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Who Was The First President?
For all you history buffs out there. As they say, you learn something new every day.
Who Was The First President? Very Interesting read!
Who Was The First President? I'm sure that George Washington was
your best guess. After all, no one else comes to mind. But think back to
your history books - The United States declared its independence in 1776,
yet Washington did not take office until April 30,1789.
So who was running the country during these initial years of
this young country? It was the first eight U. S. Presidents. In fact, the
first President of the United States was one John Hanson. ( check John
Hanson on Google.)
http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the
adoption of The Articles of Confederation. This document was actually
proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November
15, 1777.
Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New
York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would
gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land).
Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to
run the Country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which
included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates
refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the revolution and
an extremely influential member of Congress.
As the first President, Hanson had quite the shoes to fill. No
one had ever been President and the role was poorly defined. His actions in
office would set precedent for all future Presidents. He took office just as
the Revolutionary War ended. Almost immediately, the troops demanded to be
paid. As would be expected after any long war, there were no
funds to meet the salaries. As a result, the soldiers threatened
to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the throne as a
monarch.
All the members of Congress ran for their lives, leaving Hanson
as the only guy left running the government. He somehow managed to calm the
troops down and hold the country together. If he had failed, the government
would have fallen almost immediately and everyone would have been bowing to
King Washington.
Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off American
soil, as well as the removal of all foreign flags. This was quite the feat,
considering the fact that so many European countries had a stake in the
United States since the days following Columbus.
Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which
all Presidents have since been required to use on all official documents.
President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first
Secretary of! War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department. Lastly, he
declared that the fourth Thursday of every November was to be Thanksgiving
Day, which is still true today.
The Articles of Confederation only allowed a President to serve
a one year term during any three year period, so Hanson actually
accomplished quite a bit in such little time.
Seven other presidents were elected after him:
Elias Boudinot (1782-83),
Thomas Mifflin (1783-84),
Richard Henry Lee (1784-85),
John Hancock (1785-86),
Nathan Gorman (1786-87),
Arthur St. Clair (1787-88), and
Cyrus Griffin (1788-89)
All prior to Washington taking office. 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.
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