1768
Date of death:
- Oct 11, 1842 (age 73 years)
Party:
Thomas Metcalfe
Thomas Metcalfe (March 20, 1780 – August 18, 1855) was a U.S. Representative, Senator, and Governor of Kentucky. He was the first gubernatorial candidate in the state's history to be chosen by a nominating convention rather than a caucus. He was...
Date of birth:
- Mar 20, 1780
Date of death:
- Aug 18, 1855 (age 75 years)
Party:
John Breathitt
John Breathitt (September 9, 1786 – February 21, 1834) was the eleventh Governor of Kentucky. He was the first Democrat to hold this office and was the second Kentucky governor to die in office. Shortly after his death, Breathitt County, Kentucky...
Date of birth:
- Sep 9, 1786
Date of death:
- Feb 21, 1834 (age 47 years)
Party:
James Turner Morehead
James Turner Morehead (1799 – 1875) was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina; born in Rockingham County, North Carolina, January 11, 1799; attended the common schools; was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...
Date of birth:
- 1799
Date of death:
- 1875 (age 76 years)
James Clark
James Clark (January 16, 1779 – August 27, 1839) was a 19th century American politician who served in all three branches of Kentucky's government and in the U.S. House of Representatives. His political career began in the Kentucky House of...
Date of birth:
- Jan 16, 1779
Date of death:
- Aug 27, 1839 (age 60 years)
Party:
Charles A. Wickliffe
Charles Anderson Wickliffe (June 8, 1788 – October 31, 1869) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. He also served as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Governor of Kentucky, and was appointed Postmaster General by President John...
Date of birth:
- Jun 8, 1788
Date of death:
- Oct 31, 1869 (age 81 years)
Robert P. Letcher
Robert Perkins Letcher (February 10, 1788 – January 24, 1861) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative, diplomat and governor of Kentucky. He also served in the Kentucky General Assembly where he was Speaker of the House in...
Date of birth:
- Feb 10, 1788
Date of death:
- Jan 24, 1861 (age 73 years)
William Owsley
William Owsley (March 24, 1782 – December 9, 1862) was an associate justice on the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the sixteenth governor of Kentucky. He also served in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly and was Kentucky Secretary of State...
Date of birth:
- Mar 24, 1782
Date of death:
- Dec 9, 1862 (age 80 years)
Party:
John J. Crittenden
John Jordan Crittenden (September 10, 1786 – July 26, 1863) was an American statesman from Kentucky. He twice served as United States Attorney General. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and served as the state's seventeenth governor...
Date of birth:
- Sep 10, 1786
Date of death:
- Jul 26, 1863 (age 76 years)
John L. Helm
John LaRue Helm (July 4, 1802 – Sept. 8, 1867) was the eighteenth and twenty-fourth governor of Kentucky, although his service in that office totaled less than fourteen months. He also represented Hardin County in both houses of the Kentucky General...
Date of birth:
- Jul 4, 1802
Date of death:
- Sep 8, 1867 (age 65 years)
Party:
Lazarus W. Powell
Lazarus Whitehead Powell (October 6, 1812 - July 3, 1867) was the nineteenth Governor of Kentucky, serving from 1851 to 1855. He was later elected to represent Kentucky in the U.S. Senate from 1859 to 1865.
The reforms enacted during Powell's term...
Date of birth:
- Oct 6, 1812
Date of death:
- Jul 3, 1867 (age 54 years)
Party:
Charles S. Morehead
Charles Slaughter Morehead (July 7, 1802 – December 21, 1868) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, and served as the twentieth governor of Kentucky. Though a member of the Whig Party for most of his political service, he joined the Know Nothing...
Date of birth:
- Jul 7, 1802
Date of death:
- Dec 21, 1868 (age 66 years)
Party:
Beriah Magoffin
Beriah Magoffin (April 18, 1815 – February 28, 1885) was the twenty-first governor of Kentucky, serving during the early part of the Civil War. Personally, Magoffin adhered to a states' rights position, including the right of a state to secede from...
Date of birth:
- Apr 18, 1815
Date of death:
- Feb 28, 1885 (age 69 years)
Party:
James F. Robinson
James Fisher Robinson (October 4, 1800 - October 31, 1882) was the twenty-second Governor of Kentucky, serving the remainder of the unfinished term of Governor Beriah Magoffin. Magoffin, a Confederate sympathizer, became increasingly ineffective...
