Note: Unless other indicated, Georgia chief executives have carried the title of "governor."

 

Trustee Period

James Edward Oglethorpe, Resident Trustee - 1733-1743 (footnote 1)

William Stephens , President - 1743-1751

Henry Parker , President - 1751-1752

Patrick Graham , President - 1752-1754

 

Royal Period

 

John Reynolds, Royal Governor - 1754-1757

Henry Ellis, Royal Governor - 1757-1760

James Wright, Royal Governor - 1760-1776 (footnote 2)

 

Provisional Period

 

William Ewen, President of Council of Safety - 1775

George Walton, President of Council of Safety - 1776

William Ewen, President of Council of Safety - 1776

 

 

Revolutionary War Period

 

New State Government	Restored Royal Government
Archibald Bulloch, President of Council of Safety - 1776-1777	Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell (Provisional Royal Governor) - 1778-1779
Button Gwinnett, President of Council of Safety - 1777	Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Marcus Prevost (Provisional Royal Governor) - 1779
John Adam Treutlen - 1777-1778	James Wright, Royal Governor - 1779-1782
John Houstoun - 1778-1779
William Glascock, President of Executive Council - 1779
Seth John Cuthbert, President of Supreme Executive Council - 1779
John Wereat, President of Supreme Executive Council - 1779-1780 (footnote 2)
George Walton, elected by irregular assembly - 1779-1780 (footnote 3)
Richard Howley - 1780 (footnote 4)
Humphrey Wells - 1780 (footnote 4)
Stephen Heard, President of Executive Council - 1780 (footnote 5)
Myrick Davies, President of Executive Council - 1780-1781 (footnote 6)
Nathan Brownson - 1781-1782 (footnote 6)

John Martin - 1782-1783

Lyman Hall - 1783-1784

John Houstoun - 1784-1785

Samuel Elbert - 1785-1786

Edward Telfair - 1786-1787

George Mathews - 1787-1788

George Handley - 1788-1789

George Walton - 1789-1790

Edward Telfair - 1790-1793

George Mathews - 1793-1796

Jared Irwin - 1796-1798

James Jackson - 1798-1801

David Emanuel, President of Senate - 1801*

Josiah Tattnall - 1801-1802

John Milledge - 1802-1806

Jared Irwin, President of the Senate - 1806-1809*

David B. Mitchell - 1809-1813

Peter Early - 1813-1815

David B. Mitchell - 1815-1817

William Rabun, President of the Senate - 1817-1819*

Mathew Talbot , President of Senate - 1819*

John Clark - 1819-1823

George M. Troup - 1823-1827

John Forsyth - 1827-1829

George R. Gilmer - 1829-1831

Wilson Lumpkin - 1831-1835

William Schley - 1835-1837

George R. Gilmer - 1837-1839

Charles J. McDonald - 1839-1843

George W. Crawford - 1843-1847

George Towns - 1847-1851

Howell Cobb - 1851-1853

Herscel V. Johnson - 1853-1857

Joseph E. Brown - 1857-1865

James Johnson, Provisional Governor - 1865 (footnote 7)

Charles J. Jenkins - 1865-1868 (footnote 8)

Thomas H. Ruger, Provisional Governor - 1868 (footnote 9)

Rufus B. Bullock, Provisional Governor - 1868

Rufus B. Bullock - 1868-1871 (footnote 10)

Benjamin Conley, President of Senate - 1871-1872 (footnote 10)

James M. Smith - 1872-1877

Alfred H. Colquitt - 1877-1882

Alexander H. Stephens - 1882-1883

James S. Boynton, President of Senate - 1883

Henry D. McDaniel - 1883-1886

John B. Gordon - 1886-1890

William J. Northen - 1890-1894

William Y. Atkinson - 1894-1898

Allen D. Candler - 1898-1902

Joseph M. Terrell - 1902-1907

Hoke Smith - 1907-1909

Joseph M. Brown - 1909-1911

Hoke Smith - 1911 (footnote 11)

John M. Slaton, President of Senate - 1911-1912

Joseph M. Brown - 1912-1913

John M. Slaton - 1913-1915

Nathaniel E. Harris - 1915-1917

Hugh M. Dorsey - 1917-1921

Thomas W. Hardwick - 1921-1923

Clifford M. Walker - 1923-1927

Lamartine G. Hardman - 1927-1931

Richard B. Russell, Jr. - 1931-1933

Eugene Talmadge - 1933-1937

Eurith D. Rivers - 1937-1941

Eugene Talmadge - 1941-1943

Ellis G. Arnall - 1943-1947

Herman E. Talmadge - 1947 (footnote 12)

Melvin E. Thompson - 1947-1948 (footnote 12)

Herman E. Talmadge - 1948-1955

S. Marvin Griffin - 1955-1959

S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. - 1959-1963

Carl E. Sanders - 1963-1967

Lester G. Maddox - 1967-1971

James E. Carter - 1971-1975

George Busbee - 1975-1983

Joe Frank Harris - 1983-1991

Zell Miller- 1991-1999

Roy E. Barnes - 1999 -2003

Sonny Perdue - 2003 - 

* As president of the Senate, became acting governor upon a vacancy in that office.

Italics - governor still living

1. The charter of the Georgia prohibited trustees from holding any formal office in the colony. Though he held no civilian title, James Oglethorpe represented the trustees during his stay in Georgia and served as de facto chief executive.

2. When the revolutionaries took control in 1776, Wright fled from Georgia. he returned in 1779 and continued as royal governor of the British-held part of Georgia until 1782.

3. The patriots were divided into two factions. One elected Wereat and the other elected Walton. They came together on January 4, 1780, and elected Richard Howley.

4. Howley was elected both governor and representative to the Continental Congress. He chose to go to Congress in February.

5. The office of governor was briefly held by George Wells, President of the Executive Council, who was killed in a duel with James Jackson. For two days, he was replaced by Humphrey Wells before Stephen Heard took office.

6. When Stephen Heard moved to North Carolina, he was briefly replaced by Myrick Davies, who was killed. Nathan Brownson was then chosen by the General Assembly.

7. President Andrew Johnson appointed Johnson.

8. When Jenkins refused to pay for the 1867 constitutional convention, he was removed from office by General Meade, the U.S. general in charge of Georgia.

9. General Meade named Ruger to replaced Jenkins as governor.

10. Rather than face impeachment, Bullock resigned. Conley held office until a special election was held.

11. When Smith resigned to serve in the U.S. Senate, Slaton served out his term.

12. Eugene Talmadge won the election but died on December 21, 1946, before taking office. The legislature elected his son, Herman Talmadge, to serve the remainder of the term. Talmadge served from January to March 1947, when the Georgia Supreme Court ruled his election unconstitutional. Lieutentant Governor Melvin Thompson then served as acting governor until a special election could be held. That election, held in September 1948, was won by Herman Talmadge, who took office in November 1948 to serve the two remaining years of his father's term.

© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia.