List of Governors of New York

Andrew Cuomo, the 56th and current governor of New York

The governor of New York is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard. ^[1] The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, to convene the New York legislature, ^[1] the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the legislature, ^[2] and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment. ^[3]

Fifty-six people have served as governor, four of whom served non-consecutive terms; the official numbering only lists each governor once, so there have officially been fifty-six governors. This numbering includes one acting governor: the lieutenant governor who filled the vacancy after the resignation of the governor, under the 1777 Constitution. ^[4] The list does not include people who have acted as governor when the governor was out of state, such as Lieutenant Governor Timothy L. Woodruff during Theodore Roosevelt's vice presidential campaign in 1900, or Acting Speaker of the New York State Assembly Moses M. Weinstein, who acted as governor for ten days in 1968 while the governor, the lieutenant governor and the senate majority leader were out of the state, attending the Republican National Convention in Miami. ^[5]

Four men have become President of the United States after serving as Governor of New York: Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and six were Vice President of the United States. Van Buren and Theodore Roosevelt held both offices. Two governors have been Chief Justice of the United States: John Jay held that position when he was elected governor in 1795, and Charles Evans Hughes became chief justice in 1930, two decades after leaving the governorship.

The longest-serving governor was the first, George Clinton, who first took office on July 30, 1777, and served seven terms in two different periods, totaling just under 21 years in office. As 18 of those years were consecutive, Clinton also served the longest consecutive period in office for a New York governor. Charles Poletti had the shortest term, serving 29 days following the resignation of the previous governor in 1942. The current governor is Democrat Andrew Cuomo, who took office on January 1, 2011.

Governors

New York was one of the original thirteen colonies on the east coast of North America, and was admitted as a state on July 26, 1788. Prior to declaring its independence, New York was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain, which it in turn obtained from the Dutch as the colony of New Netherland; see the lists of colonial governors and of directors-general of New Netherland for the pre-statehood period.

The office of the governor was established by the first New York Constitution in 1777. The governor was originally for a term of three years, ^[6] though the constitution did not specify when the term began. A 1787 law set the start of the term at July 1. ^[7] The New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821 amended the state constitution, reducing the term of office to two years, ^[8] moving the election to November, ^[9] and moving the beginning and the end of the term to coincide with the calendar year. ^[10] An 1874 amendment extended the term of office back to three years, ^[11] but the 1894 constitution again reduced it to two years. ^[12] The most recent New York Constitution of 1938 extended the term to the current four years. ^[13] There is no limit to the number of consecutive terms a governor may serve.

The Constitution has provided since 1777 for the election of a lieutenant governor of New York, who is ex officio President of the Senate, to the same term (keeping the same term lengths as the governor throughout all the constitutional revisions). Originally, in the event of the death, resignation or impeachment of the governor, the lieutenant governor would become acting governor until the end of the yearly legislative term, the office being filled in a special election, if there was a remainder of the term. ^[14] Since the 1821 Constitution, the lieutenant governor explicitly becomes governor upon such vacancy in the office and serves for the entire remainder of the term. ^[15] Should the office of lieutenant governor become vacant, the President pro tempore of the State Senate ^{[lower-alpha 1]} performs all the duties of the lieutenant governor until the vacancy is filled either at the next gubernatorial election or by appointment. ^{[lower-alpha 2]} Likewise, should both offices become vacant at the same time, the President pro tempore acts as governor, with the office of lieutenant governor remaining vacant. Should the presidency pro tempore be vacant too, or the incumbent unable to fulfill the duties, the Speaker of the State Assembly is next in the line of succession. ^[16] The lieutenant governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor, since the 1954 election with a single joint vote cast for both offices, but is nominated separately. ^[17]