Date of birth:
- Oct 4, 1800
Date of death:
- Oct 31, 1882 (age 82 years)
Party:
Thomas E. Bramlette
Thomas Elliott Bramlette (January 3, 1817 – January 12, 1875) was the twenty-third governor of Kentucky. He was elected in 1863 and guided the state through the latter part of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. At the outbreak of the...
Date of birth:
- Jan 3, 1817
Date of death:
- Jan 12, 1875 (age 58 years)
Party:
John W. Stevenson
John White Stevenson (May 4 1812 – August 10 1886) was a U.S. Representative, Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, Governor of Kentucky and U.S. Senator. His father, Andrew Stevenson, had served as Speaker of the House and minister to Great Britain. His...
Date of birth:
- May 2, 1812
Date of death:
- Aug 10, 1886 (age 74 years)
Party:
Preston Leslie
Preston Hopkins Leslie (March 8, 1819 – February 7, 1907) was governor of Kentucky from 1871 to 1875 and territorial governor of Montana from 1887 to 1889. He ascended to the office of governor by three different means. First, he succeeded Kentucky...
Date of birth:
- Mar 8, 1819
Date of death:
- Feb 7, 1907 (age 87 years)
Party:
James B. McCreary
James Bennett McCreary (July 8, 1838 – October 8, 1918) was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Kentucky. He also served as the state's twenty-seventh and thirty-seventh governor. He was the only Kentucky governor to serve from both the Old...
Date of birth:
- Jul 8, 1838
Date of death:
- Oct 8, 1918 (age 80 years)
Party:
Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn
Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (October 1, 1838 – September 12, 1918) was a Democratic Representative and Senator from Kentucky. He was the younger brother of Kentucky governor Luke P. Blackburn. Blackburn, a skilled and spirited orator, was also a...
Date of birth:
- Oct 1, 1838
Date of death:
- Sep 12, 1918 (age 80 years)
J. Proctor Knott
James Proctor Knott (August 29, 1830 – June 18, 1911) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and served as governor of Kentucky from 1883 to 1887. Born in Kentucky, he moved to Missouri in 1850 and began his political career there. He served as...
Date of birth:
- Aug 29, 1830
Date of death:
- Jun 18, 1911 (age 80 years)
Party:
Simon Bolivar Buckner, Sr.
Simon Bolivar Buckner (April 1, 1823 – January 8, 1914) fought in the United States Army in the Mexican–American War and in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He later served as the thirtieth governor of Kentucky.
After...
Date of birth:
- Apr 1, 1823
Date of death:
- Jan 8, 1914 (age 90 years)
John Y. Brown
John Young Brown (June 28, 1835 – January 11, 1904) was a U.S. Representative and Governor of Kentucky. A gifted orator, his criticism of the Know-Nothing Party drew death threats against him early in his career. Later, the U.S. House of...
Date of birth:
- Jun 28, 1835
Date of death:
- Jan 11, 1904 (age 68 years)
Party:
William O'Connell Bradley
William O'Connell Bradley (March 18, 1847 – May 23, 1914) was the thirty-second Governor of Kentucky, and later served as a U.S. senator from Kentucky. Nicknamed "Billy O. B.", Bradley was well-regarded by political allies, opponents, and commoners....
Date of birth:
- Mar 18, 1847
Date of death:
- May 23, 1914 (age 67 years)
Party:
William S. Taylor
William Sylvester Taylor (October 10, 1853 – August 2, 1928) was the thirty-third governor of Kentucky. He was initially declared the winner of the disputed gubernatorial election of 1899, but the Kentucky General Assembly reversed the election...
Date of birth:
- Oct 10, 1853
Date of death:
- Aug 2, 1928 (age 74 years)
Party:
William Goebel
William J. Goebel (January 4, 1856 – February 3, 1900) was an American politician who served as Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 after having been mortally wounded by an assassin the day before he was sworn in. Goebel remains the only...
Date of birth:
- Jan 4, 1856
Date of death:
- Feb 3, 1900 (age 44 years)
Party:
J. C. W. Beckham
John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham (August 5, 1869 – January 9, 1940) was the 35th governor of Kentucky and a United States Senator from Kentucky. He was the state's first popularly elected senator following passage of the Seventeenth Amendment....
