List of governors of North Carolina

The Governor of North Carolina has a duty to enforce state laws and to convene the legislature.[1] The Governor may grant pardons except in cases of impeachment.[2] For about 220 years the Governor had no power to veto bills passed by the North Carolina General Assembly, but a referendum in November 1996 altered the state's constitution, so that North Carolina ceased to be the only state whose governor lacked that power.[3]

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There have been three Presidents and 69 Governors of North Carolina, with six Governors (Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin, Benjamin Williams, Zebulon Baird Vance, William Woods Holden, and Jim Hunt) serving non-consecutive terms, totaling 78 terms in both offices. The current Governor is Democrat Roy Cooper, who took office on January 1, 2017.

Presidents of the Provincial Council
See also: List of governors of North Carolina (1712–1776)

North Carolina was one of the original thirteen colonies, and was admitted as a state on November 21, 1789 . Prior to declaring its independence, North Carolina was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain. The 13-member Provincial Council, renamed the Council of Safety in April 1776, was essentially the executive authority during the second year of the Revolution, and was appointed by the Provincial Congress. The Presidency of the Council and the Presidency of the Congress could each be considered the highest offices in the state during this time, but the council was supreme when the congress was not in session.

List of presidents

Terms and backgrounds of the three men who served as president of the Provincial Council:[4][5]

Name County/town Term Length Previous position
Harnett, CorneliusCornelius Harnett
(1723–1781)		WilmingtonOctober 18, 1775
–
August 21, 1776		308 daysMember of the House of Assembly
Ashe, SamuelSamuel Ashe
(1725–1813)		New HanoverAugust 21, 1776
–
September 27, 1776		37 daysMember of the Provincial Congress
Jones, WillieWillie Jones
(1741–1801)
[lower-alpha 1]		HalifaxSeptember 27, 1776
–
October 25, 1776		28 daysMember of the Provincial Congress

Governors of North Carolina

After the current state constitution was ratified in 1971, North Carolina Governors are limited to two consecutive four-year terms in office; they had previously been limited to one four-year term from 1835 through 1971.[6] Additionally prior to 1835, North Carolina Governors were not popularly elected, and were instead selected by the state's General Assembly to serve one year terms. The Governors were also subject to strict term limits, and could only hold the office for three out of every six years, leading to many instances of short or nonconsecutive stints in office.[7]

