Steven Beshear

Steven Beshear is a member of BPC’s Governors’ Council. He served as governor of Kentucky from 2007-2015.

As governor, Beshear successfully guided Kentucky through a historic recession by making the state a leader in job creation. Under his leadership, Kentucky’s unemployment rate dropped from 10.7 to 4.9 percent, and the state set export records four years in a row.

In 2013, Beshear announced the expansion of the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act and launched the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, which served over 500,000 Kentuckians. These actions together reduced the state’s uninsured rate from over 20 percent to just 9 percent.

Prior to becoming governor, Beshear worked as attorney for the firm of Stites & Harbison, ultimately supervising the firm’s Lexington office. He previously served as Kentucky’s lieutenant governor (1983-1987), attorney general (1979-1983) and as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives (1973-79).

Beshear earned his bachelor’s degree with high honors from the University of Kentucky in 1966, where he also served as student body president. He received his law degree from the University of Kentucky in 1968 and served in the U.S. Army Reserve.