List of governors of the United States Virgin Islands

The governor of the United States Virgin Islands is the chief executive of the Government of the Virgin Islands whose responsibilities also include making the annual State of the Territory addresses to the Virgin Islands Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that territory public laws are enforced. The position was created through the passage of the Elective Governor Acts of 1968 which took effect in 1970. Melvin Herbert Evans was the first elected governor.

Governor of Virgin Islands
Seal of the U.S. Virgin Islands
Incumbent Albert Bryan since January 7, 2019
Style	Governor (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Type	Head of government
Residence	Government House (Christiansted)
Term length	Four-year term, renewable once
Constituting instrument	Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands Elective Governor Acts of 1968
Formation	1917 (as Naval Governor) 1931 (as Civilian Governor) 1970 (as elected Governor)
First holder	Melvin Herbert Evans
Deputy	Lieutenant Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands

The following is a list of governors of the United States Virgin Islands. For governors of the territory that is now the U.S. Virgin Islands prior to United States administration (while it was ruled by Denmark as the Danish West Indies), see List of governors of the Danish West Indies.

Appointed governors (1917–1970)

Naval governors (1917–1931)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Appointed by
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
–		Captain Edwin Taylor Pollock (1870–1943) Acting	March 31, 1917	April 20, 1917	20 days	Woodrow Wilson
1		Rear Admiral James Harrison Oliver (1857–1928)	April 20, 1917	April 8, 1919	1 year, 353 days	Woodrow Wilson
2		Rear Admiral Joseph Wallace Oman (1864–1941)	April 8, 1919	April 26, 1921	2 years, 18 days	Woodrow Wilson
3		Rear Admiral Sumner Ely Wetmore Kittelle (1867–1950)	April 26, 1921	September 16, 1922	1 year, 143 days	Warren G. Harding
4		Captain Henry Hughes Hough (1871–1943)	September 16, 1922	December 3, 1923	1 year, 78 days	Warren G. Harding
5		Captain Philip Williams (1869–1942)	December 3, 1923	September 11, 1925	1 year, 282 days	Calvin Coolidge
6		Captain Martin Edward Trench (1869–1927)	September 12, 1925	January 6, 1927 †	1 year, 116 days	Calvin Coolidge
7		Captain Waldo A. Evans (1869–1936)	January 19, 1927	March 18, 1931	4 years, 58 days	Calvin Coolidge

Civilian governors (1931–1970)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Appointed by
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Paul Martin Pearson (1871–1938)	March 18, 1931	July 23, 1935	4 years, 127 days		Republican	Herbert Hoover
–		Robert Herrick (1868–1938) Acting	July 23, 1935	August 21, 1935	29 days		Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt
2		Lawrence William Cramer (1897–1978)	August 21, 1935	December 14, 1940	5 years, 115 days		Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt
–		Robert Morss Lovett (1870–1956) Acting	December 14, 1940	February 3, 1941	51 days		Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt
3		Charles Harwood (1880–1950)	February 3, 1941	May 17, 1946	5 years, 103 days		Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt
4		William H. Hastie (1904–1976)	May 17, 1946	October 21, 1949	3 years, 157 days		Democratic	Harry S. Truman
5		Morris Fidanque de Castro (1902–1966)	October 21, 1949	March 4, 1950	134 days		Democratic	Harry S. Truman
			March 4, 1950	April 9, 1954	4 years, 36 days
6		Archibald A. Alexander (1888–1958)	April 9, 1954	August 18, 1955	1 year, 131 days		Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower
–		Charles Kenneth Claunch (1899–1978) Acting	August 18, 1955	October 17, 1955	60 days		Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower
7		Walter A. Gordon (1894–1976)	October 17, 1955	September 25, 1958	2 years, 343 days		Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower
8		John David Merwin (1921–2013)	September 25, 1958	April 5, 1961	2 years, 192 days		Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower
9		Ralph Moses Paiewonsky (1907–1991)	April 5, 1961	February 12, 1969	8 years, 42 days		Democratic	John F. Kennedy
–		Cyril E. King (1921–1978) Acting	February 12, 1969	July 1, 1969	139 days		Independent Citizens Movement	Richard Nixon
10		Melvin Herbert Evans (1917–1984)	July 1, 1969	November 1, 1970	1 year, 123 days		Republican	Richard Nixon

Elected governors (1970–present)

Parties

  Republican (2)   Independent Citizens Movement (1)   Democratic (4)   Independent (2)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Election
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Melvin Herbert Evans (1917–1984)	November 1, 1970	January 6, 1975	4 years, 66 days		Republican	1970
2		Cyril E. King (1921–1978)	January 6, 1975	January 2, 1978	2 years, 361 days		Independent Citizens Movement	1974
3		Juan Francisco Luis (1940–2011)	January 2, 1978	January 5, 1987	9 years, 3 days		Independent Citizens Movement (until 1979)	1978 1982
							Independent (1979 onward)
4		Alexander Anthony Farrelly (1923–2002)	January 5, 1987	January 2, 1995	7 years, 362 days		Democratic	1986 1990
5		Roy Lester Schneider (born 1939)	January 2, 1995	January 4, 1999	4 years, 2 days		Republican[1]	1994
6		Charles Wesley Turnbull (born 1935)	January 4, 1999	January 1, 2007	7 years, 362 days		Democratic	1998 2002
7		John de Jongh (born 1957)	January 1, 2007	January 5, 2015	8 years, 4 days		Democratic	2006 2010
8		Kenneth Mapp (born 1955)	January 5, 2015	January 7, 2019	4 years, 2 days		Independent	2014
9		Albert Bryan (born 1968)	January 7, 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 33 days		Democratic	2018

Succession

Living former governors

As of January 2019, four former governors were alive. The most recent governor to die was John David Merwin (served 1958–1961), on March 17, 2013. The most recently serving governor to die was Alexander Farrelly (served 1987–1995) on September 10, 2002.

Name	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
Roy Lester Schneider	1995–1999	May 13, 1939
Charles Wesley Turnbull	1999–2007	February 5, 1935
John de Jongh	2007–2015	November 13, 1957
Kenneth Mapp	2015–2019	November 2, 1955

References

1. "A Report on the State of the Islands 1997: Chapter 5 Virgin Islands". United States Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs. 1997. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-08-25.

External links

• Office of the Governor
• National Governors Association: Former Virgin Islands Governors