George Patterson Nigh (born June 9, 1927) is an American politician and civic leader from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Nigh served as the 17th and the 22nd governor of Oklahoma and as the eighth and tenth lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. He was the first Oklahoma governor to be re-elected and the first to win all 77 counties in the state. Additionally, short term vacancies in the governor's office twice resulted in Nigh assuming gubernatorial duties while serving as lieutenant governor. Following his service as governor, Nigh served on the board of directors of JCPenney and as President of the University of Central Oklahoma and as director and public relations advisor for International Bank of Commerce. Prior to his election to statewide office, he worked as a teacher and legislator. Since the death of John M. Patterson of Alabama in June 2021, Nigh has been the earliest-serving former governor in the United States. Early life and career Nigh was born in McAlester, Oklahoma, and was the son of Wilbur R. and Irene Crockett Nigh. He served in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946 and graduated from East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma in 1951. Nigh had remained a bachelor until after he left public office for the first time. He then met and married Donna Mashburn, who had a young son. The Nighs later had a daughter. Political career From 1951 to 1959, Nigh alternated between service in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and as a teacher in the McAlester public schools. During his tenure in the state legislature, he introduced legislation designating "Oklahoma!" as the state song. Nigh ran for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma in 1958; he finished second in the Democratic primary behind Cowboy Pink Williams with 80,727 votes (18.77%) to Williams' 176,171 votes (40.97%). Nigh defeated Williams in the runoff with 302,050 votes (61.32%) to 190,530 (38.68%). Williams himself had finished second behind incumbent Lieutenant Governor James E. Berry in the 1954 Democratic primary, before besting him in the runoff. In the general election, Nigh beat Republican George B. Sherritt in a landslide by 384,431 votes (76.86%) to 100,068 (20.01%). Nigh served from January 12, 1959 to January 3, 1963. Taking office at age 31, he became the youngest lieutenant governor in the United States. Democratic Governor J. Howard Edmondson did not seek reelection in the 1962 election, so Nigh ran to succeed him.