(erected 1788) Dr. John Wilkins Jr. (November 20, 1789 – December 21, 1790) 1790 Constitution A constitutional convention was called in 1789 and a new state constitution was adopted the following year. The 1790 Constitution did away with the Supreme Executive Council and vested supreme executive power in the office of governor. On December 21, 1790 Thomas Mifflin, the last President of Pennsylvania, took office as the state's first governor. (The title of governor had been used during the Colonial era, although it referred to the appointed representative of the monarch or the Proprietor, rather than to an elected official.) The executive branch of the state government has been headed by a governor since that time. The 1790 Constitution made no provision for a lieutenant governor. Upon the death or resignation of the governor the office would be assumed by the Speaker of the State Senate. (This position no longer exists.) The office of lieutenant governor was created by the 1873 State Constitution and first occupied (by John Latta) in 1875. See also French Directory, a similar joint-executive arrangement during the French First Republic possibly inspired by the Supreme Executive Council References Government of Pennsylvania History of Pennsylvania Governors of Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governors of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania in the American Revolution State executive councils of the United States