List of governors
# Governor Portrait Took office Left office Party Notes
1 Richard Caswell November 12, 1776 April 20, 1780 Unaffiliated
2 Abner Nash April 20, 1780 June 26, 1781 Unaffiliated
3 Thomas Burke June 26, 1781 April 22, 1782 Unaffiliated
4 Alexander Martin April 22, 1782 May 13, 1785 Anti-Federalist
5 Richard Caswell May 13, 1785 December 20, 1787 Unaffiliated
6 Samuel Johnston December 20, 1787 December 17, 1789 Federalist
7 Alexander Martin December 17, 1789 December 14, 1792 Anti-Federalist
8 Richard Dobbs Spaight December 14, 1792 November 19, 1795 Federalist
9 Samuel Ashe November 19, 1795 December 7, 1798 Anti-Federalist
10 William Richardson Davie December 7, 1798 November 23, 1799 Federalist
11 Benjamin Williams November 23, 1799 December 6, 1802 Federalist
12 James Turner December 6, 1802 December 10, 1805 Democratic-Republican [8]
13 Nathaniel Alexander December 10, 1805 December 1, 1807 Democratic-Republican
14 Benjamin Williams December 1, 1807 December 12, 1808 Federalist
15 David Stone December 12, 1808 December 1, 1810 Democratic-Republican
16 Benjamin Smith December 1, 1810 December 11, 1811 Democratic-Republican
17 William Hawkins December 11, 1811 November 29, 1814 Democratic-Republican
18 William Miller November 29, 1814 December 6, 1817 Democratic-Republican
19 John Branch December 6, 1817 December 7, 1820 Democratic-Republican
20 Jesse Franklin December 7, 1820 December 7, 1821 Democratic-Republican
21 Gabriel Holmes December 7, 1821 December 7, 1824 Democratic-Republican
22 Hutchins Gordon Burton December 7, 1824 December 8, 1827 Unaffiliated
23 James Iredell Jr. December 8, 1827 December 12, 1828 Democratic-Republican
24 John Owen December 12, 1828 December 18, 1830 Democratic
25 Montfort Stokes December 18, 1830 December 6, 1832 Democratic
26 David Lowry Swain December 6, 1832 December 10, 1835 National Republican
27 Richard Dobbs Spaight Jr. December 10, 1835 December 31, 1836 Democratic
28 Edward Bishop Dudley December 31, 1836 January 1, 1841 Whig
29 John Motley Morehead January 1, 1841 January 1, 1845 Whig
30 William Alexander Graham January 1, 1845 January 1, 1849 Whig
31 Charles Manly January 1, 1849 January 1, 1851 Whig
32 David Settle Reid January 1, 1851 December 6, 1854 Democratic
33 Warren Winslow December 6, 1854 January 1, 1855 Democratic
34 Thomas Bragg January 1, 1855 January 1, 1859 Democratic
35 John Willis Ellis January 1, 1859 July 7, 1861 Democratic
36 Henry Toole Clark July 7, 1861 September 8, 1862 Democratic
37 Zebulon Baird Vance September 8, 1862 May 29, 1865 Conservative
38 William Woods Holden May 29, 1865 December 15, 1865 National Union [9]
39 Jonathan Worth December 15, 1865 July 1, 1868 Conservative
40 William Woods Holden July 1, 1868 March 22, 1871[lower-alpha 2] Republican
41 Tod Robinson Caldwell March 22, 1871 July 11, 1874 Republican
42 Curtis Hooks Brogden July 11, 1874 January 1, 1877 Republican
43 Zebulon Baird Vance January 1, 1877 February 5, 1879 Democratic
44 Thomas Jordan Jarvis February 5, 1879 January 21, 1885 Democratic
45 Alfred Moore Scales January 21, 1885 January 17, 1889 Democratic
46 Daniel Gould Fowle January 17, 1889 April 7, 1891 Democratic
47 Thomas Michael Holt April 7, 1891 January 18, 1893 Democratic
48 Elias Carr January 18, 1893 January 12, 1897 Democratic
49 Daniel Lindsay Russell January 12, 1897 January 15, 1901 Republican [10]
50 Charles Brantley Aycock January 15, 1901 January 11, 1905 Democratic
51 Robert Broadnax Glenn January 11, 1905 January 12, 1909 Democratic
52 William Walton Kitchin January 12, 1909 January 15, 1913 Democratic
53 Locke Craig January 15, 1913 January 11, 1917 Democratic
54 Thomas Walter Bickett January 11, 1917 January 12, 1921 Democratic
55 Cameron A. Morrison January 12, 1921 January 14, 1925 Democratic
56 Angus Wilton McLean January 14, 1925 January 11, 1929 Democratic
57 O. Max Gardner January 11, 1929 January 5, 1933 Democratic
58 John C.B. Ehringhaus January 5, 1933 January 7, 1937 Democratic
59 Clyde R. Hoey January 7, 1937 January 9, 1941 Democratic
60 J. Melville Broughton January 9, 1941 January 4, 1945 Democratic
61 R. Gregg Cherry January 4, 1945 January 6, 1949 Democratic
62 W. Kerr Scott January 6, 1949 January 8, 1953 Democratic
63 William B. Umstead January 8, 1953 November 7, 1954 Democratic
64 Luther H. Hodges November 7, 1954 January 5, 1961 Democratic
65 Terry Sanford January 5, 1961 January 8, 1965 Democratic
66 Dan K. Moore January 8, 1965 January 3, 1969 Democratic
67 Robert W. Scott January 3, 1969 January 5, 1973 Democratic
68 James Holshouser January 5, 1973 January 8, 1977 Republican
69 Jim Hunt January 8, 1977 January 5, 1985 Democratic
70 James G. Martin January 5, 1985 January 9, 1993 Republican
71 Jim Hunt January 9, 1993 January 6, 2001 Democratic
72 Mike Easley January 6, 2001 January 10, 2009 Democratic
73 Bev Perdue January 10, 2009 January 5, 2013 Democratic [11]
74 Pat McCrory January 5, 2013 January 1, 2017 Republican
75 Roy Cooper January 1, 2017 Present Democratic

