| Patrick Henry, Governor | 1776-1779 |
| Thomas Jefferson, Governor | 1779-1781 |
| William Fleming, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | June 4-June 12, 1781 |
| Thomas Nelson, Jr., Governor | June-Nov. 1781 |
| David Jameson, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | Nov. 22-30, 1781 |
| Benjamin Harrison, Governor | 1781-1784 |
| Patrick Henry, Governor | 1784-1786 |
| Edmund Randolph, Governor | 1786-1788 |
| Beverley Randolph, Governor | 1788-1791 |
| Henry Lee, Governor | 1791-1794 |
| Robert Brooke, Governor | 1794-1796 |
| James Wood, Governor | 1796-1799 |
| Hardin Burnley, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | Dec. 7-11, 1799 |
| John Pendleton, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | Dec.11-19, 1799 |
| James Monroe, Governor | 1799-1802 |
| John Page, Governor | 1802-1805 |
| William H. Cabell, Governor | 1805-1808 |
| John Tyler, Sr., Governor | 1808-1811 |
| George William Smith, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | Jan. 15-19, 1811 |
| James Monroe, Governor | Jan. 19-April 3, 1811 |
| George William Smith, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | April 3-Dec. 6, 1811 |
| George William Smith, Governor | Dec. 6-26, 1811 |
| Peyton Randolph, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | Dec. 27, 1811-Jan. 4, 1812 |
| James Barbour, Governor | 1812-1814 |
| Wilson Cary Nicholas, Governor | 1814-1816 |
| James P. Preston, Governor | 1816-1819 |
| Thomas Mann Randolph, Governor | 1819-1822 |
| James Pleasants, Governor | 1822-1825 |
| John Tyler, Jr., Governor | 1825-1827 |
| William B. Giles, Governor | 1827-1830 |
| John Floyd, Governor | 1830-1834 |
| Littleton Waller Tazewell, Governor | 1834-1836 |
| Wyndham Robertson, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | March 1836-March 1837 |
| David Campbell, Governor | 1837-1840 |
| Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor | 1840-1841 |
| John Mercer Patton, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | March 20-31, 1841 |
| John Rutherford, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | March 1841-March 1842 |
| John M. Gregory, member of the Council of State acting as Governor | March 1842-Jan. 1843 |
| James McDowell, Governor | 1843-1846 |
| William Smith, Governor | 1846-1849 |
| John Buchanan Floyd, Governor | 1849-1852 |
| Joseph Johnson, Governor | 1852-1856 |
| Henry Alexander Wise, Governor | 1856-1860 |
| John Letcher, Governor | 1860-1864 |
| William Smith, Governor | 1864-1865 |
| Francis Harrison Pierpont, Provisional Governor | May 1865-April 1868 |
| Henry H. Wells, Provisional Governor | April 1868-Sept. 1869 |
| Gilber C. Walker, Provisional Governor | Sept. 1869-Dec. 1869 |
| Gilbert C. Walker, Governor | 1870-1874 |
| James Lawson Kemper, Governor | 1874-1878 |
| Frederick W. M. Holliday, Governor | 1878-1882 |
| William E. Cameron, Governor | 1882-1886 |
| Fitzhugh Lee, Governor | 1886-1890 |
| Philip W. McKinney, Governor | 1890-1894 |
| Charles T. O'Ferrall, Governor | 1894-1898 |
| James Hoge Tyler, Governor | 1898-1902 |
| Andrew Jackson Montague, Governor | 1902-1906 |
| Claude A. Swanson, Governor | 1906-1910 |
| William Hodges Mann, Governor | 1910-1914 |
| Henry Carter Stuart, Governor | 1914-1918 |
| Westmoreland Davis, Governor | 1918-1922 |
| E. Lee Trinkle, Governor | 1922-1926 |
| Harry F. Byrd, Governor | 1926-1930 |
| John Garland Pollard, Governor | 1930-1934 |
| George C. Peery, Governor | 1934-1938 |
| James H. Price, Governor | 1938-1942 |
| Colgate W. Darden, Jr., Governor | 1942-1946 |
| William M. Tuck, Governor | 1946-1950 |
| John Stewart Battle, Governor | 1950-1954 |
| Thomas B. Stanley, Governor | 1954-1958 |
| J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., Governor | 1958-1962 |
| Albertis S. Harrison, Jr., Governor | 1962-1966 |
| Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Governor | 1966-1970 |
| A. Linwood Holton, Governor | 1970-1974 |
| Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Governor | 1974-1978 |
| John N. Dalton, Governor | 1978-1982 |
| Charles S. Robb, Governor | 1982-1986 |
| Gerald L. Baliles, Governor | 1986-1990 |
| Lawrence Douglas Wilder, Governor | 1990-1994 |
| George Allen, Governor | 1994-1998 |