Augustus Everett Willson was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on 4th January, 1856. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected governor of Kentucky in 1907.

In 1909 Willson controversially pardoned the former governor of Kentucky, William Sylvester Taylor, the former Secretary of State, Caleb Powers, and four other members of the Republican Party who had been found guilty of being involved in the murder of William Goebel, the Democratic Party governor of Kentucky.

Augustus Everett Willson, who retired as governor in 1911, died in Louisville, Kentucky on 13th October, 1931.