Rhode Island

Lincoln Chafee
Governor

Lincoln D. Chafee was inaugurated as Rhode Island’s 58th Governor on January 4, 2011, and is the first Independent elected to the office. 

In his inaugural address, Governor Chafee called for an era of change and opportunity that draws upon Rhode Island’s founding vision as a “civil society??one that provides protection to personal freedoms and differing orientations, a fair safety net for basic human needs, the opportunity to work and create a business, proper stewardship of its natural resources, and a public educational system that effectively challenges students.  He also called for an era of political collaboration and joint responsibility between government and its citizens.

Governor Chafee began his political career in 1985 when he was elected delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention.  He served four years on the Warwick City Council and was Mayor of Warwick from 1992 to 1999.  In November 1999 he was appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy created by the death of his father, Senator John Chafee, and in 2000 was elected to a six-year term.  While in the Senate, Governor Chafee served on the Committee on Environment and Public Works which has jurisdiction over the authorization of federal surface transportation programs, and on the Committee on Foreign Relations.  After leaving the U.S. Senate in 2007, Governor Chafee spent two years as Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies where he focused on foreign policy and also wrote a political memoir about his time in Congress.

Born in 1953 in Warwick, Governor Chafee graduated from Brown University with a degree in Classics.  After receiving his degree, he worked and traveled the United States and Canada for seven years as a blacksmith at harness racetracks.

Governor Chafee and his wife Stephanie have three children, Louisa, Caleb and Thea.