Date of birth:
- Aug 5, 1869
Date of death:
- Jan 9, 1940 (age 70 years)
Party:
Augustus E. Willson
Augustus Everett Willson (October 13, 1846 – August 24, 1931) was the thirty-sixth governor of Kentucky. Orphaned at the age of twelve, Willson went to live with relatives in New England. This move exposed him to such literary masters as Ralph Waldo...
Date of birth:
- Oct 13, 1846
Date of death:
- Aug 24, 1931 (age 84 years)
Party:
Augustus O. Stanley
Augustus Owsley Stanley (May 21, 1867 – August 12, 1958) was the thirty-eighth governor of Kentucky. He also represented that state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. His grandson, Owsley Stanley became a well-known LSD...
Date of birth:
- May 21, 1867
Date of death:
- Aug 12, 1958 (age 91 years)
Party:
James D. Black
James Dixon Black (September 24, 1849 – August 5, 1938) was thirty-ninth governor of Kentucky, serving for seven months in 1919. He ascended to the office when Governor Augustus O. Stanley was elected to the U.S. Senate.
Black graduated from...
Date of birth:
- Sep 24, 1849
Date of death:
- Aug 5, 1938 (age 88 years)
Party:
Edwin P. Morrow
Edwin Porch Morrow (November 28, 1877 – June 15, 1935) was the fortieth governor of Kentucky, serving from 1919 to 1923. His father Thomas Z. Morrow was a candidate for governor in 1883, and his uncle William O. Bradley was elected governor in 1895....
Date of birth:
- Nov 28, 1877
Date of death:
- Jun 15, 1935 (age 57 years)
Party:
William J. Fields
William Jason Fields (December 29, 1874 – October 21, 1954) was a U.S. Representative and the forty-first Governor of Kentucky. An early defeat for a seat in the state legislature convinced Fields that a slow climb through the political ranks was...
Date of birth:
- Dec 29, 1874
Date of death:
- Oct 21, 1954 (age 79 years)
Party:
Flem D. Sampson
Flem Davis Sampson (January 25, 1875 - May 25, 1967) was the forty-second governor of Kentucky, serving from 1927 to 1931. He graduated from Valparaiso University in 1894, and opened a law practice in Barbourville, Kentucky. He formed a political...
Date of birth:
- Jan 25, 1875
Date of death:
- May 25, 1967 (age 92 years)
Party:
Ruby Laffoon
Ruby Laffoon (January 15, 1869 – March 1, 1941) was the forty-third governor of Kentucky, serving from 1931 to 1935. He was introduced to politics by his uncle, U. S. Representative Polk Laffoon. After developing a mixed record of political...
Date of birth:
- Jan 15, 1869
Date of death:
- Mar 1, 1941 (age 72 years)
Party:
Happy Chandler
Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was twice governor of Kentucky, a U.S. Senator, the second Commissioner of Major League Baseball, and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. His jovial attitude earned him the...
Date of birth:
- Jul 14, 1898
Date of death:
- Jun 15, 1991 (age 92 years)
Party:
Keen Johnson
Keen Johnson (January 12, 1896 – February 7, 1970) was the forty-fifth governor of Kentucky, serving from 1939 to 1943. He remains the only journalist to have served in that capacity. After serving in World War I, Johnson purchased and edited the...
Date of birth:
- Jan 12, 1896
Date of death:
- Feb 7, 1970 (age 74 years)
Party:
Simeon S. Willis
Simeon Slavens Willis (December 1, 1879 – April 1, 1965) was the forty-sixth governor of Kentucky, United States, serving from 1943 to 1947. He was the only Republican elected governor of Kentucky between 1927 and 1967.
Willis' family came to...
Date of birth:
- Dec 1, 1879
Date of death:
- Apr 2, 1965 (age 85 years)
Party:
Earle C. Clements
Earle Chester Clements (October 22, 1896 – March 12, 1985) served as a U.S. Representative, Governor and U.S. Senator for the state of Kentucky. He served as Senate Majority Whip when Lyndon Johnson was Senate Majority Leader.
Earle C. Clements was...
Date of birth:
- Oct 22, 1896
Date of death:
- Mar 12, 1985 (age 88 years)
Party:
Lawrence Wetherby
Lawerence Winchester Wetherby (January 2, 1908 - March 27, 1994) served as Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky and as Governor of Kentucky upon the resignation of Governor Earle C. Clements as Clements went to the United States Senate. Born in 1908 in...
