When Gov. Bob Riley took the oath of office Monday, did he become the 52nd governor of Alabama? Is he the 57th governor? Or could he be the 62nd governor? According to officials with the Alabama Department of Archives and History, all three of those numbers are, for the most part, correct.Debbie Pendleton of ADAH said state historians have often debated over how many governors have led the state.
"Technically," Pendleton said, "Riley is the 57th governor. But he is the 52nd person to hold the office. There have been 51 men and one woman to serve as governor."
Fob James, who served as governor from 1979 to 1983 and again from 1995 to 1999; George Wallace, who served as governor from 1963 to 1967, 1971 to 1979, and from 1983 to 1987; Jim Folsom Sr., who served from 1947 to 1951 and from 1955 to 1959; and Bibb Graves, who served from 1927 to 1931 and again from 1935 to 1939, are all counted multiple times on the list because they did not serve consecutive terms.
"We do it like the presidents are counted, Pendleton said. "Grover Cleveland is counted as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States because his terms were not consecutive."
But Pendleton also said if everyone who has ever assumed the role of governor of Alabama were counted, 62 people would be listed.
Jere Beasley, who was lieutenant governor under Wallace in 1972, assumed the role of governor from June 5 to July 7 of that year because Wallace was in a Maryland hospital recovering from an assassination attempt.
The Alabama Constitution of 1901 states that the lieutenant governor takes over gubernatorial duties if the acting governor is out of the state for more than 20 days.
Charles McDowell served as governor for two days in 1924 when Gov. William W. Brandon spent 21 days in New York City chairing the state delegation to the 1924 Democratic Convention.
William D. Jelks became acting governor when Gov. William Samford sought medical treatment out of state during the initial days of his administration in 1900. Samford returned to office, but died six months later and Jelks officially became the state's governor in 1901.
Jelks also became ill during his term, and Lt. Gov. Russell Cunningham became acting governor in 1904 and served until Jelks returned to office in 1905.
As well, Pendleton said post-Civil War Military Gov. Wager Swain, who was appointed by the federal government during Reconstruction, is not counted as one of the 57 governors.
"So it goes like this," Pendleton said. "There have been 52 people who have served as governor, not counting those who served as acting governor or post-Civil War military governor."
She said since Monday's inauguration ceremony, she has received several calls from people wanting to clarify the number of governors in the state.
"It is a very interesting issue, she said. "And it has kept us pretty busy this week."
