Governors of Texas, 1846-2000
The Handbook of Texas Online has a great archive that includes portraits of all Governors of Texas including their biographies. The articles collected by The Handbook of Texas Online are comprehensive and very interesting, especially the information on all governors of Texas.submitted by Clarissa Loyd and source is The Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
- Governor
- Term
- Lt. Governor
- Term
- J. Pinckney Henderson
- 01/19/1846-12/21/1847
- Albert Clinton Horton
- 1846-1847
- George T. Wood
- 12/21/1847-12/21/1849
- John Alexander Greer
- 1847-1851
- Peter Hansbrough Bell
- 12/21/1849-11/23/1853
- John Alexander Greer
James Wilson Henderson - 1847-1851
1851-1853
- James Wilson Henderson
- 11/23/1853-12/21/1853
- David Catchings Dickson
- 1853-1855
- Elisha M. Pease
- 12/21/1853-12/21/1857
- David Catchings Dickson
Hardin R. Runnels - 1853-1855
1855 -1857
- Hardin R. Runnels
- 12/21/1857-12/21/1859
- Francis R. Lubbock
- 1857-1859
- Sam Houston
- 12/21/1859-03/16/1861
- Edward Clark
- Edward Clark
- 03/16/1861-11/07/1861
- Edward Clark
- Francis R. Lubbock
- 11/07/1861-11/05/1863
- John McClannahan Crockett
- 1861-1861
- 1 Pendleton Murrah
- 11/05/1863-06/17/1865
- Fletcher S. Stockdale
- 1863-1865
- Andrew J. Hamilton
- 06/17/1865-08/09/1866
- George Washinton Jones
- 1866-1867
- James W. Throckmorton
- 08/09/1866-08/08/1867
- George Washinton Jones
- 3 Edmund J. Davis
- 01/08/1870-01/15/1874
- Richard B. Hubbard
- 1873-1876
- 4 Richard Coke
- 01/15/1874-12/01/1876
- Richard B. Hubbard
- 5 Richard B. Hubbard
- 12/01/1876-01/21/1879
- ---
- ---
- Oran M. Roberts
- 01/21/1879-01/16/1883
- Joseph Draper Sayers
Leonidas Jefferson Storey - 1879-1881
1881-1883 - John Ireland
- 01/16/1883-01/18/1887
- Francis Marion Martin
Barnett Gibbs - 1883-1885
1885-1887 - Lawrence Sullivan Ross
- 01/18/1887-01/21/1891
- Thomas Benton Wheeler
- 1887-1891
- James Stephen Hogg
- 01/21/1891-01/15/1895
- George Cassety Pendleton
Martin McNulty Crane - 1891-1893
1893-1895 - Charles A. Culberson
- 01/15/1895-01/17/1899
- George Taylor Jester
- 1895-1899
- Joseph D. Sayers
- 01/17/1899-01/20/1903
- James Nathan Browning
- 1899 -1903
- 6 S.W.T. Lanham
- 01/20/1903-01/15/1907
- George D. Neal
- 1903-1907
- Thomas Mitchell Campbell
- 01/15/1907-01/17/1911
- Asbury Bascom Davidson
- 1907-1913
- Oscar Branch Colquitt
- 01/17/1911-01/19/1915
- Asbury Bascom Davidson
William Harding Mayes - 1907-1913
1913-1914 - 7 James E. Ferguson
- 01/19/1915-08/25/1917
- William Pettus Hobby
- 1915-1917
- William Pettus Hobby
- 08/25/1917-01/18/1921
- William Arnold Johnson
- 1919-1921
- Pat Morris Neff
- 01/18/1921-01/20/1925
- Lynch Davidson
Thomas Whitfield Davidson - 1921-1923
1923-1925 - 8 Miriam A. Ferguson
- 01/20/1925-01/17/1927
- Barney Miller
- 1925-1931
- Dan Moody
- 01/17/1927-01/20/1931
- Barney Miller
- Ross S. Sterling
- 01/20/1931-01/17/1933
- Edgar E. Witt
- 1931-1935
- Miriam A. Ferguson
- 01/17/1933-01/15/1935
- Edgar E. Witt
- James V. Allred
- 01/15/1935-01/17/1939
- Walter Frank Woodul
- 1935-1939
- 9 Wilbert Lee O'Daniel
- 01/17/1939-08/04/1941
- Coke R. Stevenson
- 1939-1941
- 10 Coke R. Stevenson
- 08/04/1941-01/21/1947
- John Lee Smith
- 1943-1947
- Beauford H. Jester
- 01/21/1947-07/11/1949
- Robert Allan Shivers
- 1947-1949
- Allan Shivers
- 07/11/1949-01/15/1957
- Ben Ramsey
- 1951-1963
- Price Daniel
- 01/15/1957-01/15/1963
- Ben Ramsey
- John Conally
- 01/15/1963-01/21/1969
- Preston E. Smith
- 1963-1969
- Preston Smith
- 01/21/1969-01/16/1973
- Ben Barnes
- 1969-1973
- 11 Dolph Briscoe
- 01/16/1973-01/16/1979
- William Pettus Hobby, Jr.
