List of governors of New Hampshire

Number of governors and acting governors of New Hampshire by party affiliation
Party	Governors
Republican	52
Democratic	21
Democratic-Republican	7
Federalist	3
Whig	1
Know Nothing	1
National Republican	1
No Party	2

This is a list of governors of New Hampshire, in the United States. The governor of New Hampshire has a term of two years; the officeholder can seek reelection. The original title was President of New Hampshire. It was changed to "governor" during the term of Josiah Bartlett, though the office itself remained the same.

The longest-serving governor in state history is Federalist John Taylor Gilman, who served as governor for 14 years (albeit nonconsecutive), from 1794 to 1805 and from 1813 to 1816.

List of governors[]

The last of the colonial governors of New Hampshire fled in 1775.

Parties

Democratic Federalist Democratic-Republican National Republican Whig Republican Know Nothing

#	Governor	Took office	Left office	Party	Notes
1	Meshech Weare	June 15, 1776	June 1, 1785	Independent
2	John Langdon	June 1, 1785	June 7, 1786	Independent
3	John Sullivan	June 7, 1786	June 4, 1788	Federalist
(2)	John Langdon	June 4, 1788	January 22, 1789	Democratic-Republican
(3)	John Sullivan	January 22, 1789	June 5, 1790	Federalist	^[1]
4	Josiah Bartlett	June 5, 1790	June 5, 1794	Democratic-Republican	^{[citation needed]}
5	John Taylor Gilman	June 5, 1794	June 6, 1805	Federalist
(2)	John Langdon	June 6, 1805	June 8, 1809	Democratic-Republican
6	Jeremiah Smith	June 8, 1809	June 5, 1810	Federalist
(2)	John Langdon	June 5, 1810	June 5, 1812	Democratic-Republican
7	William Plumer	June 5, 1812	June 3, 1813	Democratic-Republican
(5)	John Taylor Gilman	June 3, 1813	June 6, 1816	Federalist
(7)	William Plumer	June 6, 1816	June 3, 1819	Democratic-Republican
8	Samuel Bell	June 3, 1819	June 5, 1823	Democratic-Republican
9	Levi Woodbury	June 5, 1823	June 3, 1824	Democratic-Republican
10	David L. Morril	June 3, 1824	June 7, 1827	Democratic-Republican
11	Benjamin Pierce	June 7, 1827	June 5, 1828	Democratic-Republican
12	John Bell	June 5, 1828	June 4, 1829	National Republican
(11)	Benjamin Pierce	June 4, 1829	June 3, 1830	Democratic
13	Matthew Harvey	June 3, 1830	February 28, 1831	Democratic	^[2]
—	Joseph M. Harper	February 28, 1831	June 2, 1831	Democratic	^[3]
14	Samuel Dinsmoor	June 2, 1831	June 5, 1834	Democratic
15	William Badger	June 5, 1834	June 2, 1836	Democratic
16	Isaac Hill	June 2, 1836	June 5, 1839	Democratic
17	John Page	June 5, 1839	June 2, 1842	Democratic
18	Henry Hubbard	June 2, 1842	June 6, 1844	Democratic
19	John H. Steele	June 6, 1844	June 4, 1846	Democratic
20	Anthony Colby	June 4, 1846	June 3, 1847	Whig
21	Jared W. Williams	June 3, 1847	June 7, 1849	Democratic
22	Samuel Dinsmoor Jr.	June 7, 1849	June 3, 1852	Democratic
23	Noah Martin	June 3, 1852	June 8, 1854	Democratic
24	Nathaniel B. Baker	June 8, 1854	June 7, 1855	Democratic
25	Ralph Metcalf	June 7, 1855	June 4, 1857	Know Nothing
26	William Haile	June 4, 1857	June 2, 1859	Republican
27	Ichabod Goodwin	June 2, 1859	June 6, 1861	Republican
28	Nathaniel S. Berry	June 6, 1861	June 3, 1863	Republican
29	Joseph A. Gilmore	June 3, 1863	June 8, 1865	Republican
30	Frederick Smyth	June 8, 1865	June 6, 1867	Republican
31	Walter Harriman	June 6, 1867	June 3, 1869	Republican
32	Onslow Stearns	June 3, 1869	June 8, 1871	Republican
