Good morning everyone!
Several years ago I ran into an old US history book which
provided some interesting information regarding who held the
senior Executive position in the United States before the
ratification of the US Constitution. In other words, who
preceded George Washington in the capacity as President.
I did some search engine checks earlier this morning to again
find out some names and dates for early US Presidents. Actually,
at the time leading up to the Articles of Confederation, and
after ratification and for a decade thereafter, the position was
called President of Congress. But since the national Congress
was the highest form of the national government at that time,
this office was in fact, the highest office of the land, and for
all intents and purposes, for over a decade, there were several
US Presidents exercising the Executive Role, although greatly
diminished by today's flagrant standards.
It isn't easy to find this information either. Most Search Engine
checks for early US Presidents start with Washington. But here
is the information that I obtained from a website that deals with
some pre-Constitution U.S. history:
The following is a list of those men who were elected President
of Congress while the United States operated under the Articles
of Confederation:
* Samuel Huntington (Mar 2 1781 - Jul 6 1781)
* Thomas McKean (Jul 7 1781 - Nov 4 1781)
* John Hanson (Nov 5 1781 - Nov 3 1782)
* Elias Boudinot (Nov 4 1782 - Nov 2 1783)
* Thomas Mifflin (Nov 3 1783 - Nov 29 1784)
* Richard Henry Lee (Nov 30 1784 - Nov 22 1785)
* John Hancock (Nov 23 1785 - Jun 5 1786)
* Nathaniel Gorham (Jun 6 1786 - Feb 1 1787)
* Arthur St. Clair (Feb 2 1787 - Jan 21 1788)
* Cyrus Griffin (Jan 22 1788 - Apr 30 1789)
Note: Huntington was the President of the Continental Congress
when it recognized the ratification of the Articles and converted
to the Confederation Congress. Huntington resigned due to ill
health, and McKean was selected to replace him. Hanson was the
first person specifically elected to the position after ratification.
Kindest regards,
Frank
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