List of Governors of Nebraska

The following is a list of the Governors of the State of Nebraska.

Governor of Nebraska
Seal of Nebraska
Incumbent Dave Heineman since January 20, 2005
Style	The Honorable
Inaugural holder	David Butler 1871
Formation	Constitution of Nebraska

• Prior to becoming a territory, Nebraska Territory was part of Louisiana Territory (renamed Missouri Territory) from 1805 to 1821; see List of Governors of Missouri for this period. Between 1821 and 1854, the land was unorganized territory.

List of Governors

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Party	Notes
1	David Butler	February 21, 1867	June 2, 1871	Republican	[1]
	William H. James (acting)	June 2, 1871	January 13, 1873	Republican	[2]
2	Robert Wilkinson Furnas	January 13, 1873	January 11, 1875	Republican
3	Silas Garber	January 11, 1875	January 9, 1879	Republican
4	Albinus Nance	January 9, 1879	January 4, 1883	Republican
5	James W. Dawes	January 4, 1883	January 6, 1887	Republican
6	John Milton Thayer	January 6, 1887	February 8, 1892	Republican	[3]
7	James E. Boyd	February 8, 1892	January 13, 1893	Democratic	[3]
8	Lorenzo Crounse	January 13, 1893	January 3, 1895	Republican
9	Silas A. Holcomb	January 3, 1895	January 5, 1899	Fusion (Democratic/Populist)
10	William A. Poynter	January 5, 1899	January 3, 1901	Fusion (Democratic/Populist)
11	Charles H. Dietrich	January 3, 1901	May 1, 1901	Republican	[4]
12	Ezra P. Savage	May 1, 1901	January 8, 1903	Republican	[5]
13	John H. Mickey	January 8, 1903	January 3, 1907	Republican
14	George L. Sheldon	January 3, 1907	January 7, 1909	Republican
15	Ashton C. Shallenberger	January 7, 1909	January 5, 1911	Democratic
16	Chester H. Aldrich	January 5, 1911	January 9, 1913	Republican
17	John H. Morehead	January 9, 1913	January 4, 1917	Democratic
18	Keith Neville	January 4, 1917	January 9, 1919	Democratic
19	Samuel R. McKelvie	January 9, 1919	January 3, 1923	Republican
20	Charles W. Bryan	January 3, 1923	January 8, 1925	Democratic
21	Adam McMullen	January 8, 1925	January 3, 1929	Republican
22	Arthur J. Weaver	January 3, 1929	January 8, 1931	Republican
23	Charles W. Bryan	January 8, 1931	January 3, 1935	Democratic
24	Robert Leroy Cochran	January 3, 1935	January 9, 1941	Democratic
25	Dwight Griswold	January 9, 1941	January 9, 1947	Republican
26	Val Peterson	January 9, 1947	January 8, 1953	Republican
27	Robert B. Crosby	January 8, 1953	January 6, 1955	Republican
28	Victor E. Anderson	January 6, 1955	January 8, 1959	Republican
29	Ralph G. Brooks	January 8, 1959	September 9, 1960	Democratic	[6]
30	Dwight W. Burney	September 9, 1960	January 5, 1961	Republican	[5]
31	Frank B. Morrison	January 5, 1961	January 5, 1967	Democratic
32	Norbert T. Tiemann	January 5, 1967	January 7, 1971	Republican
33	J. James Exon	January 7, 1971	January 4, 1979	Democratic
34	Charles Thone	January 4, 1979	January 6, 1983	Republican
35	J. Robert Kerrey	January 6, 1983	January 9, 1987	Democratic
36	Kay A. Orr	January 9, 1987	January 9, 1991	Republican
37	E. Benjamin Nelson	January 9, 1991	January 7, 1999	Democratic
38	Mike Johanns	January 7, 1999	January 20, 2005	Republican	[7]
39	Dave Heineman	January 20, 2005	Incumbent	Republican	[8][9]

See also

• List of Lieutenant Governors of Nebraska
• Governors of Nebraska Territory

Notes

1. ^ Impeached and removed from office for misappropriation of state funds; the impeachment was expunged six years later.
2. ^ As state secretary of state, acted as governor for unexpired term.
3. ^ ^{a b} James Boyd won the 1890 election, and was sworn in on January 8, 1891. However, due to a question of his U.S. citizenship and eligibility for the office, he did not take office until February 8, 1892.
4. ^ Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
5. ^ ^{a b} As lieutenant governor, became governor for unexpired term.
6. ^ Died in office.
7. ^ Resigned to be United States Secretary of Agriculture.
8. ^ As lieutenant governor, succeeded to the office of governor for Johann's unexpired term, and was later elected in his own right.
9. ^ Governor Heineman's second term expires on January 1, 2015; he is term limited.

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 Nebraska except where noted. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Name	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
William Alexander Richardson	1858 (territorial)			U.S. Representative and Senator from Illinois
J. Sterling Morton	1858–1859, 1861 (territorial)			U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Algernon Paddock	1861 (territorial)		S
Alvin Saunders	1861–1867 (territorial)		S
John Milton Thayer	1887–1892		S	Governor of Wyoming Territory
Lorenzo Crounse	1893–1895	H
Charles Henry Dietrich	1901		S*
Ashton C. Shallenberger	1909–1911	H
John H. Morehead	1913–1917	H
Dwight Griswold	1941–1947		S
Val Peterson	1947–1953			Ambassador to Denmark, Ambassador to Poland
J. James Exon	1971–1979		S
Charles Thone	1979–1983	H
Bob Kerrey	1983–1987		S
Ben Nelson	1991–1999		S
Mike Johanns	1999–2005		S	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture*

Living former governors

As of April 2011^[update], six former governors were alive, the oldest being Charles Thone (1979–1983, born 1924). The most recent governor to die was J. James Exon (1971–1979), on June 10, 2005.

Name	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
Norbert T. Tiemann	1967–1971	July 18, 1924 (1924-07-18) (age 87)
Charles Thone	1979–1983	January 4, 1924 (1924-01-04) (age 87)
Bob Kerrey	1983–1987	August 27, 1943 (1943-08-27) (age 68)
Kay A. Orr	1987–1991	January 2, 1939 (1939-01-02) (age 72)
Ben Nelson	1991–1999	May 17, 1941 (1941-05-17) (age 70)
Mike Johanns	1999–2005	June 18, 1950 (1950-06-18) (age 61)

External links

• Nebraska Blue Book (PDF)