List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States
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In total, 72 governors of a U.S. state have been born outside the current territory of the United States. Kate Brown of Oregon, born in Spain, is the only current governor to have been born outside the United States. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan (whose terms both ended in January 2011) are the other two most recent foreign-born governors.
Of the fifty states, 30 (or 60 percent) have had at least one governor born outside the United States. 19 states have had multiple governors who were born outside the United States. Georgia has had six foreign-born governors, who all served in office during the 18th century. The other states with the most foreign-born governors are Wisconsin (five), Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oregon (four each). Additionally, from 1905 to 1921 Utah had three consecutive foreign-born governors (John Cutler, William Spry, and Simon Bamberger).
Of the 72 foreign-born governors, 59 were born in Europe and thirteen were born in North America, including the Caribbean. A total of 30 U.S. governors have been born on the present territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (fifteen in England, seven in Scotland, six in Northern Ireland, and two in Wales), with another 2 born on territory of the Republic of Ireland while part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and 2 while part of the pre-union Kingdom of Ireland. Nine governors have been born within the present territory of Canada, seven Germany, five Norway, five Sweden, three France, three Mexico, and one Austria.
Only three foreign-born women have served as U.S. governors – Madeleine Kunin of Vermont, who was born in Switzerland; Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, who was born in Canada; and Kate Brown of Oregon, who was born in Spain.
List[]
Governors who were succeeded by another foreign-born governor are marked with a dagger (†). Governors who were preceded by another foreign-born governor are marked with a section sign (§).
Name | State | Birthplace (current country) |
State or Province | Then the territory of | Term start | Term end |
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John McKinly | Delaware | ![]() |
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February 12, 1777 | September 22, 1777 |
Button Gwinnett† | Georgia | ![]() |
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March 4, 1777 | May 8, 1777 |
John A. Treutlen§[1] | Georgia | ![]() |
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May 8, 1777 | January 10, 1778 |
John Wereat | Georgia | ![]() |
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August 6, 1779 | January 4, 1780 |
William Fleming | Virginia | ![]() |
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June 4, 1781 | June 12, 1781 |
Thomas Burke | North Carolina | ![]() |
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June 26, 1781 | April 22, 1782 |
Edward Telfair | Georgia | ![]() |
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January 9, 1786 | January 9, 1787 |
November 11, 1789 | November 7, 1793 | |||||
Samuel Johnston | North Carolina | ![]() |
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December 20, 1787 | December 17, 1789 |
George Handley | Georgia | ![]() |
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January 7, 1788 | January 7, 1789 |
William Paterson | New Jersey | ![]() |
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October 29, 1790 | March 30, 1793 |
James Jackson | Georgia | ![]() |
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January 12, 1798 | March 3, 1801 |
William Davie | North Carolina | ![]() |
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December 7, 1798 | November 23, 1799 |
Edward Tiffin† | Ohio | ![]() |
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March 3, 1803 | March 4, 1807 |
Thomas Kirker§ | Ohio | ![]() |
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March 4, 1807 | December 12, 1808 |
Pierre Derbigny | Louisiana | ![]() |
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December 15, 1828 | October 6, 1829 |
Arthur MacArthur Sr. | Wisconsin | ![]() |
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March 21, 1856 | March 25, 1856 |
John G. Downey | California | ![]() |
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January 14, 1860 | January 10, 1862 |
Edward Salomon | Wisconsin | ![]() |
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April 19, 1862 | January 4, 1864 |
Michael Hahn | Louisiana | ![]() |
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March 4, 1864 | March 4, 1865 |
Jacob Dolson Cox | Ohio | ![]() |
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January 8, 1866 | January 13, 1868 |
Robert B. Lindsay | Alabama | ![]() |
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November 26, 1870 | November 17, 1872 |
Thomas L. Young | Ohio | ![]() |
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March 2, 1877 | January 14, 1878 |
William E. Smith | Wisconsin | ![]() |
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January 7, 1878 | January 2, 1882 |
George P. Wetmore | Rhode Island | ![]() |
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May 26, 1885 | May 29, 1887 |
Frank Bell | Nevada | ![]() |
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September 21, 1890 | January 5, 1891 |
James E. Boyd | Nebraska | ![]() |
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January 8, 1891 | January 13, 1893 |
Knute Nelson | Minnesota | ![]() |
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January 4, 1893 | January 31, 1895 |
John Peter Altgeld | Illinois | ![]() |
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January 10, 1893 | January 11, 1897 |
Frederic T. Greenhalge | Massachusetts | ![]() |
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January 4, 1894 | March 5, 1896 |
John Edward Jones† | Nevada | ![]() |
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January 7, 1895 | April 10, 1896 |
Roger Allin | North Dakota | ![]() |
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January 10, 1895 | January 6, 1897 |
Reinhold Sadler§ | Nevada | ![]() |
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April 10, 1896 | January 5, 1903 |
John Lind | Minnesota | ![]() |
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January 2, 1899 | January 7, 1901 |
Fred M. Warner | Michigan | ![]() |
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January 1, 1905 | January 2, 1911 |
John Cutler† | Utah | ![]() |
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January 2, 1905 | January 4, 1909 |
Frank R. Gooding | Idaho | ![]() |
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January 2, 1905 | January 4, 1909 |
John McLane | New Hampshire | ![]() |
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January 5, 1905 | January 3, 1907 |
James O. Davidson | Wisconsin | ![]() |
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January 1, 1906 | January 2, 1911 |
William Spry§† | Utah | ![]() |
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January 4, 1909 | January 1, 1917 |
