List of Governors of Illinois

The Governor of Illinois is the head of the executive branch of Illinois's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Illinois Legislature, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons.^[1] Governors and other state-wide officials are chosen to four-year terms in the off-year cycle (not in the same year as the presidential elections).

Governors

Governor of the Territory of Illinois

Illinois Territory was formed on March 1, 1809, from Indiana Territory. It had only one governor appointed by the President of the United States before it became a state. From March to June, 1809, Territorial Secretary Nathaniel Pope served as acting governor; Edwards' arrival in Illinois ended Pope's brief administration.^[2]

#	Picture	Governor	Took office	Left office	Appointed by
1		Ninian Edwards	March 1, 1809	October 6, 1818	James Madison

Governors of the State of Illinois

Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, consisting of the southern portion of Illinois Territory; the remainder was assigned to Michigan Territory.

The first Illinois Constitution, ratified in 1818, provided that a governor be elected every four years^[3] for a term starting on the first Monday in the December following an election.^[4] The constitution of 1848 moved the start of the term to the second Monday in January.^[5] Governors were not allowed to succeed themselves^[6] until the 1870 constitution, which removed this limit.

The office of lieutenant governor was created in the first constitution,^[7] to exercise the power of governor if that office becomes vacant.^[8] The 1848 constitution changed this to say the power "devolves" upon the lieutenant governor in case of a vacancy.^[9] The current constitution of 1970 made it so that, in the event of a vacancy, the lieutenant becomes governor,^[10] and the governor and lieutenant governor are now elected on the same ticket.^[11]

Parties

  No party   Democratic-Republican   Democratic   Whig   Republican

#[lower-alpha 1]	Picture		Governor	Term in office	Party	Term[lower-alpha 2]	Lt. Governor
1			Shadrach Bond	October 6, 1818 – December 5, 1822	Independent	1818		Pierre Menard
2			Edward Coles	December 5, 1822 – December 6, 1826	Independent	1822		Adolphus Hubbard
3			Ninian Edwards	December 6, 1826 – December 6, 1830	Adams-Clay Republican	1826		William Kinney
4			John Reynolds	December 6, 1830 – November 17, 1834	Democratic	1830 [lower-alpha 3]		Zadok Casey (resigned March 1, 1833)
								William Lee D. Ewing
5			William Lee D. Ewing	November 17, 1834 – December 3, 1834	Democratic		Vacant
6			Joseph Duncan	December 3, 1834 – December 7, 1838	Whig	1834		Alexander Jenkins (resigned December 9, 1836)
								William H. Davidson[lower-alpha 4]
7			Thomas Carlin	December 7, 1838 – December 8, 1842	Democratic	1838		Stinson Anderson
8			Thomas Ford	December 8, 1842 – December 9, 1846	Democratic	1842		John Moore
9			Augustus C. French	December 9, 1846 – January 10, 1853	Democratic	1846 [lower-alpha 5]		Joseph Wells
						1848		William McMurtry
10			Joel Aldrich Matteson	January 10, 1853 – January 12, 1857	Democratic	1852		Gustavus Koerner
11			William Henry Bissell	January 12, 1857 – March 18, 1860	Republican	1856 [lower-alpha 6]		John Wood
12			John Wood	March 18, 1860 – January 14, 1861	Republican		Vacant
								Thomas Marshall[lower-alpha 4]
13			Richard Yates	January 14, 1861 – January 16, 1865	Republican	1860		Francis Hoffmann
14			Richard J. Oglesby	January 16, 1865 – January 11, 1869	Republican	1864		William Bross
15			John M. Palmer	January 11, 1869 – January 13, 1873	Republican	1868		John Dougherty
14			Richard J. Oglesby	January 13, 1873 – January 23, 1873	Republican	1872 [lower-alpha 7]		John Lourie Beveridge
16			John Lourie Beveridge	January 23, 1873 – January 8, 1877	Republican			John Early (term ended January 8, 1875)
								Archibald Glenn[lower-alpha 4]
17			Shelby Moore Cullom	January 8, 1877 – February 5, 1883	Republican	1876		Andrew Shuman
						1880 [lower-alpha 8]		John Marshall Hamilton
18			John Marshall Hamilton	February 5, 1883 – January 30, 1885	Republican			William Campbell
14			Richard J. Oglesby	January 30, 1885 – January 14, 1889	Republican	1884		John Smith
19			Joseph W. Fifer	January 14, 1889 – January 10, 1893	Republican	1888		Lyman Ray
20			John Peter Altgeld	January 10, 1893 – January 11, 1897	Democratic	1892		Joseph B. Gill
21			John R. Tanner	January 11, 1897 – January 14, 1901	Republican	1896		William Northcott
22			Richard Yates, Jr.	January 14, 1901 – January 9, 1905	Republican	1900
23			Charles S. Deneen	January 9, 1905 – February 3, 1913	Republican	1904		Lawrence Sherman
						1908		John G. Oglesby
24			Edward F. Dunne	February 3, 1913 – January 8, 1917	Democratic	1912		Barratt O'Hara
25			Frank O. Lowden	January 8, 1917 – January 10, 1921	Republican	1916		John G. Oglesby
26			Len Small	January 10, 1921 – January 14, 1929	Republican	1920		Fred E. Sterling
						1924
27			Louis L. Emmerson	January 14, 1929 – January 9, 1933	Republican	1928
28			Henry Horner	January 9, 1933 – October 6, 1940	Democratic	1932		Thomas Donovan
						1936 [lower-alpha 9]		John H. Stelle
29			John H. Stelle	October 6, 1940 – January 13, 1941	Democratic		Vacant
30			Dwight H. Green	January 13, 1941 – January 10, 1949	Republican	1940		Hugh W. Cross
						1944
31			Adlai E. Stevenson II	January 10, 1949 – January 12, 1953	Democratic	1948		Sherwood Dixon
32			William G. Stratton	January 12, 1953 – January 9, 1961	Republican	1952		John William Chapman
						1956
33			Otto Kerner, Jr.	January 9, 1961 – May 21, 1968	Democratic	1960		Samuel H. Shapiro
						1964 [lower-alpha 10]
34			Samuel H. Shapiro	May 21, 1968 – January 13, 1969	Democratic		Vacant
35			Richard Buell Ogilvie	January 13, 1969 – January 8, 1973	Republican	1968		Paul Simon[lower-alpha 4]
36			Dan Walker	January 8, 1973 – January 10, 1977	Democratic	1972		Neil Hartigan
37			James R. Thompson	January 10, 1977 – January 14, 1991	Republican	1976 [lower-alpha 11]		Dave O'Neal (resigned July 31, 1981)
						1978
							Vacant
						1982		George Ryan
						1986
38			Jim Edgar	January 14, 1991 – January 11, 1999	Republican	1990		Bob Kustra
						1994
39			George Ryan	January 11, 1999 – January 13, 2003	Republican	1998		Corinne Wood
40			Rod Blagojevich	January 13, 2003 – January 29, 2009	Democratic	2002		Pat Quinn
						2006 [lower-alpha 12]
41			Pat Quinn	January 29, 2009 – January 12, 2015	Democratic		Vacant
						2010		Sheila Simon
42			Bruce Rauner	January 12, 2015 – Incumbent	Republican	2014 [lower-alpha 13]		Evelyn Sanguinetti