- William P. Clements
- 01/16/1979-01/18/1983
- William Pettus Hobby, Jr.
- Mark White
- 01/18/1983-01/20/1987
- William Pettus Hobby, Jr.
- William P. Clements
- 01/20/1987-01/15/1991
- William Pettus Hobby, Jr.
- 12 Ann W. Richards
- 01/15/1991-01/17/1995
- Robert D. Bullock
- 1991-1999
- 13 George Walker Bush
- 01/17/1995-12/21/2000
- Robert D. Bullock
James Richard Perry - 1991-1999
1999 -2000 - James Richard Perry
- 12/21/2000-Present
- Bill Ratliff
David Dewhurst - 2000
Notes
1 Pendleton Murrah was absent from 05/1865-06/1865, his Lt. Governor Fletcher S. Stockdale was
Interim Governor of Texas in his absence.
2 Gen. Philip Sheridan removed Gov. Throckmorton and appointed Elisha M. Pease as the provisional
governor. Pease resigned on September 30, 1869 due to General J.J. Reynolds actions by wanting
Edmund J. Davis to win.. Pease wanted Andrew J. Hamilton to win the seat in the 1869 race.
3 Appointed provisional governor on January 8, 1870 and inaugurated on April 8, 1870 as the official
governor due to controversial 1869 election.
4 Gov. Edmund J. Davis refused to give up office to Richard Coke. Gov. Davis wanted troops brought in
to support him but President Ulysses S. Grant did not support Davis' fight and he conceded to Richard
Coke.
5 Three major disasters during his term: Huntsville Penitentiary fire-1899, Brazos River flood-1899;
and Galveston storm-1900.
6 Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham only spent $20 dollars on his campaign in the governor race of 1904.
7 Controversy which led to his resignation on September 25, 1917; William Pettus Hobby took over as
interim governor on August 25, 1917 and elected governor on September 25, 1917. Also known as
"Pa" Ferguson.
8 First woman governor in Texas but second national wide after Nellie T. Ross (Wyoming); wife of
James E. "Pa" Ferguson. She ran after her husband, James, was denied from having his name on the
ballot. Her slogan, "Two governors for the price of one".
9 W.L. O'Daniel ran for Senate in a special election in 1941 where he defeated Lyndon Baines Johnson.
This election was one of the most controversial in Texas history.
10 Elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1928 and was elected the Speaker of the House in
1933.
11 First governor of Texas to be elected to a four year term.
12 Full name is Dorothy Ann Willis Richards; fifty years went by before another woman, Richards, was
elected to a statewide office in 1982 as the Texas State Treasurer.
13 Left his term as Governor in 2000 because the GOP nominated him as a presidential candidate. On
January 21, 2001, George W. Bush was inaugurated as the United States President.
** Never inaugurated as governor but elected in 1869, then was appointed to U.S. Senate by Legislature.
Interim Governor of Texas in his absence.
2 Gen. Philip Sheridan removed Gov. Throckmorton and appointed Elisha M. Pease as the provisional
governor. Pease resigned on September 30, 1869 due to General J.J. Reynolds actions by wanting
Edmund J. Davis to win.. Pease wanted Andrew J. Hamilton to win the seat in the 1869 race.
3 Appointed provisional governor on January 8, 1870 and inaugurated on April 8, 1870 as the official
governor due to controversial 1869 election.
4 Gov. Edmund J. Davis refused to give up office to Richard Coke. Gov. Davis wanted troops brought in
to support him but President Ulysses S. Grant did not support Davis' fight and he conceded to Richard
Coke.
5 Three major disasters during his term: Huntsville Penitentiary fire-1899, Brazos River flood-1899;
and Galveston storm-1900.
6 Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham only spent $20 dollars on his campaign in the governor race of 1904.
7 Controversy which led to his resignation on September 25, 1917; William Pettus Hobby took over as
interim governor on August 25, 1917 and elected governor on September 25, 1917. Also known as
"Pa" Ferguson.
8 First woman governor in Texas but second national wide after Nellie T. Ross (Wyoming); wife of
James E. "Pa" Ferguson. She ran after her husband, James, was denied from having his name on the
ballot. Her slogan, "Two governors for the price of one".
9 W.L. O'Daniel ran for Senate in a special election in 1941 where he defeated Lyndon Baines Johnson.
This election was one of the most controversial in Texas history.
10 Elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1928 and was elected the Speaker of the House in
1933.
11 First governor of Texas to be elected to a four year term.
12 Full name is Dorothy Ann Willis Richards; fifty years went by before another woman, Richards, was
elected to a statewide office in 1982 as the Texas State Treasurer.
13 Left his term as Governor in 2000 because the GOP nominated him as a presidential candidate. On
January 21, 2001, George W. Bush was inaugurated as the United States President.
** Never inaugurated as governor but elected in 1869, then was appointed to U.S. Senate by Legislature.
All information from The Texas State Library and Archives Commission.