Inaugurals & Farewells

While inaugurals were used to promote a governor’s agenda, farewell addresses allowed for more reflection, weighing the expectations of inaugurals against the experience of governing. Like the inaugurals, the farewells pertain to a consistent set of topics, providing a unique longitudinal view of how Vermonters defined and executed government responsibilities.

The first inaugural was delivered by Governor Thomas Chittenden on October 14, 1779. Governor Chittenden also provided the first farewell address, following his 1789 defeat. Inaugurals did not become routine until 1797, starting with Governor Isaac Tichenor, while a tradition of farewell addresses was not established until Governor Horace Fairbanks in 1878.

Governor	Inaugural	Farewell
Thomas Chittenden	1779, 1780, 1781-1788, 1790, 1791-1796	1789, 1796
Moses Robinson	1789	1790
Isaac Tichenor	1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1808
Israel Smith	1807
Jonas Galusha	1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819
Martin Chittenden	1813, 1814
Richard Skinner	1820, 1821, 1822
Cornelius Van Ness	1823, 1824, 1825
Ezra Butler	1826, 1827
Samuel Crafts	1828, 1829, 1830
William Palmer	1831, 1832, 1833, 1834
Silas Jenison	1835, 1836, 1837, 1838, 1839, 1840
Charles Paine	1841, 1842
John Mattocks	1843
William Slade	1844, 1845
Horace Eaton	1846, 1847
Carlos Coolidge	1848, 1849
Charles Williams	1850, 1851
Erastus Fairbanks	1852, 1860
John Robinson	1853
Stephen Royce	1854, 1855
Ryland Fletcher	1856, 1857
Hiland Hall	1858, 1859
Frederick Holbrook	1861, 1862
J. Gregory Smith	1863, 1864
Paul Dillingham	1865, 1866
John Page	1867, 1868
Peter Washburn	1869
John Stewart	1870
Julius Converse	1872
Asahel Peck	1874
Horace Fairbanks	1876	1878
Redfield Proctor	1878	1880
Roswell Farnham	1880	1882
John Barstow	1882	1884
Samuel Pingree	1884	1886
Ebenezer Ormsbee	1886	1888
William Dillingham	1888	1890
Carroll Page	1890	1892
Levi Fuller	1892	1894
Urban Woodbury	1894	1896
Josiah Grout	1896	1898
Edward Smith	1898	1900
William Stickney	1900	1902
John McCullough	1902	1904
Charles Bell	1904	1906
Fletcher Proctor	1906	1908
George Prouty	1908	1910
John Mead	1910	1912
Allen Fletcher	1912	1915
Charles Gates	1915	1917
Horace Graham	1917	1919
Percival Clement	1919	1921
James Hartness	1921	1923
Redfield Proctor, II	1923	1925
Franklin Billings	1925	1927
John Weeks	1927, 1929	1931
Stanley Wilson	1931, 1933	1935
Charles Smith	1935	1937
George Aiken	1937, 1939	1941
William Wills	1941, 1943	1945
Mortimer Proctor	1945	1947
Ernest Gibson, Sr.	1947, 1949
Harold Arthur	1950	1951
Lee Emerson	1951, 1953	1955
Joseph Johnson	1955, 1957	1959
Robert Stafford	1959	1961
F. Ray Keyser, Jr.	1961	1963
Philip Hoff	1963, 1965, 1967	1969
Deane Davis	1969, 1971	1973
Thomas Salmon	1973, 1975	1977
Richard Snelling	1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1991	1985
Madeleine Kunin	1985, 1987, 1989	1991
Howard Dean	1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001	2003
James Douglas	2003, 2005, 2007, 2009	2011
Peter Shumlin	2011, 2013, 2015	2017
Philip B. Scott	2017, 2019, 2021