List of Governors of Rhode Island
List of Governors of Rhode Island, 1775–present
Parties Country Democratic Federalist Democratic-Republican Dorr Rebellion No party Whig Law and Order Republican Know Nothing Rhode Island Party Chafee served in prior offices as a Republican, but ran for Governor as an independent.

List of Governors of Rhode Island

Section Title: List of Governors of Rhode Island, 1775–present
Table Section Text: Parties Country Democratic Federalist Democratic-Republican Dorr Rebellion No party Whig Law and Order Republican Know Nothing Rhode Island Party Chafee served in prior offices as a Republican, but ran for Governor as an independent.

#	Governor	Picture	Party	Took office	Left office	Lt. Governor	Notes

1	Nicholas Cooke	-	None	November 7, 1775	May 4, 1778	None	2 years 6 mos.

2	William Greene	None	May 4, 1778	May 3, 1786	None	8 years.

3	John Collins	None	May 3, 1786	May 5, 1790	None	4 years.

4	Arthur Fenner	-	Country Party	May 5, 1790	October 15, 1805	Samuel J. Potter	15 years. Rhode Island ratified the U.S. Constitution on May 29, 1790. Died in office.

5	Henry Smith	Country	October 15, 1805	May 7, 1806	7 months.

6	Isaac Wilbour	-	Country	May 7, 1806	May 6, 1807	Himself	1 year.

7	James Fenner	-	Democratic-Republican	May 6, 1807	May 1, 1811	Constant Taber Simeon Martin Isaac Wilbour	4 years.

8	William Jones	-	Federalist	May 1, 1811	May 7, 1817	Simeon Martin Jeremiah Thurston	6 years.

9	Nehemiah R. Knight	-	Democratic-Republican	May 7, 1817	May 2, 1821	Edward Wilcox	4 years.

10	William C. Gibbs	-	Democratic-Republican	May 2, 1821	May 5, 1824	3 years.

11	James Fenner	-	Democratic-Republican	May 5, 1824	May 4, 1831	Charles Collins	7 years.

12	Lemuel H. Arnold	-	National Republican	May 4, 1831	May 1, 1833	Charles Collins	2 years.

13	John B. Francis	-	Democratic	May 1, 1833	May 2, 1838	Jeffrey Hazard George Engs Jeffrey Hazard Benjamin B. Thurston	5 years.

14	William Sprague III	-	Whig	May 2, 1838	May 2, 1839	Joseph Childs	1 year.

15	Samuel Ward King	-	Rhode Island Party	May 2, 1839	May 2, 1843	Byron Diman	4 years.

16	Thomas Dorr	-	Extralegal Dorr Rebellion	May 1, 1842	January 23, 1843	9 mos.

17	James Fenner	-	Law and Order	May 2, 1843	May 6, 1845	Byron Diman	2 years.

18	Charles Jackson	-	Whig, Liberation Party	May 6, 1845	May 6, 1846	Byron Diman	1 year.

19	Byron Diman	-	Law and Order	May 6, 1846	May 4, 1847	Elisha Harris	1 year.

20	Elisha Harris	-	Whig	May 4, 1847	May 1, 1849	Edward W. Lawton	2 years.

21	Henry B. Anthony	-	Whig	May 1, 1849	May 6, 1851	Thomas Whipple	2 years.

22	Philip Allen	-	Democratic	May 6, 1851	July 20, 1853	William Beach Lawrence Samuel G. Arnold	2 years 2 mos.

23	Francis M. Dimond	-	Democratic	July 20, 1853	May 2, 1854	Francis M. Dimond	10 mos.

24	William W. Hoppin	-	Whig	May 2, 1854	May 26, 1857	John J. Reynolds Anderson C. Rose Nicholas Brown III	3 years.

25	Elisha Dyer	-	Republican	May 26, 1857	May 31, 1859	Thomas G. Turner	2 years.

26	Thomas G. Turner	-	Republican	May 31, 1859	May 29, 1860	Isaac Saunders	1 year.

27	William Sprague IV	-	Republican	May 29, 1860	March 3, 1863	J. Russell Bullock Samuel G. Arnold	2 years 10 mos. Resigned to become a U.S. Senator.