Governors of the State of New York

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lieutenant Governor
1			George Clinton	July 30, 1777 – June 30, 1795	Democratic– Republican	1777		Pierre Van Cortlandt
						1780
						1783
						1786
						1789
						1792
2			John Jay	July 1, 1795 – June 30, 1801	Federalist	1795		Stephen Van Rensselaer
						1798
1			George Clinton	July 1, 1801 – June 30, 1804	Democratic– Republican	1801		Jeremiah Van Rensselaer
3			Morgan Lewis	July 1, 1804 – June 30, 1807	Democratic– Republican	1804		John Broome (died August 8, 1810)
4			Daniel D. Tompkins	July 1, 1807 – February 24, 1817	Democratic– Republican	1807
						1810
							Vacant
								John Tayler (acting from January 29, 1811)
								DeWitt Clinton (elected May 2, 1811)
						1813		John Tayler
						1816 [lower-alpha 3]
5			John Tayler (Acting)	February 24, 1817 – June 30, 1817	Democratic– Republican			Philetus Swift (acting)
6			DeWitt Clinton	July 1, 1817 – December 31, 1822	Democratic– Republican	1817		John Tayler
						1820
7			Joseph C. Yates	January 1, 1823 – December 31, 1824	Democratic– Republican	1822		Erastus Root
6			DeWitt Clinton	January 1, 1825 – February 11, 1828	Democratic– Republican	1824		James Tallmadge Jr.
						1826 [lower-alpha 4]		Nathaniel Pitcher
8			Nathaniel Pitcher	February 11, 1828 – December 31, 1828	Democratic– Republican			Peter R. Livingston (acting)
								Charles Dayan (acting from October 17, 1828)
9			Martin Van Buren	January 1, 1829 – March 12, 1829	Democratic	1828 [lower-alpha 5]		Enos T. Throop
10			Enos T. Throop	March 12, 1829 – December 31, 1832	Democratic			Charles Stebbins (acting)
								William M. Oliver (acting)
						1830		Edward Philip Livingston
11			William L. Marcy	January 1, 1833 – December 31, 1838	Democratic	1832		John Tracy
						1834
						1836
12			William H. Seward	January 1, 1839 – December 31, 1842	Whig	1838		Luther Bradish
						1840
13			William C. Bouck	January 1, 1843 – December 31, 1844	Democratic	1842		Daniel S. Dickinson
14			Silas Wright	January 1, 1845 – December 31, 1846	Democratic	1844		Addison Gardiner
15			John Young	January 1, 1847 – December 31, 1848	Whig	1846
								Albert Lester (acting)
								Hamilton Fish
16			Hamilton Fish	January 1, 1849 – December 31, 1850	Whig	1848		George W. Patterson
17			Washington Hunt	January 1, 1851 – December 31, 1852	Whig	1850		Sanford E. Church
18			Horatio Seymour	January 1, 1853 – December 31, 1854	Democratic	1852
19			Myron H. Clark	January 1, 1855 – December 31, 1856	Whig (fusion)	1854		Henry Jarvis Raymond
20			John A. King	January 1, 1857 – December 31, 1858	Republican	1856		Henry R. Selden
21			Edwin D. Morgan	January 1, 1859 – December 31, 1862	Republican	1858		Robert Campbell
						1860
18			Horatio Seymour	January 1, 1863 – December 31, 1864	Democratic	1862		David R. Floyd-Jones
22			Reuben Fenton	January 1, 1865 – December 31, 1868	Union	1864		Thomas G. Alvord
						1866		Stewart L. Woodford
23			John T. Hoffman	January 1, 1869 – December 31, 1872	Democratic	1868		Allen C. Beach
						1870
24			John Adams Dix	January 1, 1873 – December 31, 1874	Republican	1872		John C. Robinson
25			Samuel J. Tilden	January 1, 1875 – December 31, 1876	Democratic	1874		William Dorsheimer
26			Lucius Robinson	January 1, 1877 – December 31, 1879	Democratic	1876 [lower-alpha 6]
27			Alonzo B. Cornell	January 1, 1880 – December 31, 1882	Republican	1879		George Gilbert Hoskins
28			Grover Cleveland	January 1, 1883 – January 6, 1885	Democratic	1882 [lower-alpha 7]		David B. Hill
29			David B. Hill	January 6, 1885 – December 31, 1891	Democratic			Dennis McCarthy (acting)
