List of Governors of Pennsylvania facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Seal of the Governor
Flag of the Governor
Incumbent Tom Wolf since January 20, 2015
Residence	Governor's Residence
Term length	Four years renewable once
Inaugural holder	Thomas Mifflin
Formation	December 21, 1790
Deputy	Michael J. Stack III
Salary	$187,256 (2013)
Website	governor.pa.gov

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the head of the executive branch of Pennsylvania's state government and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.

The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to approve or veto bills passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature and to convene the legislature. The governor may grant pardons except in cases of impeachment, but only when recommended by the Board of Pardons.

There have been seven presidents and 46 governors of Pennsylvania, with two governors serving non-consecutive terms, totaling 55 terms in both offices. The longest term was that of the first governor, Thomas Mifflin, who served three full terms as governor in addition to two years as president. The shortest term belonged to John Bell, who served only 19 days as acting governor after his predecessor resigned. The current governor is Tom Wolf, whose term began on January 20, 2015.

Other high offices held

This is a table of other governorships, congressional and other federal offices, and ranking diplomatic positions in foreign countries held by Pennsylvania governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Pennsylvania except where noted.

† Denotes those offices from which the governor resigned to take the governorship.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held	Source
		House	Senate
Joseph Reed	1778–1781			Delegate to the Continental Congress; elected to the U.S. House but declined his seat.
John Dickinson	1782–1785			President of Delaware, Delegate to the Continental Congress from Delaware, Delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin	1785–1788			Minister to France, Minister to Sweden
Thomas Mifflin	1790–1799			President of the Continental Congress
Thomas McKean	1799–1808			President of Delaware, President of the Continental Congress
Simon Snyder	1808–1817			Some records say he was elected to the U.S. Senate, but some only say state senate. The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress has no record of a U.S. Senate term.
William Findlay	1817–1820		S
Joseph Hiester	1820–1823	H†
George Wolf	1829–1835	H†
William Bigler	1852–1855		S
James Pollock	1855–1858	H
Andrew Gregg Curtin	1861–1867	H		Ambassador to Russia
John W. Geary	1867–1876			Governor of Kansas Territory
William A. Stone	1899–1903	H†
John K. Tener	1911–1915	H†
George Howard Earle III	1935–1939			Ambassador to Austria†
Edward Martin	1943–1947		S
James H. Duff	1947–1951		S
William Scranton	1963–1967	H		Ambassador to the United Nations
Dick Thornburgh	1979–1987			U.S. Attorney General
Tom Ridge	1995–2001	H		U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security

Images for kids

• 

  Five governors since 1995 (left to right): Mark Schweiker, Tom Ridge, Tom Wolf, Tom Corbett and Ed Rendell (January 2015)