List of governors of Rhode Island

This article is about governors of the state of Rhode Island. For a list of colonial governors of Rhode Island, see List of colonial governors of Rhode Island.

Governor of Rhode Island
Seal of the Governor
120px Flag of the Governor
200px Incumbent Dan McKee since March 2, 2021
Style	Governor (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Status	Head of State Head of Government
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Nicholas Cooke
Formation	November 7, 1775 (1775-11-07)
Deputy	Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
Salary	$128,210 (2013)
Website	governor.ri.gov

The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Dan McKee. John W. Davis, Herbert W. Ladd, and Aram J. Pothier each served two non-consecutive stints, while James Fenner served three non-consecutive stints as governor.

Party affiliation

Number of governors of Rhode Island by party affiliation

Party	Governors
Republican	32
Democratic	22
Democratic-Republican	4
Independent	4
Whig	4
Country	3
Law and Order	2
Dorr Rebellion	1
Federalist	1
Know Nothing	1
Rhode Island Party	1

Colonial Rhode Island, 1640–1775

Further information: List of colonial governors of Rhode Island

List of governors of Rhode Island, 1775–present

Parties

      Country       Democratic       Federalist       Democratic-Republican       Dorr Rebellion       No party       Whig       Law and Order       Republican       Know Nothing       Rhode Island Party

