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Governor of Missouri
Coat of arms of the state of Missouri
Incumbent Mike Parson since June 1, 2018
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Missouri Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Alexander McNair
Formation	Constitution of Missouri
Deputy	Mike Kehoe
Salary	$133,820.88 (2017)[1]
Website	governor.mo.gov

Following is a list of Governors of Missouri since its territory became part of the United States.

Missouri was part of the Louisiana Purchase, which the United States purchased from France in 1803. In its first year it was part of Louisiana. In 1804 all of the territory above what is modern-day Louisiana was broken off and administered by a governor based in St. Louis, Missouri until statehood.

Prior to the purchase both France and Spain administered the territory in a similar manner. France initially had a commandant in charge of Upper Louisiana. Spain around 1770 began having a lieutenant governor in St. Louis and governor in New Orleans, Louisiana ruling the whole territory. For a list of governors under Spanish and French rule see Louisiana Governor. For a list of lieutenant governors ruling Upper Louisiana under French and Spanish control see List of commandants of the Illinois Country.

Since the state capitol moved to Jefferson City in 1826 the governor has lived on the same block in the Missouri Governor's Mansion a block east of the Missouri State Capitol (although the current mansion is the third one).

The current governor of Missouri is Republican Mike Parson.

Governors

Commandant of Louisiana

#	Picture	Commandant	Took office	Left office	Appointed by
1		Amos Stoddard	March 10, 1804	October 1, 1804	Thomas Jefferson

Governor of the District of Louisiana

On March 26, 1804, an act of congress divided Louisiana into two territories or districts: land south of the 33rd parallel became the Territory of Orleans; land north of the 33rd parallel, the District of Louisiana. The act took effect October 1, 1804, upon which the District of Louisiana was placed under the governance of Indiana Territory, then governed by William Henry Harrison.^[2]

#	Picture	Governor		Took office	Left office	Appointed by
1			William Henry Harrison	October 1, 1804	July 4, 1805	Thomas Jefferson

Governors of Louisiana Territory and Missouri Territory

The citizens of the District of Louisiana, unhappy with the governance specified by the act of 1804, set about immediately to petition Congress for a return to a military-style government to which they were accustomed under Spanish rule. Congress responded by passing an act on March 3, 1805 which changed the name of the District of Louisiana to the Territory of Louisiana. Power was vested in a governor who was appointed by the president to a term of 3 years. During times of vacancy, the secretary would act as governor.^[2]

On June 4, 1812, the Territory of Louisiana was renamed to the Territory of Missouri to avoid confusion with the newly admitted state of Louisiana. Later, Arkansas Territory was separated from the Territory of Missouri on July 4, 1819.^[2]

#	Picture	Governor		Took office	Left office	Appointed by
1			James Wilkinson	July 4, 1805	March 3, 1807[B]	Thomas Jefferson
2			Meriwether Lewis	March 3, 1807	October 11, 1809[C][D]	Thomas Jefferson
3			Benjamin Howard	April 17, 1810	October 31, 1812[E]	James Madison
4			William Clark	July 1, 1813	September 18, 1820	James Madison James Monroe

Governors of Missouri

Parties

  Democratic-Republican (3)
  Democratic (38)
  Republican (15)
  Liberal Republican (1)

