I watch some New York City-based TV channels which run ads for the New Jersey Governor's race. Bill Clinton endorsed one of the candidates, and in his speech said that in his 12 years (three 4-year terms) as governor, he worked with 150 other governors. How many governors were there actually in that time period?

my_baby_love

Yes, it is possible that Bill Clinton worked with 150 other governors. Your question however asks for an actuall number of governors in that time period, that is very difficult to answer. Nov 04 05, 7:44 AM

McGruff

I did look but unless someone else has conveniently figured this all out, one would have to check all 49 other states and be very careful of the exact days every governor took and left office. Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1978, but lost in the next election. He won again in 1982 and served 5 consecutive terms until he became president in 1992. This is a total of 6 two-year terms. Although other state governors serve terms of differing lengths, I would think 150 is probably a close estimate. http://anythingarkansas.com/arkapedia/pedia/Bill_Clinton/ Nov 04 05, 11:34 PM

McGruff

As an example of the complexity here, just in checking my home state of Maryland, there are at least two, and possibly four different governors who may have actually served while Clinton was governor of Arkansas. 23 - Marvin Mandel* - Democrat, 1969–1979 24 - Blair Lee III* - Democrat, 1977–1979 25 - Harry R. Hughes - Democrat, 1979–1987 26 - William Donald Schaefer - Democrat, 1987–1995 *Lee served as acting governor from 1977-1979 following the resignation of Mandel in 1977 and the retraction of said resignation in 1979. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_Maryland Nov 04 05, 11:45 PM

daddy1161992

I knew it would be a lot of research, and was hoping someone else would do it.I didn't realize Clinton's state was 2 yr. terms, NY is 4 yrs. I thought all governor terms were 4 yrs. maybe when I feel better I'll give it a go.Considering Clinton's history with the truth, I figured the number was just something that sounded good. Nov 05 05, 3:58 PM