, 1st Governor of
Indiana and seven term
Congressman Governors The first governor of Indiana,
Jonathan Jennings, was elected in August 1816 and assumed office in December of that year. The first capital was in
Corydon, and the first three governors maintained homes and offices there. The capital was moved to Indianapolis in December 1824. Governors originally served three-years terms until the constitution was replaced in 1851. The 1851 constitution extended terms to four years but banned governors from serving consecutive terms. The constitution was amended again in 1972 to allow governors to serve consecutive terms but limited them to two consecutive terms at a time. There have been 51 governors of Indiana. 23
Republicans and 21
Democrats have each held the position. Four have died while in office; seven have resigned. Ten lieutenant governors have succeeded to become governor.
James B. Ray has been the only president of the Senate
pro tempore to assume the office of governor. Jonathan Jennings was the first governor to have an attempted impeachment brought against him in response to his actions as an agent of the federal government during the negotiations of the
Treaty of St. Mary's in 1819, illegal under Indiana's constitution. The evidence of his role was destroyed, and after two months of investigation the proceedings were dropped. The only other time was when the General Assembly attempted to bring impeachment proceedings against Governor
James B. Ray for a similar action in 1826, but the action was also defeated 28–30. Three governors were elected Vice President of the United States, two while in office. ,
Oliver P. Morton Governors first began to assert their own power during the
American Civil War as the General Assembly attempted to remove command of the militia from the governor. With the onset of the
Great Depression in the 1930s, the governors again began to reassert authority. The Executive Reorganization Act was passed, returning the governor to a considerable level of appointment power. New state welfare and regulatory agencies were placed directly under the governor's control, greatly expanding his role in running the state and creating many
patronage positions. A third amendment granted the power to prepare a budget to a State Budgetary Agency, which was run by officials appointed by the governor. The significant authority this gave the governor over the budget was the "greatest transfer of power" to the governor yet, according to historian and professor of political science Linda Gugin. Despite gaining considerable power during the mid-twentieth-century, Indiana's governor remains fairly weak compared to his counterparts in other states. He has no
line-item veto authority, and the
pocket veto was ruled unconstitutional. The legislature can override a veto with a simple majority, as opposed to a
supermajority that is required federally and in most other states. The legislature still exercises final control over the hiring of state employees, but given the large size of the government and the short legislative sessions, they are unable to make any considerable impact other than their continued advocacy for an expanded merit system. The cabinet is still almost entirely independent of the governor, and he has control over only half of the government's agencies, such as the
Indiana State Police and the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Other large agencies, such as the Department of Administration, are under the control of the cabinet.
Veto usage During the state's early history, vetoes were seldom employed by governors primarily because they were seen as only symbolic since the General Assembly could override them with only a simple majority. Since the political parties first became dominant in 1831 and until 2010, thirty-three sessions of the legislature have been divided with different parties controlling the House and Senate. Only five sessions have occurred where the legislature was entirely controlled by the opposition party, while in ninety-eight sessions the governor's party controlled the entire assembly. Governors who had previously been legislators have generally had greater success in achieving their legislative goals while governor. Three speakers of the house have become governor.
Traits Except for James Whitcomb, all of Indiana's governors have been married at the time of their election. Whitcomb married while in office. About half of the governors have been married multiple times, all due to the death of their first wives. Three governors' wives, including Whitcomb's, died while their husbands were in office. Except for Jonathan Jennings,
Thomas R. Marshall and
Eric Holcomb, all of the state governors have also had children. After leaving office, Marshall adopted a young boy. Only twenty of Indiana's governors were native to the state. Seven were born in
Pennsylvania, four born in
Ohio, and four born in
Kentucky. Other governors have come from
Michigan,
Virginia,
New York, and
Vermont. Territorial Governor
William Henry Harrison was appointed to office at age twenty-seven, making him the youngest executive. James B. Ray, elevated at thirty-one and reelected at thirty-two, was the youngest governor to be elected to office.
Evan Bayh, at age thirty-four, is the only other governor under the age of forty to be elected.
James D. Williams, at age sixty-nine, was the oldest governor to be elected and died in office at age seventy-two. The average age of governors at the time of their election is fifty. Thirty-two of Indiana's governors have served in the military. Veteran organizations have served as a gateway for the governorship.
Ira J. Chase served as leader of the
Grand Army of the Republic. Paul V. McNutt,
Ralph F. Gates, and
George N. Craig were leaders of the
American Legion, whose national headquarters is in Indianapolis. Thirty governors have been lawyers by profession, and three have been farmers. Thirty received a college education, with eleven of them having attended
Indiana University. Several governors have gone on to higher office, with nine serving in the
United States Senate, and three serving as
Vice President of the United States. ==Gubernatorial elections==