Date of birth:
- Jan 2, 1908
Date of death:
- Mar 27, 1994 (age 86 years)
Party:
Bert T. Combs
Bertram Thomas Combs (August 13, 1911 – December 4, 1991), born in Manchester, Clay County, Kentucky, was the Democratic Governor of Kentucky from 1959 through 1963.
Combs attended Cumberland College and the University of Kentucky and graduated from...
Date of birth:
- Aug 13, 1911
Date of death:
- Dec 4, 1991 (age 80 years)
Party:
Edward T. Breathitt
Edward Thompson "Ned" Breathitt Jr. (born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on November 26, 1924, died in Lexington, Kentucky on October 11, 2003) was a United States politician. He was elected governor of Kentucky in 1963.
Breathitt served in the U.S. Army...
Date of birth:
- Nov 26, 1924
Date of death:
- 2003 (age 78 years)
Party:
Louie B. Nunn
Louie Broady Nunn (March 8, 1924 – January 29, 2004), a native of tiny Park in Barren County in southern Kentucky, was his state's Governor from 1967 to 1971. Nunn was the first and only Republican governor of Kentucky after 1943 until Ernie...
Date of birth:
- Mar 8, 1924
Date of death:
- Jan 29, 2004 (age 79 years)
Party:
Wendell H. Ford
Wendell Hampton Ford (born September 8, 1924) is an American politician from Kentucky who belongs to the Democratic Party. He was considered to be the leader of the state's Democratic Party from his election to governor in 1971 until his retirement...
Date of birth:
- Sep 8, 1924 (age 85 years)
Party:
Julian Carroll
Julian Morton Carroll (born April 16, 1931) was the Democratic Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky from 1974 to 1979.
Born in Paducah, Kentucky in McCracken County, Kentucky, Carroll continued to reside in that county, where he worked as a lawyer...
Date of birth:
- Apr 16, 1931 (age 78 years)
Party:
John Y. Brown, Jr.
John Young Brown Jr. (born December 28, 1933) is a U.S. Democratic Party politician, entrepreneur and businessman.
John Y. Brown Jr. was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His father, John Y. Brown, Sr. was a member of the U.S. Congress from Kentucky and...
Date of birth:
- Dec 28, 1933 (age 75 years)
Party:
Martha Layne Collins
Martha Layne Collins (born December 7, 1936 in Bagdad, Kentucky) was Governor of the U.S. State of Kentucky from 1983 through 1987; she is a member of the Democratic Party. She was Kentucky's first and only female governor to date.
After graduating...
Date of birth:
- Dec 7, 1936 (age 73 years)
Party:
Wallace G. Wilkinson
Wallace Glenn Wilkinson (December 12, 1941–July 5, 2002) was a Kentucky businessman who made a fortune with college bookstores, and Governor of Kentucky, 1987-1991.
Born in Casey County, Kentucky, Wilkinson graduated from Liberty High School in 1959...
Date of birth:
- Dec 12, 1941
Date of death:
- Jul 5, 2002 (age 60 years)
Party:
Brereton Jones
Brereton Chandler Jones (born June 27, 1939) is an American political figure. He served as the Democratic Governor of Kentucky from 1991 until 1995.
Born in 1939 in Gallipolis, Ohio, Jones graduated from the University of Virginia in 1961. From a...
Date of birth:
- Jun 27, 1939 (age 70 years)
Party:
Paul E. Patton
Paul E. Patton (born May 26, 1937) served as Democratic governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. He is a Presbyterian, and lives in Pikeville, Kentucky.
Patton was born in Fallsburg, which is in Lawrence County, Kentucky. In 1959, he received his B.S...
Date of birth:
- May 26, 1937 (age 72 years)
Party:
Ernie Fletcher
Ernest Lee Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) is a physician and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He served as governor of Kentucky from 2003 to 2007, losing his re-election bid to Democrat Steve Beshear. Prior to being elected...
Date of birth:
- Nov 12, 1952 (age 57 years)
Party:
Steve Beshear
Steven Lynn "Steve" Beshear (born September 21, 1944) is an American politician who has been Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky since 2007. A Democrat, Beshear previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives; he was also the state's...
Date of birth:
- Sep 21, 1944 (age 65 years)