Subsequent public office

Three former governors held U.S. federal office after serving as governor.

Governor Governorship Subsequent service
Alexander Martin 4
7		 1782–1784
1789–1792		 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1793–1799)
Samuel Johnston 6 1787–1789 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1789–1793)
Richard Dobbs Spaight 8 1792–1795 U.S. representative from North Carolina (1798–1801)
James Turner 12 1802–1805 U.S. representative from North Carolina (1805–1816)
John Branch 19 1817–1820 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1823–1829)
Gabriel Holmes 21 1821–1824 U.S. representative from North Carolina (1825–1829)
James Iredell, Jr. 23 1827–1828 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1828–1831)
William Alexander Graham 30 1840–1843 Secretary of the Navy (1850–1852)
David Settle Reid 32 1851–1854 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1854–1859)
Warren Winslow 33 1854–1855 U.S. representative from North Carolina (1855–1861)
Thomas Bragg 34 1855–1859 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1859–1861)
Zebulon Baird Vance 37
43		 1862–1865
1877–1879		 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1879–1894)
Curtis Hooks Brogden 42 1874–1877 U.S. representative from North Carolina (1877–1879)
Thomas Jordan Jarvis 44 1879–1885 U.S. minister to Brazil (1885–1888)
Cameron Morrison 55 1921–1925 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1930–1932)
O. Max Gardner 57 1929–1933 Under Secretary of the Treasury (1946–1947)
Clyde R. Hoey 59 1937–1941 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1945–1954)
J. Melville Broughton 60 1941–1945 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1948–1949)
W. Kerr Scott 62 1949–1953 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1954–1958)
Luther H. Hodges 64 1954–1961 Secretary of Commerce (1961–1965)
Terry Sanford 65 1961–1965 U.S. senator from North Carolina (1986–1993)

Notes
  1. Some sources indicate that Jones was president through November 12, when the Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress convened. This congress also elected Richard Caswell acting governor.
  2. William Woods Holden was the second governor in American history to be impeached, and the first to be removed from office through that process. He is the only governor to have been impeached.

References
  1. NC Constitution article III, § 5 (11).
  2. NC Constitution article III, § 5 (6).
  3. NC Constitution article II, § 22.
  4. Connor, Robert Digges Wimberly (1878-1950), ed. (1913). A Manual of North Carolina Issued by the North Carolina Historical Commission for the Use of the Members of the General Assembly Session. p. 323.
  5. Whitaker, Bessie Lewis (1908). "The Provincial Council and Committees of Safety in North Carolina" (PDF). Chapel Hill University Press.
  6. "North Carolina Constitution of 1971". NCGA.State.NC. 1971. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  7. "Constitution of North Carolina: December 18, 1776". The Avalon Project - Yale Law School. 2008.
  8. John Baptista Ashe was elected in 1802 to succeed Williams but died before he could take office, leading the legislature to elect Turner.
  9. Provisional Governor appointed by President Andrew Johnson until a special election could be held.
  10. Russell, while a Republican, was supported by many in the Populist Party as part of an electoral fusion coalition, though a separate Populist candidate was also nominated. http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/58/entry
  11. Beverly Perdue was elected as the first female governor of North Carolina in the election of 2008.
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