Who was the first President of the United States?

[N9MOQ]

Hint: George Washington took his oath of office as President of the United States on April 30, 1789.

The country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. (The document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777.)

[K1CJS]

Probably one of Dubya's ancestors--and he messed things up so bad that George Washington had to straighten it out. That's why Washington is said to be the first.

[K9STH]

Samuel Huntington was the President of the convention that established the Articles of Confederation and therefore is considered the first President of the United States by many. George Washington was the first President elected under the Constitution.

Glen, K9STH

[kc7jty]

Bill Clinton...NO WAIT, he was the first black president.

[KA8DKT]

Samuel Huntington was the President of the convention that established the Articles of Confederation and therefore is considered the first President of the United States by many. George Washington was the first President elected under the Constitution.

Glen, K9STH
Yes, but Hanson was the first to hold the office for a full one year term and the first to gain and hold the office after the establishment of the Articles of Confederation.

Depending on how you define "First President" either of the three could be considered as well as Tom McKean who also served in the capacity of President of the Second Continental Congress and was, in fact, in the position when the Articles of Confederation were signed. (Henry Laurens was the President of the First Continental Congress, by the way.)

However, Huntington was indeed the first President of the Second Continental Congress to start office after the establishment of the Articles of Confederation.

That said, Hanson was by far the most productive of the Presidents of the Second Continental Congress, having started the U.S. Mint, establisted the first Thanksgiving holiday, and established to predecessor to our modern day State Department among other achievements.

George Washington was, as you noted, the first President of the United States under the Constitution.

-gary

[K8ERV]

It was Washington, I administered the Oath of Office. But I didn't get paid.

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

[kc2orw]

Serves me right for taking so long to post this Gary got it right
Well I saw this one before unfortunately I forget which one was the first President of the Continental Congress.
Well I might not recall the correct answer but I think I am close... I suppose I could have googled it but I was lazy and didn't

[KC2PBJ]

Bill Clinton...NO WAIT, he was the first black president.

True. But he didn't inhale and Monica just took dictation in the Kennedy Hideaway room.

[K8MHZ]

Henry Miller was the first President of the Union.

[K9STH]

If you want to get really "technical", John Hancock was President of the Congress when the Declaration of Independence was signed which in fact established the United States of America as a separate nation.

For extra credit:

What President served the shortest term of office?

How long was his term?

What were the circumstances behind his Presidency?

Glen, K9STH

[K8MHZ]

If you want to get really "technical", John Hancock was President of the Congress when the Declaration of Independence was signed which in fact established the United States of America as a separate nation.

For extra credit:

What President served the shortest term of office?

How long was his term?

What were the circumstances behind his Presidency?

Glen, K9STH

It's not David Rice Atchinson

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/atchison.asp

It was William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison set many presidential records in his short time in office. After giving the longest inauguration speech (105 minutes), Harrison became the first president to die in office (of pneumonia), after serving the shortest term (one month).

[K9STH]

Atchinson was the shortest lived President even though Snopes does not agree!

He served for 24 hours - from noon March 3 to noon March 4, 1849. This was because the term of James K Polk expired at noon on 3 March and Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn in on a Sunday of which 3 March was. Since Polk's Vice President had resigned a few days before and since Taylor's Vice President was not sworn in until after noon on March 4 Atchinson did become President because he was President pro-tempore of the Senate and, as such, under the provisions of the Constitution he offically became the President when Taylor refused to be sworn in.

Reportedly Atchinson signed a couple of minor bills into law in his "official" duties. Atchinson is quoted as saying "I slept most of that Sunday". Enscribed on his tombstone are the words "President of the U.S. one day".

Now I know that the Snopes' position is that Taylor became President without being sworn in. However, there are various constitutional scholars that disagree with this stating the the President has to take the oath of office before he officially becomes President. It is the same thing for the Vice President. Snopes is the "unofficial" authority on things that are not true, but they are occasionally wrong.

As such, many historians do accept Atchinson as having been President for a day. Of course there are those who agree with Snopes. Since that happened almost 160 years ago it really is nothing more than a footnote in history. An interesting footnote, but not of any real importance these days.

Glen, K9STH

[kc7jty]

True. But he didn't inhale and Monica just took dictation in the Kennedy Hideaway room.
dictation!!??

[N9MOQ]

I find it interesting that even though there were 7 presidents before Washington, (or 9, depending on how you look at it) schools teach kids that he was the first, just because he was the first one after the Constitution.

Since Bush is the first president since the Patriot Act, will schools 200 years from now teach kids that Bush was the first president?

Some other interesting trivia...

President Hanson ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the removal of all foreign flags. President 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.

Hanson was the first President to serve a full term after the full ratification of the Articles of Confederation – and like so many of the Southern and New England Founders, he was strongly opposed to the Constitution when it was first discussed.

Six other presidents were elected after him - Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office.

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.

[wz0o]

T.R. and he was the last one too. Liked that big stick thing. Now that man had a set.

[ac4ut]

Washington, and what an easy campaign he had seeing as the town where the president lives had the same last name as he did.
It's all about name recognition,you know.

[WR8D]

He was a Brother.
We're all very proud of this Brother too!

JB WR8D "A hillbilly Brother";)