Oldest and Youngest SD Governors

The oldest new governor, Walter Dale Miller, was 67 when he succeeded to office upon the death of Gov. George S. Mickelson. Miller is also the oldest governor at any point in a term, as he was 69 years old when he left office in 1995.

The oldest newly-elected governor was Warren E. Green, who was 61 when he took office in 1931. The three oldest newly-elected governors – Carl Gunderson, William J. Bulow, and Green, served in a row from 1925 to 1933, and since that time, the oldest newly-elected governor was Dennis Daugaard, who took office at age 57.

Likewise, three of the four youngest newly-elected governors – Frank Farrar, Richard F. Kneip, and William J. Janklow – were elected consecutively in the 1960s and 1970s. Kneip was the youngest governor, taking office at age 37. Farrar, Janklow, and Joe Foss were each 39 years old.

The average age for a new governor is 50 years, 41 days. Closest to the average age was Archie Gubbrud. Twenty-five of the thirty-four governors have taken office in their forties or fifties.

Below is a list of governors, ranked by age upon taking office, from oldest to youngest:

#	GOVERNOR	BORN	SERVED	AGE AT OATH	AGE AT DEPARTURE
29	Walter Dale Miller	1925	1993-1995	67 years, 196 days	69 years, 94 days
34	Larry R. Rhoden	1959	2025-	65 years, 354 days
13	Warren E. Green	1869	1931-1933	61 years, 302 days	63 years, 299 days
11	Carl Gunderson	1864	1925-1927	60 years, 200 days	62 years, 198 days
12	William J. Bulow	1869	1927-1931	57 years, 356 days	61 years, 358 days
32	Dennis Daugaard	1953	2011-2019	57 years, 211 days	65 years, 208 days
16	Harlan J. Bushfield	1882	1939-1943	56 years, 150 days	60 years, 152 days
30	William J. Janklow	1939	1995-2003	55 years, 116 days	63 years, 116 days
17	M. Q. Sharpe	1888	1943-1947	54 years, 359 days	58 years, 361 days
8	Frank M. Byrne	1858	1913-1917	54 years, 76 days	58 years, 71 days
14	Tom Berry	1879	1933-1937	53 years, 255 days	57 years, 257 days
2	Charles H. Sheldon	1840	1893-1897	52 years, 113 days	56 years, 111 days
23	Nils Boe	1913	1965-1969	51 years, 117 days	55 years, 119 days
7	Robert S. Vessey	1858	1909-1913	50 years, 234 days	54 years, 236 days
22	Archie Gubbrud	1910	1961-1965	50 years, 3 days	54 years, 5 days
3	Andrew E. Lee	1847	1897-1901	49 years, 289 days	53 years, 296 days
21	Ralph E. Herseth	1909	1959-1961	49 years, 188 days	51 years, 185 days
6	Coe Crawford	1858	1907-1909	48 years, 359 days	50 years, 356 days
5	Samuel H. Elrod	1856	1905-1907	48 years, 247 days	50 years, 252 days
31	Mike Rounds	1954	2003-2011	48 years, 75 days	56 years, 76 days
1	Arthur C. Mellette	1842	1889-1893	47 years, 132 days	50 years, 194 days
33	Kristi Noem	1971	2019-2025	47 years, 36 days	53 years, 56 days
19	Sigurd Anderson	1904	1951-1955	46 years, 345 days	50 years, 347 days
9	Peter Norbeck	1870	1917-1921	46 years, 128 days	50 years, 130 days
28	George S. Mickelson	1941	1987-1993	45 years, 340 days	52 years, 78 days
15	Leslie Jensen	1892	1937-1939	44 years, 112 days	46 years, 110 days
10	William H. McMaster	1877	1921-1925	43 years, 239 days	47 years, 241 days
18	George T. Mickelson	1903	1947-1951	43 years, 168 days	47 years, 163 days
4	Charles N. Herreid	1857	1901-1905	43 years, 80 days	47 years, 75 days
26	Harvey Wollman	1935	1978-1979	43 years, 71 days	43 years, 232 days
24	Frank Farrar	1929	1969-1971	39 years, 280 days	41 years, 278 days
20	Joe Foss	1915	1955-1959	39 years, 262 days	43 years, 264 days
27	William J. Janklow	1939	1979-1987	39 years, 110 days	47 years, 115 days
25	Richard F. Kneip	1933	1971-1978	37 years, 363 days	45 years, 198 days

The “Age at Oath” column calculates the age at which each governor first took office; It does not include second or third consecutive terms.  William J. Janklow is listed twice – once when he took office in 1979, and again when he returned to office in 1995.

The “Age at Departure” column calculates the age at which each governor left office, again including two listings for Janklow. Kristi Noem’s departure age is not calculated as she is still in office.