Was John Hanson the first President of the United States of America?

Question

Was John Hanson the first President of the United States of America? I am not retarded, I know that George Washington was the first President, but I read on several websites that John Hanson was noted as the first President. So I just wanted to know if it was true or not.

Answer 1

He was the first "President of Congress" to serve under the Articles of Confederation.  But the Articles were scrapped in favor of the Constitution, and the Constitution set the rules for the people to elect the president.

Some call Hanson the first President of the U.S., but he was not elected by the people the way Washington was.  He was elected by Congressmen, who represented their states' people, so it's a little open to interpretation.

President of Congress was the highest title at the time, but technically it's not the same as President of the United States, as per the terms of the Constitution.  He served a one-year term, and used the title "President of the United States in Congress Assembled".

The truth is, there was NO executive branch of the government at that time.  His job most closely resembled today's Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Answer 2

The "new country" that eventually became the USA was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation, and John Hanson was indeed President of that country.  Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) all held that office BEFORE Mr. Washington....

Answer 3

Other answerers have said it well. Under no interpretation can you say that John Hanson was the first president of the United States. He was president of one branch, albeit, essentially but not totally, the only branch, of our first try as a nation.

But even more so, there was no executive branch, as other answerers have mentioned, for whom somone could be president. Neither the government branch nor the office existed.  This is a no-brainer. The counter theory is ca-ca.

Saying that Hanson or anyone else other than Washington was the first president of the United States is like saying that a mayor of a town is also the top officer of the county in which the town is situtated. It's a ridiculous statement.

The only thing to add is that at least one answerer said that George Washington was elected president by the people. Not so; that would take an amendment to the Constitution, years later. In any event, everyone knew that Washington was going to be our first president; there was no one even close in second place. Sort of like LBJ v. Goldwater in 1964 or Nixon v. McGovern in 1972, factoring in 150 to 200 years difference.

Answer 4

John Hanson became "president" in 1781 -- nine years before Washington -- under the Articles of Confederation, which was America's "constitution" before it had a Constitution. The other seven guys followed Hanson, roughly one a year, until the Founding Fathers dumped the dysfunctional Articles and wrote the Constitution to replace it. Washington was the first president under the new system. Generations of Americans have accorded him #1 status because his presidency is, structurally, the same kind of presidency that we still have today.

Answer 5

He was president of the articles of the confederation, but after that failed a few years later and they drafted the constitution, gerorge Washington was credited as the first president

Answer 6

John Hanson was the first president under the Articles of Confederation, George Washington was the first president under the Constitution. Nobody really remembers the names of the guys who were "President of the United States in Congress Assembled"--the Articles of Confederation had no executive branch--the President was more like what we would call today a Prime Minister and was the president of congress.

Answer 7

This answer has some qualifications. If by "president" you mean under the Constitution, Washington was the first. If by "president" you mean "President of the Congress," under the Articles of Confederation, then there are several. Cyrus Griffin was the last "President of Congress" before the Constitution took effect and Washington was elected.If you want to be technical, John Hanson was our "first" president.

Under Article 9 of the Articles of Confederation, a committee conducted the nation's business when Congress wasn't in session. The "Committee of the States" elected a President of Congress." The person served a one year term. However, this office had none of the power Washington held as President. Mainly the person monitored the committee's debates.

To quote the listed website:

"The following is a list of those men who were elected President of Congress while the United States operated under the Articles:

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)

Nathan Gorman (Jun 6 1786 - Feb 1 1787)

Arthur St. Clair (Feb 2 1787 - Jan 21 1788)

Cyrus Griffin (Jan 22 1788 - Apr 30 1789) "

http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_a...

As was said earlier, to get an answer to the question you have to made some qualifications. When asking the question, most people are not aware the Articles of Confederation provided for a position as "president." This position was unlike the position of President provided for under the Constitution. The names were similar and that was about the only thing they shared.

Answer 8

No whoever said that is retarted.