						1885		Edward F. Jones
						1888
30			Roswell P. Flower	January 1, 1892 – December 31, 1894	Democratic	1891		William F. Sheehan
31			Levi P. Morton	January 1, 1895 – December 31, 1896	Republican	1894 [lower-alpha 8]		Charles T. Saxton
32			Frank S. Black	January 1, 1897 – December 31, 1898	Republican	1896		Timothy L. Woodruff
33			Theodore Roosevelt	January 1, 1899 – December 31, 1900	Republican	1898
34			Benjamin Odell	January 1, 1901 – December 31, 1904	Republican	1900
						1902		Frank W. Higgins
35			Frank W. Higgins	January 1, 1905 – December 31, 1906	Republican	1904		Matthew Linn Bruce
								John Raines (acting)
36			Charles Evans Hughes	January 1, 1907 – October 6, 1910	Republican	1906		Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler
						1908 [lower-alpha 9]		Horace White
37			Horace White	October 6, 1910 – December 31, 1910	Republican			George H. Cobb (acting)
38			John Alden Dix	January 1, 1911 – December 31, 1912	Democratic	1910		Thomas F. Conway
39			William Sulzer	January 1, 1913 – October 17, 1913	Democratic	1912 [lower-alpha 10]		Martin H. Glynn
40			Martin H. Glynn	October 17, 1913 – December 31, 1914	Democratic			Robert F. Wagner (acting)
41			Charles Seymour Whitman	January 1, 1915 – December 31, 1918	Republican	1914		Edward Schoeneck
						1916
42			Al Smith	January 1, 1919 – December 31, 1920	Democratic	1918		Harry C. Walker
43			Nathan L. Miller	January 1, 1921 – December 31, 1922	Republican	1920		Jeremiah Wood
								Clayton R. Lusk (acting)
42			Al Smith	January 1, 1923 – December 31, 1928	Democratic	1922		George R. Lunn
						1924		Seymour Lowman
						1926		Edwin Corning
44			Franklin D. Roosevelt	January 1, 1929 – December 31, 1932	Democratic	1928		Herbert H. Lehman
						1930
45			Herbert H. Lehman	January 1, 1933 – December 3, 1942	Democratic	1932		M. William Bray
						1934
						1936
						1938 [lower-alpha 11] [lower-alpha 12]		Charles Poletti
46			Charles Poletti	December 3, 1942 – December 31, 1942	Democratic			Joe R. Hanley (acting)
47			Thomas E. Dewey	January 1, 1943 – December 31, 1954	Republican	1942		Thomas W. Wallace
						1946		Joe R. Hanley
						1950		Frank C. Moore
								Arthur H. Wicks (acting)
								Walter J. Mahoney (acting)
48			W. Averell Harriman	January 1, 1955 – December 31, 1958	Democratic	1954		George DeLuca
49			Nelson Rockefeller	January 1, 1959 – December 18, 1973	Republican	1958		Malcolm Wilson
						1962
						1966
						1970 [lower-alpha 13]
50			Malcolm Wilson	December 18, 1973 – December 31, 1974	Republican			Warren M. Anderson (acting)
51			Hugh Carey	January 1, 1975 – December 31, 1982	Democratic	1974		Mary Anne Krupsak
						1978		Mario Cuomo
52			Mario Cuomo	January 1, 1983 – December 31, 1994	Democratic	1982		Alfred DelBello
								Warren M. Anderson (acting)
						1986		Stan Lundine
						1990
53			George Pataki	January 1, 1995 – December 31, 2006	Republican	1994		Betsy McCaughey Ross [lower-alpha 14]
						1998		Mary Donohue
						2002
54			Eliot Spitzer	January 1, 2007 – March 17, 2008	Democratic	2006 [lower-alpha 15]		David Paterson
55			David Paterson	March 17, 2008 – December 31, 2010	Democratic			Joseph Bruno (acting)
								Dean Skelos (acting)
								Malcolm Smith (acting)
								Pedro Espada Jr. (acting) [lower-alpha 16]
								Richard Ravitch (Contested) [lower-alpha 17]
								Malcolm Smith (acting) [lower-alpha 18]
								Richard Ravitch [lower-alpha 19]
56			Andrew Cuomo	January 1, 2011 – Incumbent	Democratic	2010		Robert Duffy
						2014		Kathy Hochul
						2018 [lower-alpha 20]

