The Maryland State House is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use. Work began on the wooden-domed structure in 1772. The Revolutionary War delayed construction, leaving it partly unfinished when lawmakers ratified the Treaty of Paris there in 1784. Wes Moore, A&S ’01, started calling this storied, colonial-era edifice “the office” last January when he became Maryland’s 63rd governor. Just off his actual office, the Governor’s Reception Room is where he performs ceremonial bill signings and, as it turns out, meets with writers. A business suit can’t hide Moore’s athletic build. Heading over for a hearty handshake, he looks like he’s ready to strap on a helmet and snag long passes on the gridiron—something he did as wide receiver for the Hopkins Blue Jays before graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in international studies. His next position: Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.
This morning he’s already met with a group of schoolchildren, held a Zoom meeting about a development project, and had a security briefing related to the Israel-Hamas War. “And it’s just 11 o’clock,” Moore says with a grin that telegraphs, ‘Yeah, it’s hectic, but I got this.’ Watching over us is a phalanx of framed paintings of previous governors. Moore sweeps an arm toward the likenesses to say he’s nothing like them.
For starters, Moore is the state’s first Black governor. But what’s more, the governorship is his first foray into electoral politics. Moore didn’t climb the greasy political pole up from lesser offices. And unlike some of those immortalized in portraits, he’s not from a dynastic political family. After a childhood lived in Maryland and the Bronx, Moore worked in investment banking and later led the Robin Hood Foundation, one of the nation’s largest poverty-fighting philanthropies. His time in the Army Reserve included a combat tour in Afghanistan as a captain with the 82nd Airborne. Moore’s bestselling 2010 book, The Other Wes Moore, explored inequities, the power of mentorship, and the tenuous nature of opportunity through the life of a like-named young Black man from a similar background who became not a scholar or an Army officer but a convicted murderer with a life sentence.
Moore’s new job includes a new home: Government House just across the street, where Maryland governors have resided since 1870. He moved here from Baltimore with his wife, Dawn Moore, and their two school-aged children. “I have the world’s greatest commute,” he says. A downside to to Annapolis life? It’s home to the Naval Academy, and as a proud Army vet, he’s outnumbered, especially during the famed service academies’ football clash. “Beat Army” signs and banners abound in town. “I am focused on figuring out why they continue to use taxpayer dollars for propaganda,” he says with a laugh before settling in to answer questions about his first year in the state’s big chair.