33	James A. Weston	June 8, 1871	June 6, 1872	Democratic
34	Ezekiel A. Straw	June 6, 1872	June 3, 1874	Republican
(33)	James A. Weston	June 3, 1874	June 10, 1875	Democratic
35	Person C. Cheney	June 10, 1875	June 7, 1877	Republican
36	Benjamin F. Prescott	June 7, 1877	June 5, 1879	Republican
37	Natt Head	June 5, 1879	June 2, 1881	Republican
38	Charles H. Bell	June 2, 1881	June 7, 1883	Republican
39	Samuel W. Hale	June 7, 1883	June 4, 1885	Republican
40	Moody Currier	June 4, 1885	June 2, 1887	Republican
41	Charles H. Sawyer	June 2, 1887	June 6, 1889	Republican
42	David H. Goodell	June 6, 1889	January 8, 1891	Republican
43	Hiram A. Tuttle	January 8, 1891	January 5, 1893	Republican
44	John Butler Smith	January 5, 1893	January 3, 1895	Republican
45	Charles A. Busiel	January 3, 1895	January 7, 1897	Republican
46	George A. Ramsdell	January 7, 1897	January 5, 1899	Republican
47	Frank W. Rollins	January 5, 1899	January 3, 1901	Republican
48	Chester B. Jordan	January 3, 1901	January 1, 1903	Republican
49	Nahum J. Bachelder	January 1, 1903	January 5, 1905	Republican
50	John McLane	January 5, 1905	January 3, 1907	Republican
51	Charles M. Floyd	January 3, 1907	January 7, 1909	Republican
52	Henry B. Quinby	January 7, 1909	January 5, 1911	Republican
53	Robert P. Bass	January 5, 1911	January 2, 1913	Republican
54	Samuel D. Felker	January 2, 1913	January 1, 1915	Democratic
55	Rolland H. Spaulding	January 1, 1915	January 2, 1917	Republican
56	Henry W. Keyes	January 2, 1917	January 6, 1919	Republican
57	John H. Bartlett	January 6, 1919	January 6, 1921	Republican
58	Albert O. Brown	January 6, 1921	January 4, 1923	Republican
59	Fred H. Brown	January 4, 1923	January 1, 1925	Democratic
60	John Gilbert Winant	January 1, 1925	January 6, 1927	Republican
61	Huntley N. Spaulding	January 6, 1927	January 3, 1929	Republican
62	Charles W. Tobey	January 3, 1929	January 1, 1931	Republican
(60)	John Gilbert Winant	January 1, 1931	January 3, 1935	Republican
63	Styles Bridges	January 3, 1935	January 7, 1937	Republican
64	Francis P. Murphy	January 7, 1937	January 2, 1941	Republican
65	Robert O. Blood	January 2, 1941	January 4, 1945	Republican
66	Charles M. Dale	January 4, 1945	January 6, 1949	Republican
67	Sherman Adams	January 6, 1949	January 1, 1953	Republican
68	Hugh Gregg	January 1, 1953	January 6, 1955	Republican
69	Lane Dwinell	January 6, 1955	January 1, 1959	Republican
70	Wesley Powell	January 1, 1959	January 3, 1963	Republican
71	John W. King	January 3, 1963	January 2, 1969	Democratic
72	Walter R. Peterson Jr.	January 2, 1969	January 4, 1973	Republican
73	Meldrim Thomson Jr.	January 4, 1973	January 4, 1979	Republican
74	Hugh J. Gallen	January 4, 1979	December 29, 1982	Democratic	^[4]
—	Vesta M. Roy	December 29, 1982	January 6, 1983	Republican	^[4]
75	John H. Sununu	January 6, 1983	January 4, 1989	Republican
76	Judd Gregg	January 4, 1989	January 2, 1993	Republican	^[5]^[6]
—	Ralph D. Hough	January 2, 1993	January 7, 1993	Republican	^[5]^[6]
77	Steve Merrill	January 7, 1993	January 9, 1997	Republican
78	Jeanne Shaheen	January 9, 1997	January 9, 2003	Democratic
79	Craig Benson	January 9, 2003	January 6, 2005	Republican
80	John Lynch	January 6, 2005	January 3, 2013	Democratic
81	Maggie Hassan	January 3, 2013	January 2, 2017	Democratic	^[7]
—	Chuck Morse	January 3, 2017	January 5, 2017	Republican	^[7]
82	Chris Sununu	January 5, 2017	Present^[8]	Republican

