The following is a list of Governors of the State of Arkansas and Arkansas Territory. The Governor of Arkansas is the chief executive of the state, and commander-in-chief of its military forces. To be governor, one must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the United States, and have been a resident of the state for seven years. The governor has the power to veto bills passed by the legislature and to grant pardons in all cases, except for treason and impeachment.
The first state constitution, ratified in 1836, established four-year terms for governors and the requirement that they be residents of the state for ten years.
Until 1925, should the office of governor be rendered empty through death, resignation, removal, or other disability, the president of the state senate would act as governor, until such time as a new governor were elected or the disability removed, or the acting governor's senate term expired. This led to some situations where the governorship changed hands in quick succession, due to senate terms ending or new presidents of the senate being elected. For example, William Kavanaugh Oldham served only six days in 1913 before he was replaced as president of the senate. Should the president of the senate be similarly incapacitated, the next in line for the governorship was the speaker of the state house of representatives.
Amendment 6 to the state constitution, passed in 1914 but not recognized until 1925, created the office of lieutenant governor, to be elected at the same time as governor for the same term. In case of removal of the governor, the lieutenant governor now became acting governor.
The current governor is Mike Beebe, who took office on January 9, 2007.
Arkansas was part of Louisiana Territory, later renamed Missouri Territory, from 1805 to 1819; see List of Governors of Missouri for this period.

Governors of Arkansas Territory
The state of Arkansas was admitted to the union on June 15, 1836.

Governors of Arkansas

Other high offices held
As of August 2007, five former governors were alive, the oldest being Dale Bumpers (1971–1975, born 1925). The most recent governor to die was Sid McMath (1949–1953), on October 4, 2003. The most recently-serving governor to die was Frank D. White (1981–1983), on May 21, 2003.