Notes

1. Based on Jim Edgar being the 38th governor, repeat governors are officially only numbered once; subsequent terms are marked with their original number italicized.
2. Each term for which a governor is elected is listed here; if multiple governors served in a single term, due to resignations, deaths, and the like, then that term will be shared among those governors. If a governor was elected multiple times, then there will be multiple terms listed for that governor.
3. Reynolds resigned to take elected seat in the United States House of Representatives; as acting lieutenant governor, Ewing acted as governor for the remainder of the term.
4. Represented the Democratic Party.
5. The election schedule was shifted after this term, shortening it to two years.
6. Bissell died in office; as lieutenant governor, Wood acted as governor for the remainder of the term.
7. Oglesby resigned so that Lieutenant Governor Beveridge would appoint him to the United States Senate; as lieutenant governor, Beveridge acted as governor for the remainder of the term.
8. Cullom resigned to take elected seat in the United States Senate; as lieutenant governor, Hamilton acted as governor for the remainder of the term.
9. Horner died in office; as lieutenant governor, Stelle acted as governor for the remainder of the term.
10. Kerner resigned to take seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; as lieutenant governor, Shapiro acted as governor for the remainder of the term.
11. A constitutional amendment came into effect with this term, moving the election schedule to coincide with Congressional midterms and shortening the term by two years.
12. Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office on charges of corruption; as lieutenant governor, Quinn filled the remainder of the term.
13. Governor Rauner's term expires on January 14, 2019.

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Illinois. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Other offices held	Sources
Ninian Edwards	1809–1818 1826–1830	Senator
Shadrach Bond	1818–1822	Delegate from Illinois Territory
John Reynolds	1830–1834	Representative*
William Lee D. Ewing	1834	Senator
Joseph Duncan	1834–1838	Representative
William Henry Bissell	1857–1860	Representative
Richard Yates	1861–1865	Representative, Senator
Richard J. Oglesby	1865–1869 1873 1885–1889	Senator*
John M. Palmer	1869–1873	Senator
Shelby Moore Cullom	1877–1883	Representative, Senator*
Richard Yates	1901–1905	Representative
Charles S. Deneen	1905–1913	Senator
Frank O. Lowden	1917–1921	Representative
Adlai Stevenson	1949–1953	Ambassador to the United Nations
William Stratton	1953–1961	Representative
Otto Kerner, Jr.	1961–1968	Seventh Circuit Court Judge*
Rod Blagojevich	2003–2009	Representative

Living former U.S. governors of Illinois

As of May 2015, there are five former U.S. governors of Illinois who are currently living at this time, the oldest U.S. governor of Illinois being George Ryan (served 1999–2003, born 1934). The most recent death of a former U.S. governor of Illinois was that of Dan Walker (served 1973–1977, born 1922), who died on April 29, 2015 at the age of 92. Walker was also the most recently serving U.S. governor of Illinois to die, having left office on January 10, 1977.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
James R. Thompson	1977–1991	May 8, 1936
Jim Edgar	1991–1999	July 22, 1946
George Ryan	1999–2003	February 24, 1934
Rod Blagojevich	2003–2009	December 10, 1956
Pat Quinn	2009–2015	December 16, 1948

References

1. IL Const. art. V
2. Robert P. Howard (1988), Mostly Good and Competent Men: Illinois Governors, 1818–1988, Illinois Issues and the Illinois State Historical Society, 39–40.
3. 1818 Const. art. III, § 2
4. 1818 Const. art. III, § 3
5. 1848 Const. art. IV, § 3
6. 1818 Const. art. III, § 3
7. 1818 Const. art. III, § 13
8. 1818 Const. art. III, § 18
9. 1848 Const. art. IV, § 19
10. IL Const. art. V, § 6
11. IL Const. art. V, § 4

Sources

• Illinois 2005-2006 Bluebook, Illinois Governor mini-bios