Succession[]

Notes[]

^ Resigned to take a seat in a federal court.
^ Resigned to take a seat on the United States District Court for New Hampshire.
^ As president of the state senate, acted as governor for unexpired term.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Hugh Gallen fell ill and yielded his powers to the president of the state senate, Vesta Roy; he died on December 29, 1982.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Judd Gregg resigned from the governorship on January 2, 1993 to take seat in the United States Senate; president of the state senate Ralph D. Hough served as acting governor until governor-elect Steve Merrill was sworn in January 7.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Soloman, Dave (December 15, 2016). "Hassan to resign as governor on Jan. 2, ahead of swearing-in as U.S. senator". New Hampshire Union Leader. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Maggie Hassan resigned from the governorship at the end of January 2, 2017, to take a seat in the United States Senate, twelve hours later. President of the state senate Chuck Morse became acting governor and served until January 5, 2017, when Governor-elect Chris Sununu took office.
^ Sununu's third term will expire on January 2023.

Other high offices held[]

This is a table of congressional and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented New Hampshire. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
Governor	Gubernatorial term	House	Senate	Other offices held
John Langdon	1785–1786 1788–1789 1805–1809 1810–1812		S	Delegate to the Continental Congress, twice President pro tempore of the Senate
John Sullivan	1786–1788 1789–1790			Delegate to the Continental Congress
Josiah Bartlett	1790–1794			Delegate to the Continental Congress
John Taylor Gilman	1794–1805 1813–1816			Delegate to the Continental Congress
Jeremiah Smith	1809–1810	H
William Plumer	1812–1813 1816–1819		S
Samuel Bell	1819–1823		S
Levi Woodbury	1823–1824		S	U.S. Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
David L. Morril	1824–1827		S
Matthew Harvey	1830–1831	H		Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire
Joseph M. Harper	1831	H
Samuel Dinsmoor	1831–1834	H
Isaac Hill	1836–1839		S
John Page	1839–1842		S
Henry Hubbard	1842–1844	H	S
Jared W. Williams	1847–1849	H	S
Person Colby Cheney	1875–1877		S
Charles H. Bell	1881–1883		S
Henry W. Keyes	1917–1919		S
Fred H. Brown	1923–1925		S
John Gilbert Winant	1925–1927 1931–1935			Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Charles W. Tobey	1929–1931	H	S
Styles Bridges	1935–1937		S	President pro tempore of the Senate
Sherman Adams	1949–1953	H
Judd Gregg	1989–1993	H	S
Jeanne Shaheen	1997–2003		S
Maggie Hassan	2013–2017		S

Living former governors and acting governors of New Hampshire[]

As of September 2020, there are six former governors and two former acting governors of New Hampshire who are currently living, the oldest governor being John H. Sununu (served 1983–1989, born 1939). The most recent governor of New Hampshire to die was Steve Merrill (served 1993–1997, born 1946), on September 5, 2020.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
John H. Sununu	1983–1989	(1939-07-02) July 2, 1939 (age 82)
Judd Gregg	1989–1993	(1947-02-14) February 14, 1947 (age 74)
Ralph D. Hough	1993 (acting)	(1943-05-21) May 21, 1943 (age 78)
Jeanne Shaheen	1997–2003	(1947-01-28) January 28, 1947 (age 74)
Craig Benson	2003–2005	(1954-10-08) October 8, 1954 (age 66)
John Lynch	2005–2013	(1952-11-25) November 25, 1952 (age 68)
Maggie Hassan	2013–2017	(1958-02-27) February 27, 1958 (age 63)
Chuck Morse	2017 (acting)	(1950-11-16) November 16, 1950 (age 70)

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