Frank Farrar sets the pace

April 2, 2018 is Gov. Frank Farrar’s 89th birthday. Remarkably, 2018 is the 50th anniversary of Farrar’s 1968 election as the 24th Governor of South Dakota. He had been the state’s youngest attorney general, at age 33, and became governor at 39. (Farrar was not the youngest governor, but he was close. I wrote another blog post on that topic.)

Gov. Frank Farrar on the Trail of Governors.

As a consequence, Frank Farrar holds an unusual record: As of his 89th birthday, Farrar has been a “former governor” for more than 47 years, the longest of any former South Dakota governor.

At age 89, Farrar is not yet the longest-lived governor. William H. McMaster and W. J. Bulow both lived to be 91, and Walter Dale Miller died just before his 90th birthday. Farrar will exceed McMaster, Bulow and Miller and set the gubernatorial longevity record on August 8, 2020. (Note: Farrar did in fact achieve this longevity record, as I wrote about here.)

Below is two complete lists of South Dakota governors: One ranked by length of life, and the other ranked by the time spent as “former governor.”

SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNORS, BY LENGTH OF LIFE

An updated version of this list is available here.

#	Governor	Date of birth	Date of death	Length of Life
10	William H. McMaster	May 10, 1877	September 14, 1968	91 yrs, 127 days
12	W. J. Bulow	January 13, 1869	February 26, 1960	91 yrs, 44 days
29	Walter Dale Miller	October 05, 1925	September 28, 2015	89 yrs, 358 days
24	Frank Farrar*	April 02, 1929		89 yrs, 0 days
20	Joe Foss	April 17, 1915	January 01, 2003	87 yrs, 259 days
3	Andrew E. Lee	March 18, 1847	March 19, 1934	87 yrs, 1 day
19	Sigurd Anderson	January 22, 1904	December 21, 1990	86 yrs, 333 days
6	Coe Crawford	January 14, 1858	April 25, 1944	86 yrs, 101 days
26	Harvey Wollman*	May 14, 1935		82 yrs, 323 days
5	Samuel H. Elrod	May 01, 1856	July 13, 1935	79 yrs, 73 days
23	Nils Boe	September 10, 1913	July 30, 1992	78 yrs, 323 days
22	Archie Gubbrud	December 31, 1910	April 26, 1987	76 yrs, 116 days
13	Warren E. Green	March 10, 1869	April 27, 1945	76 yrs, 48 days
17	M. Q. Sharpe	January 11, 1888	January 22, 1962	74 yrs, 11 days
14	Tom Berry	April 23, 1879	October 30, 1951	72 yrs, 190 days
27	William J. Janklow	September 13, 1939	January 12, 2012	72 yrs, 121 days
15	Leslie Jensen	September 15, 1892	December 14, 1964	72 yrs, 90 days
7	Robert S. Vessey	May 16, 1858	October 18, 1929	71 yrs, 155 days
4	Charles N. Herreid	October 20, 1857	July 06, 1928	70 yrs, 259 days
8	Frank M. Byrne	October 23, 1858	December 24, 1927	69 yrs, 62 days
11	Carl Gunderson	June 20, 1864	February 26, 1933	68 yrs, 251 days
9	Peter Norbeck	August 27, 1870	December 20, 1936	66 yrs, 115 days
16	Harlan J. Bushfield	August 06, 1882	September 27, 1948	66 yrs, 52 days
32	Dennis Daugaard*	June 11, 1953		64 yrs, 295 days
31	Mike Rounds*	October 24, 1954		63 yrs, 160 days
18	George T. Mickelson	July 23, 1903	February 28, 1965	61 yrs, 220 days
21	Ralph Herseth	July 02, 1909	January 24, 1969	59 yrs, 206 days
2	Charles H. Sheldon	September 12, 1840	October 20, 1898	58 yrs, 38 days
25	Richard F. Kneip	January 07, 1933	March 09, 1987	54 yrs, 61 days
1	Arthur C. Mellette	June 23, 1842	May 25, 1896	53 yrs, 336 days
28	George S. Mickelson	January 31, 1941	April 19, 1993	52 yrs, 78 days

*Govs. Frank Farrar, Harvey Wollman, Mike Rounds and Dennis Daugaard are still living, and their longevity is calculated as of April 2, 2018.

SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNORS, BY LIFE AFTER LEAVING OFFICE

#	Governor	Left office	Date of death	Life after office
24	Frank Farrar*	January 5 , 1971		47 yrs, 87 days
20	Joe Foss	January 6 , 1959	January 01, 2003	43 yrs, 360 days
10	William H. McMaster	January 6 , 1925	September 14, 1968	43 yrs, 251 days
26	Harvey Wollman*	January 1 , 1979		39 yrs, 91 days
19	Sigurd Anderson	January 4 , 1955	December 21, 1990	35 yrs, 351 days
6	Coe Crawford	January 5 , 1909	April 25, 1944	35 yrs, 110 days
3	Andrew E. Lee	January 8 , 1901	March 19, 1934	33 yrs, 70 days
12	W. J. Bulow	January 6 , 1931	February 26, 1960	29 yrs, 51 days
5	Samuel H. Elrod	January 8 , 1907	July 13, 1935	28 yrs, 186 days
15	Leslie Jensen	January 3 , 1939	December 14, 1964	25 yrs, 345 days
27	William J. Janklow	January 6 , 1987	January 12, 2012	25 yrs, 6 days
23	Nils Boe	January 7 , 1969	July 30, 1992	23 yrs, 204 days
4	Charles N. Herreid	January 3 , 1905	July 06, 1928	23 yrs, 184 days
22	Archie Gubbrud	January 5 , 1965	April 26, 1987	22 yrs, 111 days
29	Walter Dale Miller	January 7 , 1995	September 28, 2015	20 yrs, 264 days
7	Robert S. Vessey	January 7 , 1913	October 18, 1929	16 yrs, 284 days
9	Peter Norbeck	January 4 , 1921	December 20, 1936	15 yrs, 350 days
17	M. Q. Sharpe	January 7 , 1947	January 22, 1962	15 yrs, 15 days
14	Tom Berry	January 5 , 1937	October 30, 1951	14 yrs, 298 days
18	George T. Mickelson	January 2 , 1951	February 28, 1965	14 yrs, 57 days
13	Warren E. Green	January 3 , 1933	April 27, 1945	12 yrs, 114 days
8	Frank M. Byrne	January 2 , 1917	December 24, 1927	10 yrs, 356 days
30	William J. Janklow	January 7 , 2003	January 12, 2012	9 yrs, 5 days
25	Richard F. Kneip	July 24 , 1978	March 09, 1987	8 yrs, 228 days
31	Mike Rounds*	January 8 , 2011		7 yrs, 84 days
21	Ralph Herseth	January 3 , 1961	January 24, 1969	8 yrs, 21 days
11	Carl Gunderson	January 4 , 1927	February 26, 1933	6 yrs, 53 days
16	Harlan J. Bushfield	January 5 , 1943	September 27, 1948	5 yrs, 265 days
1	Arthur C. Mellette	January 3 , 1893	May 25, 1896	3 yrs, 142 days
2	Charles H. Sheldon	January 1 , 1897	October 20, 1898	1 yr, 292 days
28	George S. Mickelson	April 19 , 1993	April 19, 1993	Died in office

*Govs. Frank Farrar, Harvey Wollman and Mike Rounds are still living, and their life after leaving office is calculated as of April 2, 2018.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard has not left office and is therefore not included on this chart. Gov. William J. Janklow is listed twice – once to reflect his lifespan after he first left office in 1987, and again after he left office the second time, in 2003.