#	Governor	Picture	Party	Took office	Left office	Lt. Governor	Notes
1	Nicholas Cooke	75px	None	November 7, 1775	May 4, 1778	None	2 years 6 mos.
2	William Greene		None	May 4, 1778	May 3, 1786	None	8 years.
3	John Collins		None	May 3, 1786	May 5, 1790	None	4 years.
4	Arthur Fenner		Country Party	May 5, 1790	October 15, 1805	Samuel J. Potter	15 years. Rhode Island ratified the U.S. Constitution on May 29, 1790. Died in office.
5	Henry Smith		Country	October 15, 1805	May 7, 1806		7 months.
6	Isaac Wilbour		Country	May 7, 1806	May 6, 1807	Himself	1 year.
7	James Fenner		Democratic-Republican	May 6, 1807	May 1, 1811	Constant Taber Simeon Martin Isaac Wilbour	4 years.
8	William Jones		Federalist	May 1, 1811	May 7, 1817	Simeon Martin Jeremiah Thurston	6 years.
9	Nehemiah R. Knight		Democratic-Republican	May 7, 1817	May 2, 1821	Edward Wilcox	4 years.
10	William C. Gibbs		Democratic-Republican	May 2, 1821	May 5, 1824		3 years.
11	James Fenner		Democratic-Republican	May 5, 1824	May 4, 1831	Charles Collins	7 years.
12	Lemuel H. Arnold		National Republican	May 4, 1831	May 1, 1833	Charles Collins	2 years.
13	John B. Francis		Democratic	May 1, 1833	May 2, 1838	Jeffrey Hazard George Engs Jeffrey Hazard Benjamin B. Thurston	5 years.
14	William Sprague III		Whig	May 2, 1838	May 2, 1839	Joseph Childs	1 year.
15	Samuel Ward King		Rhode Island Party	May 2, 1839	May 2, 1843	Byron Diman	4 years.
16	Thomas Dorr		Extralegal Dorr Rebellion	May 1, 1842	January 23, 1843		9 mos.
17	James Fenner		Law and Order	May 2, 1843	May 6, 1845	Byron Diman	2 years.
18	Charles Jackson		Whig, Liberation Party	May 6, 1845	May 6, 1846	Byron Diman	1 year.
19	Byron Diman		Law and Order	May 6, 1846	May 4, 1847	Elisha Harris	1 year.
20	Elisha Harris		Whig	May 4, 1847	May 1, 1849	Edward W. Lawton	2 years.
21	Henry B. Anthony		Whig	May 1, 1849	May 6, 1851	Thomas Whipple	2 years.
22	Philip Allen		Democratic	May 6, 1851	July 20, 1853	William Beach Lawrence Samuel G. Arnold	2 years 2 mos.
23	Francis M. Dimond		Democratic	July 20, 1853	May 2, 1854	Francis M. Dimond	10 mos.
24	William W. Hoppin		Whig	May 2, 1854	May 26, 1857	John J. Reynolds Anderson C. Rose Nicholas Brown III	3 years.
25	Elisha Dyer		Republican	May 26, 1857	May 31, 1859	Thomas G. Turner	2 years.
26	Thomas G. Turner		Republican	May 31, 1859	May 29, 1860	Isaac Saunders	1 year.
27	William Sprague IV		Republican	May 29, 1860	March 3, 1863	J. Russell Bullock Samuel G. Arnold	2 years 10 mos. Resigned to become a U.S. Senator.
28	William C. Cozzens		Democratic	March 3, 1863	May 26, 1863	None.	2 months 23 days. Defeated for election.
29	James Y. Smith		Republican	May 26, 1863	May 29, 1866	Seth Padelford Duncan Pell	3 years.
30	Ambrose Everett Burnside		Republican	May 29, 1866	May 25, 1869	William Greene Pardon Stevens	3 years.
31	Seth Padelford		Republican	May 25, 1869	May 27, 1873	Pardon Stevens Charles Cutler	4 years.
32	Henry Howard		Republican	May 27, 1873	May 25, 1875	Charles C. Van Zandt	2 years.
33	Henry Lippitt		Republican	May 25, 1875	May 29, 1877	Henry Tillinghast Sisson	2 years.
34	Charles C. Van Zandt		Republican	May 29, 1877	May 25, 1880	Albert C. Howard	3 years.
35	Alfred H. Littlefield		Republican	May 25, 1880	May 29, 1883	Henry Fay	3 years.
36	Augustus O. Bourn		Republican	May 29, 1883	May 26, 1885	Oscar Rathbun	2 years.
37	George P. Wetmore		Republican	May 26, 1885	May 29, 1887	Lucius B. Darling	2 years.
38	John W. Davis		Democratic	May 29, 1887	May 29, 1888	Samuel R. Honey	1 year.
39	Royal C. Taft		Republican	May 29, 1888	May 28, 1889	Enos Lapham	1 year.
40	Herbert W. Ladd		Republican	May 28, 1889	May 27, 1890	Daniel Littlefield	1 year.
41	John W. Davis		Democratic	May 27, 1890	May 26, 1891	William T. C. Wardwell	1 year.
42	Herbert W. Ladd		Republican	May 26, 1891	May 31, 1892	Henry A. Stearns	1 year.
43	D. Russell Brown		Republican	May 31, 1892	May 29, 1895	Melville Bull Edwin Allen	3 years.
44	Charles W. Lippitt		Republican	May 29, 1895	May 25, 1897	Edwin Allen	2 years.
45	Elisha Dyer, Jr.		Republican	May 25, 1897	May 29, 1900	Aram J. Pothier William Gregory	3 years.
46	William Gregory		Republican	May 29, 1900	December 16, 1901	Charles D. Kimball	1 year 7 mos. Died in office.
47	Charles D. Kimball		Republican	December 16, 1901	January 3, 1903	vacant George L. Shepley	1 year 18 days.
48	Lucius F. C. Garvin		Democratic	January 3, 1903	January 3, 1905	Frederick H. Jackson	2 years.
49	George H. Utter		Republican	January 3, 1905	January 1, 1907	Frederick H. Jackson	2 years.
50	James H. Higgins		Democratic	January 1, 1907	January 5, 1909	Frederick H. Jackson Ralph Watrous	2 years.
51	Aram J. Pothier		Republican	January 5, 1909	January 5, 1915	Arthur W. Dennis Rosewell Burchard Emery J. San Souci Rosewell Burchard	6 years,
52	R. Livingston Beeckman		Republican	January 5, 1915	January 4, 1921	Emery J. San Souci	6 years.
53	Emery J. San Souci		Republican	January 4, 1921	January 2, 1923	Harold Gross	2 years.
54	William S. Flynn		Democratic	January 2, 1923	January 6, 1925	Felix A. Toupin	2 years.
55	Aram J. Pothier		Republican	January 6, 1925	February 4, 1928	Nathaniel W. Smith Norman S. Case	3 years 1 month.
56	Norman S. Case		Republican	February 4, 1928	January 3, 1933	James G. Connelly	4 years 11 months.
57	Theodore Francis Green		Democratic	January 3, 1933	January 5, 1937	Robert E. Quinn	4 years. Elected to U.S. Senate in 1936 and served from 1937 to 1961.
58	Robert E. Quinn		Democratic	January 5, 1937	January 3, 1939	Raymond E. Jordan	2 years.
59	William Henry Vanderbilt III		Republican	January 3, 1939	January 7, 1941	James O. McManus	Two years. Defeated for re-election.
60	J. Howard McGrath	75px	Democratic	January 7, 1941	October 6, 1945	Louis W. Cappelli	4 years 9 months. Resigned to become United States Solicitor General.
61	John Pastore	75px	Democratic	October 6, 1945	December 19, 1950	John S. McKiernan	5 years two months. Appointed to U.S. Senate and served from 1950 to 1976.
62	John S. McKiernan		Democratic	December 19, 1950	January 2, 1951	None	Two weeks.
63	Dennis J. Roberts		Democratic	January 2, 1951	January 6, 1959	John S. McKiernan Armand H. Cote	8 years.
64	Christopher Del Sesto		Republican	January 6, 1959	January 3, 1961	John A. Notte, Jr.	2 years. Defeated for re-election.
65	John A. Notte, Jr.	75px	Democratic	January 3, 1961	January 1, 1963	Edward P. Gallogly	2 years.
66	John Chafee		Republican	January 1, 1963	January 7, 1969	Edward P. Gallogly Giovanni Folcarelli Joseph O'Donnell, Jr.	6 years. Defeated for re-election. U.S. Senator 1976 to 1999.
67	Frank Licht		Democratic	January 7, 1969	January 2, 1973	J. Joseph Garrahy	4 years.
68	Philip W. Noel		Democratic	January 2, 1973	January 4, 1977	J. Joseph Garrahy
69	J. Joseph Garrahy	75px	Democratic	January 4, 1977	January 1, 1985	Thomas R. DiLuglio	8 years.
70	Edward D. DiPrete	106x106px	Republican	January 1, 1985	January 1, 1991	Richard A. Licht Roger N. Begin	6 years. Defeated for re-election. Imprisoned for corruption after leaving office.
71	Bruce Sundlun		Democratic	January 1, 1991	January 3, 1995	Roger N. Begin Robert Weygand	4 years. Defeated in Democratic primary in 1994.
72	Lincoln Almond		Republican	January 3, 1995	January 7, 2003	Robert Weygand Bernard Jackvony Charles J. Fogarty	8 years. First governor to serve a four-year term.
73	Donald Carcieri	100x100px	Republican	January 7, 2003	January 4, 2011	Charles J. Fogarty Elizabeth H. Roberts
74	Lincoln Chafee		Independent	January 4, 2011	May 30, 2013	Elizabeth H. Roberts	4 years. Did not seek re-election.
			Democratic	May 30, 2013	January 6, 2015	Elizabeth H. Roberts
75	Gina Raimondo	75px	Democratic	January 6, 2015	March 2, 2021	Dan McKee	Resigned to become United States Secretary of Commerce.
76	Dan McKee	100x100px	Democratic	March 2, 2021	Incumbent	Sabina Matos

