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Governors Who Became President of the United States

In total, 17 U.S. presidents have served as governors before becoming president. Of these 17, six were serving as governor when they ran for president, seven ran for president after their gubernatorial term(s) ended, and four were serving as vice president and assumed office following the sitting president's death. 

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Thomas Jefferson    

  • 3rd President of the United States (1801-1809) 

  • 2nd Governor of Virginia (1779-1781) 

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Martin Van Buren

  • 8th President of the United States (1837 – 1841) 

  • 9th Governor of New York (1829)     
     

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James K. Polk    

  • 11th President of the United States (1845 -1849)

  • 9th Governor of Tennessee (1839 - 1841)
     

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Rutherford B. Hayes    

  • 19th President of the United States (1877-1881)

  • 29th and 32nd Governor of Ohio (1868-1872; 1876-1877) 
     

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William McKinley

  • 25th President of the United States (1897-1901) 

  • 39th Governor of Ohio (1892-1896) 
     

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Woodrow Wilson

  • 28th President of the United States (1913-1921)    

  • 34th Governor of New Jersey (1911-1913)
     

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Franklin Roosevelt    

  • 32nd President of the United States (1933-1945)    

  • 44th Governor of New York (1929-1932)    
     

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Jimmy Carter    

  • 39th President of the United States (1977-1981) 

  • 76th Governor of Georgia (1971-1975) 
     

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George W. Bush

  • 43rd President of the United States (2001-2009)

  • 46th Governor of Texas (1995-2000)

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James Monroe    

  • 5th President of the United States (1817 – 1825)

  • 12th and 16th Governor of Virginia (1799 – 1802; 1811) 
     

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John Tyler    

  • 10th President of the United States (1841 – 1845) 

  • 23rd Governor of Virginia (1825 – 1827) 

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*Elected vice president and assumed the presidency following the death of President William Henry Harrison

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Andrew Johnson

  • 17th President of the United States (1865-1869) 

  • 15th Governor of Tennessee (1853-1857)  

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*Elected vice president and assumed the presidency following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln

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Grover Cleveland    

  • 22nd and 24th President of the United States (1885-1889; 1893-1897) 

  • 28th Governor of New York (1883-1884) 
     

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Theodore Roosevelt

  • 26th President of the United States (1901-1909)

  • 33rd Governor of New York (1899-1900) 

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*Elected vice president and assumed the presidency following the assassination of President William McKinley 

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Calvin Coolidge    

  • 30th President of the United States (1923-1929)

  • 48th Governor of Massachusetts (1919-1921)  

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*Elected vice president and assumed the presidency following the death of President Warren G. Harding

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Ronald Reagan

  • 40th President of the United States (1981-1989)   

  • 33rd Governor of California (1967-1975) 
     

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Bill Clinton    

  • 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001)

  • 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas (1979-1981; 1983-1992)
     

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