#	Governor			Took office	Left office	Party	Lt. Governor		Term(s)
1			Alexander McNair	September 18, 1820	November 15, 1824	Democratic-Republican		William Henry Ashley	1
2			Frederick Bates	November 15, 1824	August 4, 1825	Democratic-Republican		Benjamin Harrison Reeves	​1⁄3[C]
3			Abraham J. Williams	August 4, 1825	January 20, 1826	Democratic-Republican		Vacant	​1⁄3[H]
4			John Miller	January 20, 1826	November 19, 1832	Democratic		Daniel Dunklin	​1 1⁄3[I]
5			Daniel Dunklin	November 19, 1832	September 30, 1836	Democratic		Lilburn W. Boggs	​1⁄2[J]
6			Lilburn Boggs	September 30, 1836	November 16, 1840	Democratic		Franklin Cannon	​1 1⁄2[K]
7			Thomas Reynolds	November 16, 1840	February 9, 1844	Democratic		Meredith Miles Marmaduke	​1⁄2[C]
8			Meredith Miles Marmaduke	February 9, 1844	November 20, 1844	Democratic		Vacant	​1⁄2[L]
9			John C. Edwards	November 20, 1844	November 20, 1848	Democratic		James Young	1
10			Austin Augustus King	November 20, 1848	January 3, 1853	Democratic		Thomas Lawson Price	1
11			Sterling Price	January 3, 1853	January 5, 1857	Democratic		Wilson Brown	1
12			Trusten Polk	January 5, 1857	February 27, 1857	Democratic		Hancock Lee Jackson	​1⁄3[M]
13			Hancock Lee Jackson	February 27, 1857	October 22, 1857	Democratic		Vacant	​1⁄3[N]
14			Robert Marcellus Stewart	October 22, 1857	January 3, 1861	Democratic		Hancock Lee Jackson	​1⁄3[I]
15			Claiborne Fox Jackson	January 3, 1861	July 23, 1861	Democratic		Thomas Caute Reynolds	​1⁄3[O]
16			Hamilton Rowan Gamble	July 31, 1861	January 31, 1864	Republican		Willard Preble Hall	​1⁄3[P][C]
17			Willard Preble Hall	January 31, 1864	January 2, 1865	Republican		Vacant	​1⁄3[L]
18			Thomas Clement Fletcher	January 2, 1865	January 12, 1869	Republican		George Rappeen Smith	1
19			Joseph W. McClurg	January 12, 1869	January 4, 1871	Republican		Edwin O. Stanard	1
20			B. Gratz Brown	January 4, 1871	January 3, 1873	Liberal Republican		Joseph J. Gravely	1
21			Silas Woodson	January 3, 1873	January 12, 1875	Democratic		Charles Phillip Johnson	1
22			Charles Henry Hardin	January 12, 1875	January 8, 1877	Democratic		Norman Jay Coleman	1
23			John Smith Phelps	January 8, 1877	January 10, 1881	Democratic		Henry Clay Brockmeyer	1
24			Thomas Theodore Crittenden	January 10, 1881	January 12, 1885	Democratic		Robert Alexander Campbell	1
25			John S. Marmaduke	January 12, 1885	December 28, 1887	Democratic		Albert P. Morehouse	​1⁄2[C]
26			Albert P. Morehouse	December 28, 1887	January 14, 1889	Democratic		Vacant	​1⁄2[L]
27			David R. Francis	January 14, 1889	January 9, 1893	Democratic		Stephen Hugh Claycomb	1
28			William J. Stone	January 9, 1893	January 11, 1897	Democratic		John Baptiste O'Meara	1
29			Lawrence Vest Stephens	January 11, 1897	January 14, 1901	Democratic		August Henry Bolte	1
30			Alexander Monroe Dockery	January 14, 1901	January 9, 1905	Democratic		John Adams Lee	1
								Thomas L. Rubey
31			Joseph W. Folk	January 9, 1905	January 11, 1909	Democratic		John C. McKinley	1
32			Herbert S. Hadley	January 9, 1909	January 13, 1913	Republican		Jacob Friedrich Gmelich	1
33			Elliot Woolfolk Major	January 13, 1913	January 8, 1917	Democratic		William Rock Painter	1
34			Frederick D. Gardner	January 8, 1917	January 10, 1921	Democratic		Wallace Crossley	1
35			Arthur M. Hyde	January 10, 1921	January 12, 1925	Republican		Hiram Lloyd	1
36			Samuel Aaron Baker	January 12, 1925	January 14, 1929	Republican		Phillip Allen Bennett	1
37			Henry S. Caulfield	January 14, 1929	January 9, 1933	Republican		Edward Henry Winter	1
38			Guy Brasfield Park	January 9, 1933	January 11, 1937	Democratic		Frank Gaines Harris	1
39			Lloyd C. Stark	January 11, 1937	February 26, 1941	Democratic		Frank Gaines Harris	1[Q]
40			Forrest C. Donnell	February 26, 1941	January 8, 1945	Republican		Frank Gaines Harris	1[R]
41			Phil M. Donnelly	January 8, 1945	January 10, 1949	Democratic		Walter Naylor Davis	1
42			Forrest Smith	January 10, 1949	January 12, 1953	Democratic		James T. Blair, Jr.	1
43			Phil M. Donnelly	January 12, 1953	January 14, 1957	Democratic		James T. Blair, Jr.	1
44			James T. Blair, Jr.	January 14, 1957	January 9, 1961	Democratic		Edward V. Long	1
45			John M. Dalton	January 9, 1961	January 11, 1965	Democratic		Hilary A. Bush	1
46			Warren E. Hearnes	January 11, 1965	January 8, 1973	Democratic		Thomas F. Eagleton	2
								William S. Morris
47			Kit Bond	January 8, 1973	January 10, 1977	Republican		William C. Phelps	1
48			Joseph P. Teasdale	January 10, 1977	January 12, 1981	Democratic		William C. Phelps	1
49			Kit Bond	January 12, 1981	January 14, 1985	Republican		Kenneth J. Rothman	1
50			John Ashcroft	January 14, 1985	January 11, 1993	Republican		Harriett Woods	2
								Mel Carnahan
51			Mel Carnahan	January 11, 1993	October 16, 2000	Democratic		Roger B. Wilson	​1 1⁄2[C]
52			Roger B. Wilson	October 16, 2000	January 8, 2001	Democratic		Joe Maxwell	​1⁄2[L][S]
53			Bob Holden	January 8, 2001	January 10, 2005	Democratic		Joe Maxwell	1
54			Matt Blunt	January 10, 2005	January 12, 2009	Republican		Peter Kinder	1
55			Jay Nixon	January 12, 2009	January 9, 2017	Democratic		Peter Kinder	2
56			Eric Greitens	January 9, 2017	June 1, 2018	Republican		Mike Parson	1
57			Mike Parson	June 1, 2018	Incumbent	Republican		Mike Kehoe	N/A[L]

Civil War

Missouri, a slave state, was a border state during the Civil War under Union control. However, it was officially recognized as a Confederate state by the Confederate government and was represented in the Confederate Congress and by a star on the Confederate flag. There were two competing governments for the course of the war. The Emancipation Proclamation did not consider Missouri a seceding state, therefore it was not part of Reconstruction. The Missouri Provisional Government is considered the official one on this list.

Missouri secession (Confederate)

• 1861–1862: Claiborne Jackson
  


• 1862–1865: Thomas Caute Reynolds
  

Missouri Provisional Government (Union)

• 1861–64: Hamilton Rowan Gamble


• 1864–65: Willard Preble Hall

Notes

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional, other governorships, and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Missouri except where noted. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Living former governors of Missouri

As of June 2018^[update], there are seven former governors of Missouri who are currently living, the oldest governor of Missouri being Kit Bond (served 1973–1977 and 1981–1985, born 1939). The most recent governor of Missouri to die was Joseph P. Teasdale (served 1977–1981, born 1936) on May 8, 2014. The most recently serving governor of Missouri to die was Mel Carnahan, who served from January 11, 1993 until his death in a plane crash at the age of sixty-six on October 16, 2000.

References

General

Constitutions

Specific

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of Missouri.

• 
  Official website
  


• Publications by or about the Office of the Governor of Missouri at Internet Archive.