Copyright © 2008 by Genealogy Trails
The following is list of Governors of the State of Alaska and the territories which preceded it: the Department
of Alaska, District of Alaska, and Alaska Territory.
Nine people have served as governor of the state, though due to
its long history as a U.S. territory, it had over thirty additional civilian and military governors since being
acquired in the Alaska purchase.
Two people have served as state governor twice, William
A. Egan and Walter
J. Hickel, the latter of which had nearly 32 years between his terms.
The four year term of governor begins and ends on the first Monday of December.
The current governor is Republican Sarah Palin, the first woman to serve as governor of Alaska.
Prior to being purchased by the United States, Alaska was Russian territory; see Russian-American Company for the governors of Russian America.
The Department of Alaska was under the jurisdiction of the War Department and administered by U.S. Army officers from 1868 until 1877, when the Army was withdrawn from Alaska. The Treasury Department took control then, with the Collector of Customs becoming the highest ranking federal official in the territory. In 1879, the U.S. Navy was given jurisdiction over the department.
Supposedly, the first American administrator of Alaska was Polish
immigrant WBodzimierz Krzy|anowski.
However, the Anchorage Daily News
was unable to find any conclusive information to support or disprove this claim.
|
Commander |
Took office |
Left office |
Branch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevet Maj. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis | October 18, 1867 | August 31, 1870 | Army |
| Brevet Lt. Col. George K. Brady | September 1, 1870 | September 22, 1870 | Army |
| Major John C. Tidball | September 23, 1870 | September 19, 1871 | Army |
| Major Harvey A. Allen | September 20, 1871 | January 3, 1873 | Army |
| Major Joseph Steward | January 4, 1873 | April 20, 1874 | Army |
| Captain George B. Rodney | April 21, 1874 | August 16, 1874 | Army |
| Captain Joseph B. Campbell | August 17, 1874 | June 14, 1876 | Army |
| Captain John Mendenhall | June 15, 1876 | March 4, 1877 | Army |
| Captain Arthur Morris | March 5, 1877 | June 14, 1877 | Army |
| Montgomery P. Berry | June 14, 1877 | August 13, 1877 | Customs |
| H.C. DeAhna | August 14, 1877 | March 26, 1878 | Customs |
| Mottrom D. Ball | March 27, 1878 | June 13, 1879 | Customs |
| Captain Lester A. Beardslee | June 14, 1879 | September 12, 1880 | Navy |
| Lt. Cmdr. Henry Glass | September 13, 1880 | August 9, 1881 | Navy |
| Cmdr. Edward P. Lull | August 10, 1881 | October 18, 1881 | Navy |
| Cmdr. Henry Glass | October 19, 1881 | March 12, 1882 | Navy |
| Cmdr. Frederick Pearson | March 13, 1882 | October 3, 1882 | Navy |
| Commander Edgar C. Merriman | October 4, 1882 | September 13, 1883 | Navy |
| Commander Joseph B. Coghlan | September 15, 1883 | September 13, 1884 | Navy |
| Commander Albert G. Caldwell | September 14, 1884 | September 15, 1884 | Navy |
| Commander Henry E. Nichols | September 14, 1884 | September 15, 1884 | Navy |
In 1884, the Department of Alaska was redesignated the District
of Alaska, an incorporated but unorganized territory with a civil government.
The governor was appointed by the President.
|
# |
Governor |
Took office |
Left office |
Appointed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Henry Kinkead | July 4, 1884 | May 7, 1885 | Chester A. Arthur |
| 2 | Alfred P. Swineford | May 7, 1885 | April 20, 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| 3 | Lyman Enos Knapp | April 20, 1889 | June 18, 1893 | Benjamin Harrison |
| 4 | James Sheakley | June 18, 1893 | June 23, 1897 | Grover Cleveland |
| 5 | John Green Brady | June 23, 1897 | March 2, 1906 | William McKinley |
| 6 | Wilford Bacon Hoggatt | March 2, 1906 | May 20, 1909 | Theodore Roosevelt |
| 7 | Walter Eli Clark | May 20, 1909 | August 24, 1912 | William Howard Taft |
In 1912, the District of Alaska was organized into Alaska Territory.
|
# |
Governor |
Took office |
Left office |
Appointed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Eli Clark | August 24, 1912 | April 18, 1913 | William Howard Taft |
| 2 | John Franklin Alexander Strong | April 18, 1913 | April 12, 1918 | Woodrow Wilson |
| 3 | Thomas Christmas Riggs, Jr. | April 12, 1918 | June 16, 1921 | Woodrow Wilson |
| 4 | Scott Cordelle Bone | June 16, 1921 | August 16, 1925 | Warren G. Harding |
| 5 | George Alexander Parks | August 16, 1925 | April 19, 1933 | Calvin Coolidge |
| 6 | John Weir Troy | April 19, 1933 | December 6, 1939 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
| 7 | Ernest Gruening | December 6, 1939 | April 10, 1953 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
| Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. | 1941 | 1944 | ||
| 8 | Benjamin Franklin Heintzleman | April 10, 1953 | January 3, 1957 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 9 | Waino Edward Hendrickson | 1957 (acting) | 1957 | |
| 10 | Michael Anthony Stepovich | April 8, 1957 | August 9, 1958 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 11 | Waino Edward Hendrickson | 1958 1959 (acting) | 1959 |
|
# |
Governor |
Took office |
Left office |
Party |
Lieutenant Governor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William A. Egan | January 3, 1959 | December 5, 1966 | Democratic | Hugh Wade |
| 2 | Walter J. Hickel | December 5, 1966 | January 29, 1969 | Republican | Keith Miller |
| 3 | Keith Miller | January 29, 1969 | December 7, 1970 | Republican | Robert W. Ward |
| 4 | William A. Egan | December 7, 1970 | December 2, 1974 | Democratic | H. A. "Red" Boucher |
| 5 | Jay Hammond | December 2, 1974 | December 6, 1982 | Republican | Lowell Thomas, Jr. |
| Terry Miller | |||||
| 6 | Bill Sheffield | December 6, 1982 | December 1, 1986 | Democratic | Stephen McAlpine |
| 7 | Steve Cowper | December 1, 1986 | December 3, 1990 | Democratic | Stephen McAlpine |
| 8 | Walter J. Hickel | December 3, 1990 | December 5, 1994 | Alaskan Independence/ Republican |
Jack Coghill |
| 9 | Tony Knowles | December 5, 1994 | December 2, 2002 | Democratic | Fran Ulmer |
| 10 | Frank Murkowski | December 2, 2002 | December 4, 2006 | Republican | Loren Leman |
| 11 | Sarah Palin | December 4, 2006 | Incumbent | Republican | Sean Parnell |