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional and other federal offices, and ranking diplomatic positions to foreign countries held by New York governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented New York.

* Denotes those offices for which the governor resigned the governorship.

† Denotes those offices from which the governor resigned to take the governorship.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held	Source
		House	Senate
George Clinton	1777–1795 1801–1804			Delegate to the Continental Congress, Vice President of the United States	[18]
John Jay	1795–1801			President of the Continental Congress, U.S. Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Minister to Spain, Chief Justice of the United States†	[19]
Daniel D. Tompkins	1807–1817	H		Vice President of the United States*	[20]
DeWitt Clinton	1817–1822 1825–1828		S		[21]
Nathaniel Pitcher	1828	H			[22]
Martin Van Buren	1829		S†	U.S. Secretary of State*, Minister to the United Kingdom, Vice President of the United States, President of the United States	[23]
Enos T. Throop	1829–1832	H			[24]
William L. Marcy	1833–1838		S†	U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of State	[25]
William H. Seward	1839–1842		S	U.S. Secretary of State	[26]
Silas Wright	1845–1846	H	S†		[27]
John Young	1847–1848	H			[28]
Hamilton Fish	1849–1850	H	S	U.S. Secretary of State	[29]
Washington Hunt	1851–1852	H			[30]
John Alsop King	1857–1858	H			[31]
Edwin D. Morgan	1859–1862		S		[32]
Reuben Fenton	1865–1868	H†	S		[33]
John Adams Dix	1873–1874		S	Minister to France, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury	[34]
Grover Cleveland	1883–1885			President of the United States*	[35]
David B. Hill	1885–1891		S		[36]
Roswell P. Flower	1892–1894	H			[37]
Levi P. Morton	1895–1896	H		Minister to France, Vice President of the United States	[38]
Frank S. Black	1897–1898	H†			[39]
Theodore Roosevelt	1899–1900			Vice President of the United States, President of the United States	[40]
Benjamin B. Odell, Jr.	1901–1904	H			[41]
Charles Evans Hughes	1907–1910			U.S. Secretary of State, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court*, Chief Justice of the United States.
William Sulzer	1913	H†			[42]
Martin H. Glynn	1913–1914	H			[43]
Franklin D. Roosevelt	1929–1932			President of the United States	[44]
Herbert H. Lehman	1933–1942		S		[45]
W. Averell Harriman	1955–1958			U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ambassador to the Soviet Union	[46]
Nelson Rockefeller	1959–1973			Vice President of the United States	[47]
Hugh Carey	1975–1982	H†			[48]
Andrew Cuomo	2011—			U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Living former Governors of New York

As of September 2018 ^[update] , there are three living former Governors of New York, the oldest being George Pataki (served from 1995 to 2006, born 1945). The most recent governor to die was Mario Cuomo (served from 1983 to 1994, born 1932), on January 1, 2015; he is also the most recently serving governor to have died.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
George Pataki	1995–2006	(1945-06-24) June 24, 1945 (age 73)
Eliot Spitzer	2007–2008	(1959-06-10) June 10, 1959 (age 59)
David Paterson	2008–2010	(1954-05-20) May 20, 1954 (age 64)

See also

• New York gubernatorial elections
• List of colonial governors of New York

Notes

1. The state constitutions refer to this position as the "temporary president of the senate".
2. On September 22, 2009, the New York Court of Appeals upheld the right of the governor to appoint a lieutenant governor to fill the vacancy.
3. Tompkins resigned to be Vice President of the United States. As lieutenant governor, Tayler acted as governor until a successor was elected.
4. Clinton died in office; as lieutenant governor, Pitcher succeeded him.
5. Van Buren resigned to be United States Secretary of State; as lieutenant governor, Throop succeeded him.
6. First term under an 1874 amendment to the constitution, which lengthened terms to three years.
7. Cleveland resigned to be President of the United States; as lieutenant governor, Hill succeeded him.
8. First term under the 1894 constitution, which shortened terms to two years.
9. Hughes resigned to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; as lieutenant governor, White succeeded him.
10. Sulzer was impeached and removed from office for campaign contribution fraud; as lieutenant governor, Glynn succeeded him.
11. First term under the 1938 constitution, which lengthened terms to four years.
12. Lehman resigned to be Director of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations at the U.S. Department of State; as lieutenant governor, Poletti succeeded him.
13. Rockefeller resigned to devote himself to his Commission on Critical Choices for Americans; as lieutenant governor, Wilson succeeded him.
14. Elected as Betsy McCaughey, but married and changed name in 1995.
15. Spitzer resigned due to a prostitution scandal; as lieutenant governor, Paterson succeeded him.
16. Espada was a Democrat, but combined with the Republicans in a change of leadership which triggered the 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis.
17. Ravitch was appointed on July 8, 2009, but the appointment was contested in the courts. On August 20, the Appellate Division rejected the appointment, and Ravitch vacated the office.
18. Smith succeeded Espada on July 9 as temporary President of the New York State Senate, and claimed to be Acting Lieutenant Governor under the provisions of the New York State Constitution while the appointment of Ravitch was contested.
19. On September 22, the New York Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division's ruling, and thus re-instated Ravitch to the lieutenant governorship, beginning on July 8.
20. Cuomo's third term began January 1, 2019, and will expire December 31, 2022.

References

General

• "Governors of New York". State of New York. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
• "Governors Database: New York". National Governors Association. National Governors Association. 2008. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
• Jenkins, John Stilwell (1851). Lives of the Governors of the State of New York. Auburn N.Y.: Derby and Miller. p. 862.

Constitutions

• "New York Constitution". New York Department of State. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
• "1777 New York Constitution of New York". The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
• "1821 New York Constitution". The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
• "1894 New York Constitution". The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York. Retrieved July 12, 2010.

Specific

1. New York Constitution article IV, § 3.
2. New York Constitution article IV, § 7.
3. New York Constitution article IV, § 4.
4. "Governors of New York". State of New York. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
5. McFadden, Robert D. (December 3, 2007). "Moses Weinstein, 95, Legislator and Judge, Dies". The New York Times . Retrieved September 7, 2008.
6. 1777 New York Constitution, article XVIII.
7. "Governors of New York". New York Department of State. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
8. 1821 New York Constitution article III, § 1.
9. 1821 New York Constitution article I, § 15.
10. 1821 New York Constitution article I, § 16.
11. John Joseph Lalor, ed. (1883). "New York". Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States. II. Chicago: Melbert B. Cary & Company. p. 1017. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
12. 1894 New York Constitution article IV, § 1
13. New York Constitution article IV, § 1.
14. 1777 New York Constitution, article X.
15. New York Constitution, article IV § 5.
16. New York Constitution, article IV § 6.
17. "Executive Branch of the Several States". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
18. "Clinton, George". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress . Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
19. "John Jay". The Supreme Court Historical Society. Archived from the original on July 10, 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
20. "Tompkins, Daniel D." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
21. "Clinton, DeWitt". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
22. "Pitcher, Nathaniel". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
23. "Martin, Van Buren". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. March 28, 2008.
24. "Throop, Enos Thompson". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
25. "March, William Learned". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. March 28, 2008.
26. "Seward, William Henry". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
27. "Wright, Silas Jr". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. March 28, 2008.
28. "Young John". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
29. "Fish, Hamilton". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
30. "Hunt, Washington". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
31. "King, John Alsop". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
32. "Morgan, Edwin Denison". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
33. "Fenton, Reuben Eaton". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. March 28, 2008.
34. "Dix, John Adams". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
35. "Grover Cleveland". The White House. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
36. "Hill, David Bennett". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
37. "Flower, Roswell Pettibone". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
38. "Morton, Levi Parsons". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
39. "Black, Frank Swett". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. March 28, 2008.
40. "Theodore Roosevelt". The White House. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
41. "Odell, Benjamin Barker". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
42. "Sulzer, William". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. March 28, 2008.
43. "Glynn, Martin Henry". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
44. "Franklin D. Roosevelt". The White House. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
45. "Lehman, Herbert Henry". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
46. "Averell Harriman". HistoryCenteral.com. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
47. "Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. July 12, 2010.
48. "Carey, Hugh Leo". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. March 28, 2008.

External links

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• Office of the Governor of New York