28	William C. Cozzens	-	Democratic	March 3, 1863	May 26, 1863	None.	2 months 23 days. Defeated for election.

29	James Y. Smith	-	Republican	May 26, 1863	May 29, 1866	Seth Padelford Duncan Pell	3 years.

30	Ambrose Everett Burnside	-	Republican	May 29, 1866	May 25, 1869	William Greene Pardon Stevens	3 years.

31	Seth Padelford	-	Republican	May 25, 1869	May 27, 1873	Pardon Stevens Charles Cutler	4 years.

32	Henry Howard	-	Republican	May 27, 1873	May 25, 1875	Charles C. Van Zandt	2 years.

33	Henry Lippitt	-	Republican	May 25, 1875	May 29, 1877	Henry Tillinghast Sisson	2 years.

34	Charles C. Van Zandt	-	Republican	May 29, 1877	May 25, 1880	Albert Howard	3 years.

35	Alfred H. Littlefield	-	Republican	May 25, 1880	May 29, 1883	Henry Fay	3 years.

36	Augustus O. Bourn	-	Republican	May 29, 1883	May 26, 1885	Oscar Rathbun	2 years.

37	George P. Wetmore	-	Republican	May 26, 1885	May 29, 1887	Lucius B. Darling	2 years.

38	John W. Davis	-	Democratic	May 29, 1887	May 29, 1888	Samuel R. Honey	1 year.

39	Royal C. Taft	-	Republican	May 29, 1888	May 28, 1889	Enos Lapham	1 year.

40	Herbert W. Ladd	-	Republican	May 28, 1889	May 27, 1890	Daniel Littlefield	1 year.

41	John W. Davis	-	Democratic	May 27, 1890	May 26, 1891	William T. C. Wardwell	1 year.

42	Herbert W. Ladd	-	Republican	May 26, 1891	May 31, 1892	Henry A. Stearns	1 year.

43	D. Russell Brown	-	Republican	May 31, 1892	May 29, 1895	Melville Bull Edwin Allen	3 years.

44	Charles W. Lippitt	-	Republican	May 29, 1895	May 25, 1897	Edwin Allen	2 years.

45	Elisha Dyer, Jr.	-	Republican	May 25, 1897	May 29, 1900	Aram J. Pothier William Gregory	3 years.

46	William Gregory	-	Republican	May 29, 1900	December 16, 1901	Charles D. Kimball	1 year 7 mos. Died in office.

47	Charles D. Kimball	-	Republican	December 16, 1901	January 3, 1903	vacant George L. Shepley	1 year 18 days.

48	Lucius F. C. Garvin	-	Democratic	January 3, 1903	January 3, 1905	Frederick H. Jackson	2 years.

49	George H. Utter	-	Republican	January 3, 1905	January 1, 1907	Frederick H. Jackson	2 years.

50	James H. Higgins	-	Democratic	January 1, 1907	January 5, 1909	Frederick H. Jackson Ralph Watrous	2 years.

51	Aram J. Pothier	-	Republican	January 5, 1909	January 5, 1915	Arthur W. Dennis Rosewell Burchard Emery J. San Souci Rosewell Burchard	6 years,

52	R. Livingston Beeckman	-	Republican	January 5, 1915	January 4, 1921	Emery J. San Souci	6 years.

53	Emery J. San Souci	-	Republican	January 4, 1921	January 2, 1923	Harold Gross	2 years.

54	William S. Flynn	-	Democratic	January 2, 1923	January 6, 1925	Felix A. Toupin	2 years.

55	Aram J. Pothier	-	Republican	January 6, 1925	February 4, 1928	Nathaniel W. Smith Norman S. Case	3 years 1 month.

56	Norman S. Case	-	Republican	February 4, 1928	January 3, 1933	James G. Connelly	4 years 11 months.

57	Theodore Francis Green	-	Democratic	January 3, 1933	January 5, 1937	Robert E. Quinn	4 years. Elected to U.S. Senate in 1936 and served from 1937 to 1961.

58	Robert E. Quinn	-	Democratic	January 5, 1937	January 3, 1939	Raymond E. Jordan	2 years.

59	William Henry Vanderbilt III	-	Republican	January 3, 1939	January 7, 1941	James O. McManus	Two years. Defeated for re-election.

60	J. Howard McGrath	-	Democratic	January 7, 1941	October 6, 1945	Louis W. Cappelli	4 years 9 months. Resigned to become United States Solicitor General.

61	John Pastore	John O. Pastore.jpeg	Democratic	October 6, 1945	December 19, 1950	John S. McKiernan	5 years two months. Appointed to U.S. Senate and served from 1950 to 1976.

62	John S. McKiernan	-	Democratic	December 19, 1950	January 2, 1951	None	Two weeks.

63	Dennis J. Roberts	-	Democratic	January 2, 1951	January 6, 1959	John S. McKiernan Armand H. Cote	8 years.

64	Christopher Del Sesto	-	Republican	January 6, 1959	January 3, 1961	John A. Notte, Jr.	2 years. Defeated for re-election.

65	John A. Notte, Jr.	-	Democratic	January 3, 1961	January 1, 1963	Edward P. Gallogly	2 years.

66	John Chafee	-	Republican	January 1, 1963	January 7, 1969	Edward P. Gallogly Giovanni Folcarelli Joseph O'Donnell, Jr.	6 years. Defeated for re-election. U.S. Senator 1976 to 1999.

67	Frank Licht	-	Democratic	January 7, 1969	January 2, 1973	J. Joseph Garrahy	4 years.

68	Philip W. Noel	-	Democratic	January 2, 1973	January 4, 1977	J. Joseph Garrahy

69	J. Joseph Garrahy	-	Democratic	January 4, 1977	January 1, 1985	Thomas R. DiLuglio	8 years.

70	Edward D. DiPrete	-	Republican	January 1, 1985	January 1, 1991	Richard A. Licht Roger N. Begin	6 years. Defeated for re-election. Imprisoned for corruption after leaving office.

71	Bruce Sundlun	-	Democratic	January 1, 1991	January 3, 1995	Roger N. Begin Robert Weygand	4 years. Defeated in Democratic primary in 1994.

72	Lincoln Almond	-	Republican	January 3, 1995	January 7, 2003	Robert Weygand Bernard Jackvony Charles J. Fogarty	8 years. First governor to serve a four-year term.

73	Donald Carcieri	-	Republican	January 7, 2003	January 4, 2011	Charles J. Fogarty Elizabeth H. Roberts

74	Lincoln Chafee	-	Independent	January 4, 2011	May 30, 2013	Elizabeth H. Roberts	4 years. Did not seek re-election.

Democratic	May 30, 2013	January 6, 2015	Elizabeth H. Roberts

75	Gina Raimondo	-	Democratic	January 6, 2015	Incumbent	Daniel McKee

Sentence(s)

On October 6, 1945, John Pastore succeeded J. Howard McGrath to the office of Governor of Rhode Island.

final_sentence: On October 6, 1945, John Pastore succeeded J. Howard McGrath to the office of Governor of Rhode Island.