Among the powers assigned to the governor in the constitution are the ability to grant pardons, veto legislation, and call the legislature into session.

The officeholder is given broad statutory authority to make appointments to the various cabinets and departments of the executive branch, limited somewhat by the adoption of a merit system for state employees in 1960.

Federalists were rare among Kentuckians during the period of the First Party System, and Democratic Republicans won every gubernatorial election in the state until 1828.

[2] Such a case occurred in 1813 when Governor Isaac Shelby, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, was asked to lead a band of Kentucky troops to aid William Henry Harrison at the Battle of the Thames.

[6] The 1891 constitution further required that, with each application for a pardon, the governor file "a statement of the reasons for his decision thereon, which ... shall always be open to public inspection.

[12] Taylor claimed a state of insurrection existed in the capital, but defiant Democrats refused to heed the call to adjourn or to convene in London.

[22] In both cases, the state operated under an executive spending plan drafted by the governor until the legislature could re-convene and pass a budget.

[24] Because the governor is not explicitly authorized by the constitution to conduct many of the functions necessary to administer the state government, the officeholder has had to rely on empowering legislation enacted by the General Assembly.

... All of these commissions extended the influence of the governor into every phase of human life in the commonwealth, well beyond the limitations of executive power envisioned by delegates to the constitutional convention in 1891.

Governor Ruby Laffoon proposed the Administrative Reorganization Act of 1934 to organize these boards and commissions into seventeen executive departments and seven independent agencies.

[26] Laffoon's successor, Happy Chandler, called a special legislative session in 1936 seeking passage of another reorganization act.

[26] This act abolished several commissions and organized those remaining into ten statutory departments: Finance, Revenue, Highways, Health, Welfare, Industrial Relations, Business Regulation, Conservation, Libraries and Archives, and Mines and Minerals.

On January 1, 1973, a plan that Ford had issued in late 1972 took effect, consolidating the departments reporting to him into six program cabinets: Consumer Protection and Regulation, Development, Education and the Arts, Human Resources, Safety and Justice, and Transportation.

[32] Shortly after his election in 2003, Governor Ernie Fletcher undertook the last major reorganization of the executive branch to date, reducing the number of cabinets to nine—Justice and Public Safety, Education and Workforce Development, Environmental and Public Protection, Transportation, Economic Development, Health and Family Services, Finance and Administration, Tourism, Arts and Heritage, and Personnel.

[36] In 2005, Ernie Fletcher and several members of his administration were indicted for violating the merit system in their hiring practices; the charges were later dropped as part of an agreement with the prosecutor, Attorney General Greg Stumbo.

[36] Though given few powers with regard to the legislature, Kentucky governors can exercise a great deal of influence over the General Assembly, often hand-selecting the leadership of both chambers.

[38][39] The trend toward a coequal legislature continued under the administrations of Brown's two immediate successors, Martha Layne Collins and Wallace Wilkinson, neither of whom was considered a strong executive.

[36] The official host of the state when dignitaries visit, the governor frequently delivers addresses at various dedications and ceremonies, and appears on national television with the winner of the annual Kentucky Derby.

[43] This language was possibly aimed at the sitting governor, James Garrard, who was an ordained Baptist minister and had frequently clashed with the legislature.

In practical application he must successfully run the legislative gauntlet during the first hurried ninety days he is in office if he is to adopt a program and have an administration worthy of history's harsh pen.

[52]The idea of removing the gubernatorial term limit was first proposed in the 1850 constitutional convention, but was vigorously opposed by some of the state's best known statesmen of the day, including Archibald Dixon, Garrett Davis, Benjamin Hardin, and Charles A.

[8] Not until 1992 was an amendment to the state constitution passed to help ameliorate the situation by making the governor eligible to succeed himself one time before becoming ineligible for four years.

[56] The secretary of state certified Garrard's election, though Attorney General John Breckinridge questioned the legality of the second vote and Logan formally protested it.

The secretary of state or attorney general would then be required to call the Senate into session to elect a Speaker, who would subsequently become governor.

[74] The amendment also modified the chain of succession again—it is now as follows: If the office devolves upon the attorney general or state auditor, that individual is required to call the Senate into session to elect a president, who would subsequently become governor.

[77] 7 men have resigned the office of governor before the end of their terms—John J. Crittenden, Beriah Magoffin, John W. Stevenson, Augustus O. Stanley, Happy Chandler, Earle C. Clements, and Wendell H. Ford.

6 resigned to accept a higher office: Crittenden was appointed Attorney General of the United States and the other 5 were elected to the U.S. Senate.

Lieutenant Governor Linn Boyd had died in office, and the Speaker of the Senate, John F. Fisk, was not acceptable to Magoffin as a successor.

[80] The governor's salary is set by law, and is equal to $60,000 times the increase in the consumer price index between January 1, 1984, and the beginning of the current calendar year.

The present Governor's Mansion, constructed in 1914 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972,[83] is located at 704 Capitol Avenue in the state capital of Frankfort.