Aram J. Pothier[2] | Rhode Island | ![]() |
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January 5, 1909 | January 5, 1915 |
January 6, 1925 | February 4, 1928 | |||||
Adolph Eberhart | Minnesota | ![]() |
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September 21, 1909 | January 5, 1915 |
Oswald West† | Oregon | ![]() |
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January 11, 1911 | January 12, 1915 |
John K. Tener | Pennsylvania | ![]() |
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January 17, 1911 | January 19, 1915 |
James Withycombe§ | Oregon | ![]() |
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January 12, 1915 | March 3, 1919 |
Moses Alexander† | Idaho | ![]() |
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January 4, 1915 | January 6, 1919 |
Simon Bamberger§[3] | Utah | ![]() |
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January 1, 1917 | January 3, 1921 |
Octaviano Larrazolo | New Mexico | ![]() |
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January 1, 1919 | January 1, 1921 |
D. W. Davis§ | Idaho | ![]() |
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January 6, 1919 | January 1, 1923 |
Ragnvald Nestos | North Dakota | ![]() |
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November 23, 1921 | January 7, 1925 |
Roland H. Hartley | Washington | ![]() |
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January 12, 1925 | January 9, 1933 |
A. W. Norblad | Oregon | ![]() |
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December 21, 1929 | January 12, 1931 |
Frank Henry Cooney | Montana | ![]() |
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March 13, 1933 | December 15, 1935 |
Walter Welford | North Dakota | ![]() |
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February 2, 1935 | January 6, 1937 |
Hjalmar Petersen | Minnesota | ![]() |
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August 22, 1936 | January 4, 1937 |
Julius P. Heil | Wisconsin | ![]() |
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January 2, 1939 | January 4, 1943 |
John Moses | North Dakota | ![]() |
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January 5, 1939 | January 4, 1945 |
Sigurd Anderson | South Dakota | ![]() |
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January 2, 1951 | January 4, 1955 |
Christian Herter | Massachusetts | ![]() |
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January 8, 1953 | January 3, 1957 |
J. Hugo Aronson | Montana | ![]() |
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January 5, 1953 | January 2, 1961 |
Joseph B. Johnson | Vermont | ![]() |
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January 6, 1955 | January 8, 1959 |
John Swainson† | Michigan | ![]() |
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January 1, 1961 | January 1, 1963 |
John N. Dempsey | Connecticut | ![]() |
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January 21, 1961 | January 6, 1971 |
George Romney§ | Michigan | ![]() |
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January 1, 1963 | January 22, 1969 |
Samuel H. Shapiro | Illinois | ![]() |
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May 21, 1968 | January 13, 1969 | |
Raúl Héctor Castro | Arizona | ![]() |
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January 6, 1975 | October 20, 1977 |
John Sununu | New Hampshire | ![]() |
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January 6, 1983 | January 4, 1989 |
Madeleine Kunin | Vermont | ![]() |
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January 10, 1985 | January 10, 1991 |
Stan Stephens | Montana | ![]() |
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January 2, 1989 | January 4, 1993 |
Lowell Weicker | Connecticut | ![]() |
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January 9, 1991 | January 4, 1995 |
Jennifer Granholm | Michigan | ![]() |
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January 1, 2003 | January 1, 2011 |
Arnold Schwarzenegger | California | ![]() |
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November 13, 2003 | January 3, 2011 |
Kate Brown | Oregon | ![]() |
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February 18, 2015 | present |
By birthplace[]
Country | State or Province | No. of governors |
---|---|---|
Austria | Styria | 1 |
Canada | Alberta | 1 |
British Columbia | 1 | |
Colony of New Brunswick | 1 | |
Ontario | 4 | |
Quebec | 2 | |
TOTAL | 9 | |
Cuba | Havana | 1 |
Denmark | Zealand | 1 |
Estonia | 1 | |
France | Hauts-de-France | 1 |
Paris | 2 | |
TOTAL | 3 | |
Germany | 7 | |
Ireland | 4 | |
Mexico | Chihuahua | 2 |
Sonora | 1 | |
TOTAL | 3 | |
Norway | 5 | |
Poland | Province of Posen | 1 |
Spain | Community of Madrid | 1 |
Sweden | 5 | |
Switzerland | Canton of Zürich | 1 |
United Kingdom | England | 15 |
Northern Ireland | 6 | |
Scotland | 7 | |
Wales | 2 | |
TOTAL | 30 |
By state[]
State | No. of governors |
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1 |
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1 |
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2 |
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2 |
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1 |
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6 |
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3 |
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2 |
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2 |
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2 |
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4 |
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4 |
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3 |
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1 |
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3 |
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2 |
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1 |
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1 |
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3 |
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4 |
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4 |
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4 |
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1 |
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2 |
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1 |
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3 |
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2 |
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1 |
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1 |
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5 |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Treutlen was born in what was then Württemberg.
- ^ Pothier was born in what was then the Province of United Canada.
- ^ Bamberger was born in what was then Hesse-Darmstadt.
See also[]
- List of current United States governors
- List of female governors in the United States
- List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States
- List of United States Senators born outside the United States
- Lists of state governors of the United States
- American people by ethnic or national origin