(24) Governor Francis A. Keating, 1994 to 2003

              Office of the GovernorMS 50 (portrait only)Francis Anthony Keating, Republican. Elected November 1994 and re-elected in 1998. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, February 10, 1944, Keating's family moved to Tulsa before he was six months old. He was graduated from Cascia Hall High School in 1962, received a B.A. in history from Georgetwon University in 1966 and earned a J.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in Tulsa. From 1972 to 1974, he served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and from 1974 to 1981, he served in the Oklahoma Senate and was unanimously elected Republican leader of the Senate. From 1981 to 1986, Keating was the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma and was national chair of the United States Attorneys. He served in both the Reagan and Bush administrations: as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury (1988-1989), where he presided over the U.S. prison system, U.S. Marshals, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and all 94 U.S. Attorneys; and as Acting Deputy Secretary and General Counsel of Housing and Urban Development (1990-1993). Please note: Only the records of Governor's Keating's first term are available until processing is completed on the records of his second term.The Governor of Oklahoma is the chief executive officer of the state and is elected for a four year term. Principal powers and responsibilities are outlined by the state constitution and by statute and include certain appointive powers, the veto or approval of bills passed by the Legislature, the granting of pardons and paroles, the summoning of special sessions of the legislature, and the calling out of the militia. Moreover, the Governor is directly responsible for the preparation of the state budget, serves as an ex officio member of several boards and commissions, receives reports from various state officers and agencies, and is charged with the duty of seeing that all laws are faithfully executed in the state.