Who was the first president before george washington

When I was in high school, I never heard about the presidents before Washington. My teachers took the cut-and-dry, fast-paced approach to the start of America’s great history. The presidents before Washington were never discussed, let alone explained in-depth to me. I grew up thinking that the steps to establishing America’s government and first president were swift (and of course that I knew them all). It was: 1) the Revolutionary War, 2) the Declaration of Independence, 3) the United States Constitution, and 4) President George Washington elected; boom, boom, boom, boom! I knew about the Articles of the Confederation and the Continental Congress, but I just thought the four steps above happened so quickly that there wasn’t a need for a president, until the “kicking the British to the curb” was over.

Now whether you debate that America became a country in 1776, when it declared its independence; in 1781, when The Articles of Confederation were adopted; or in 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed and Britain acknowledged America as an independent nation, you have to admit that from these time periods to the appointment of George Washington, to President of the United States, there was a long stretch of time. George Washington became president in 1789. So who acted as the executive officer while George Washington was engaged in battle with the Redcoats?

Peyton Randolph, Henry Middleton, Henry Laurens, John Jay, Samuel Huntington, Thomas McKean, John Hanson, Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Nathaniel Gorham, Arthur St. Clair, and Cyrus Griffin. These men, in somewhat chronological order (some served non-consecutive terms), all served as “President” in some form or fashion.

From September 5, 1774 – July 1, 1776, Peyton Randolph, Henry Middleton, and John Hancock served as “President of the Continental Congress” for the United Colonies of America. From July 2, 1776 – Feb 28,1781, John Hancock, Henry Laurens, John Jay, and Samuel Hamilton served as “President of the Continental Congress” for the United States of America.

With The Articles of Confederation adopted on March 1, 1781, this is when a lot of people–including myself–really start to see the formation of America and its government. On March 1, 1781, Samuel Hamilton transitioned into president and continued to serve as “President of the United States in Congress Assembled” until he became ill in July, then was replaced by Thomas McKean on July 19, 1781. On November 5, 1781, John Hanson was elected as the third “President of the United States in Congress Assembled,” but was the first president to serve one full term.

There are those that like to nit-pick history and consider John Hanson to be America’s ‘first president.’ (Maybe nit-pick isn’t the right term. I understanding wanting correct history to be made available to the public, but some people take it overboard.) Over the next several years, under The Articles of Confederation, Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Nathaniel Gorham, Arthur St. Clair, and Cyrus Griffin all served as “President of the United States in Congress Assembled,” until 1789, when the United States Constitution was ratified and George Washington was elected as the first “President of the United States.”

All these names I should have known, or at least heard of while in high school. I remember hearing about three of them, but not because they were presidents.

I know what you are thinking, these were just token positions, figureheads. These former “presidents” had no real powers. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t; however, people thought the position was important.

In 1781, when John Hanson was elected “President of the United States in Congress Assembled,” George Washington wrote to him and said,

I congratulate your Excellency on your appointment to fill the most important seat in the Untied States.

In 1804, when Tomas McKean was approached to run as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, he said,

…President of the United States in Congress Assembled in the year of 1781 (a proud year for Americans) equaled any merit or pretensions of mine and cannot now be increased by the office of Vice President.

So clearly the title of these previous presidents were enough that accepting a Vice President position would be beneath it.

Now, if someone stops you on the street and asks you, “Who was the first President of the United States?” I think that you can safely stick with “George Washington.” However, if they do want to nit-pick and try to tell you that it was John Hanson, you can calmly reply:

Oh, I am so sorry. I thought that you said “President on the United States.” I didn’t hear that you said “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.”

Then you can go ahead and show off your knowledge of the presidents before Washington, and even tell said person of the presidents before John Hanson…

Schoolchildren throughout the United States are familiar with George Washington, the first President under the Constitution, ratified in 1788. But they might not know that there were other men who held the title of President, those who presided over the Continental Congress and the Congress of the Confederation. The Hall of Presidents Before Washington, located in the lobby of the Westin hotel in Annapolis, Maryland, helps to tell their stories.

The First Continental Congress met in Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. Peyton Randolph of Virginia was elected President of the Congress. The Presidents of this body and later the Congress under the Articles of Confederation did indeed hold the title of President, though in an altogether different sense from the office of President of the United States today. This is an executive office, not one that presides over a legislative body like Congress.

During the time of the Revolutionary War, the President presided over the Continental Congress. President John Hancock was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence. After the Articles of Confederation were ratified, the President presided over its Congress. President Thomas Mifflin accepted General George Washington’s resignation of his commission. Washington would then later become President of the Constitutional Convention and from there the first President under the Constitution.

The displays in the Hall of Presidents Before Washington tell the stories of these 14 early Presidents, some with documents bearing their signatures from the collection of the brothers George, Sam, and Steve Brown. Also featured are a proclamation of the Treaty of Paris and a sample of currency from each of the 13 colonies. Here one can learn about an often-overlooked period of American history—though you may need to move a luggage cart to see it all.

From the main entrance of the Westin, the Hall of Presidents Before Washington is on the left. One does not need to be a guest of the hotel to visit the Hall.

Pictures John Hanson  Elias Boudinot  Thomas Mifflin Richard Henry Lee John Hancock <no image available> Nathan Gorman Cyrus Griffin

"So what happened? Why don't we hear about the first eight presidents? It's quite simple — The Articles of Confederation didn't work well. The individual states had too much power and nothing could be agreed upon. A new doctrine needed to be written — something we know as the Constitution. And that leads us to the end of our story. George Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today. And the first eight Presidents are forgotten in history" -http://www.constitution.org/hist/first8pres.htm