List of governors of New Hampshire

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.

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

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

#	Image	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
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

1. Resigned to take a seat in a federal court.
2. Resigned to take a seat on the United States District Court for New Hampshire.
3. As president of the state senate, acted as governor for unexpired term.
4. Hugh Gallen fell ill and yielded his powers to the president of the state senate, Vesta Roy; he died on December 29, 1982.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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
		House	Senate
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	July 2, 1939
Judd Gregg	1989–1993	February 14, 1947
Ralph D. Hough	1993 (acting)	May 21, 1943
Jeanne Shaheen	1997–2003	January 28, 1947
Craig Benson	2003–2005	October 8, 1954
John Lynch	2005–2013	November 25, 1952
Maggie Hassan	2013–2017	February 27, 1958
Chuck Morse	2017 (acting)	November 16, 1950

See also

• List of colonial governors of New Hampshire
• New Hampshire
• Province of New Hampshire