^aa Chafee served in prior offices as a Republican, but ran for governor as an independent. On May 30, 2013, while in office, he switched his party affiliation to Democratic.

Succession

Main article: Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States § Rhode Island

Other high offices held

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

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
Isaac Wilbour	1806–1807	H
James Fenner	1807–1811 1824–1831 1843–1845		S
Nehemiah R. Knight	1817–1821		S
Lemuel H. Arnold	1831–1833	H
John Brown Francis	1833–1838		S
William Sprague III	1838–1839	H	S
Henry B. Anthony	1849–1851		S
Philip Allen	1851–1853		S*
William Sprague IV	1860–1863		S
Ambrose Burnside	1866–1869		S	Commander of the Army of the Potomac
George P. Wetmore	1885–1887		S
George H. Utter	1905–1907	H
Theodore F. Green	1933–1937		S
J. Howard McGrath	1941–1945		S	United States Solicitor General*; United States Attorney General
John O. Pastore	1945–1950		S*	Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
John Chafee	1963–1969		S	United States Secretary of the Navy
Lincoln Chafee	2011–2015		S	Mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island
Gina Raimondo	2015–2021			United States Secretary of Commerce*

Living former governors of Rhode Island

As of November 2021, there are six former governors of Rhode Island who are currently living at this time, the oldest governor of Rhode Island being Philip W. Noel (served 1973–1977, born 1931). The most recent governor of Rhode Island to die was J. Joseph Garrahy (served 1977–1985, born 1930) on January 24, 2012. The most recently serving governor of Rhode Island to die was Bruce Sundlun (served 1991–1995, born 1920) on July 21, 2011.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
Philip W. Noel	1973–1977	(1931-06-06) June 6, 1931
Edward D. DiPrete	1985–1991	(1934-07-08) July 8, 1934
Lincoln C. Almond	1995–2003	(1936-06-16) June 16, 1936
Donald Carcieri	2003–2011	(1942-12-16) December 16, 1942
Lincoln Chafee	2011–2015	(1953-03-26) March 26, 1953
Gina Raimondo	2015–2021	(1971-05-17) May 17, 1971

See also

• List of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island

External links

• Governor's digitized records from the Rhode Island State Archives
• Governor of Rhode Island: Proclamations Issued from the Rhode Island State Archives
• Governor's Executive Orders from the Rhode Island State Archives
• Guide to the Governor's Executive Orders from the Rhode Island State Archives
• Guide to the Tavares Collection from the Rhode Island State Archives