Presidents, Presidents and More Presidents
(Continental Congress, Congress Assembled, and George Washington)
by Dr. W. David Currie

As school children we are taught that George Washington was the first President of the United States... and, in a sense, he was.  George Washington was the first U.S. President to serve a 4 year term following ratification of the Constitution.  George Washington's Presidency, however, was preceded by seven (some say there were only four) "Presidents of the Continental Congress" and ten (some say there were only eight) "Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled."  I am not a historian, and historians may disagree with me on these numbers, or other details below.

Nearly all who served as President prior to George Washington played leadership roles in events leading up to and including the American Revolution; often risking their lives to rally men and arms, to take up arms, to link communications between local governments and American Revolutionary forces, and all the while developing ideals that would eventually be passed on to future Americans through the Constitution.  These men did not belong to political parties... nor did they necessarily share a perfect vision of what this nation should or would become.  But they were bound together in an absolutely undeniable charge towards liberty, and they worked with Congress and the individual states to lay the foundation for what would become the Constitution.  They subsequently established the offices that would form the American government.  These were great and brave men who believed in freedom and equality.

The Continental Congress was formed as early as 1774 in an attempt to organize opposition to British suppression of the rights of the people of the collective 13 American colonies.  The Continental Congress effectively became rebellious outlaws when, on July 4th of 1776, they revealed Thomas Jefferson's powerful Declaration of Independence during the Presidency of John Hancock (who would later serve again as President of the United States in Congress Assembled).  The Declaration of Independence followed at least 10 years of organized resistance to British rule among the American colonies, fueled by the British massacre of 5 colonists in March of 1770 in the Boston Commons and the death of American Militia (Minute Men) in April, 1775 along Battle Road.  The "Presidents of the Continental Congress" were now empowered to drive the armed American Revolution.

The Presidents of the Continental Congress

The seven Presidents of the Continental Congress were Peyton Randolph (1774), Henry Middleton (President for 4 days in 1775), Peyton Randolph (re-elected in 1775), John Hancock (1775-1777), Henry Laurens (1777-1778), John Jay (1778-1779) and Samuel Huntington (1779-1781).  In 1774, the 28 year old John Jay was the youngest member of the Continental Congress, and he eventually left Congress to express his opposition to the Declaration of Independence.  Jay later returned to Congress and was appointed President, a clear display of unparalleled support for freedom of speech by the Revolutionary Leaders.  In 1780, Henry Laurens was imprisoned in the Tower of London for high treason against the British.  Laurens was later invited to negotiate the Paris Treaty with Britain, but he was too sick to participate.  The task of negotiation fell to John Jay, who had become the U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and his fellow Americans, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.

Sadly, Peyton Randolph, the first President of the Continental Congress, did not live to see the conclusion of the Revolution.  While the British would have preferred that Randolph die at the end of a rope, he apparently died of a stroke in 1775, at his home.  Randolph died much loved by the American militia, and with the knowledge that American independence was inevitable.

As the American Revolution came to a successful close, the Articles of Confederation were drafted and enacted on March 1st, 1781; the Articles of Confederation effectively united the first 13 American colonies into the United States.  The subsequent 10 "Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled" were appointed by Congress under the newly enacted Articles of Confederation.  The Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled organized post-revolutionary America, initiated development of a permanent federal government infrastructure, and worked towards the completion of the Constitution (a lengthy and arduous task).

The Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled

Samuel Huntington was appointed President of the Continental Congress in 1779, when British troops still occupied American soil.  Huntington remained in office until the Articles of Confederation came into effect in March of 1781, effectively marking the birth of the United States, and making Huntington the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled, at least for the next several months.  Huntington later became the Governor of Connecticut.

Thomas McKean served as the second President of the U.S. in Congress Assembled (July-November 1781), but appears to be rarely credited as having done so, possibly because of his short term (at 5 months, his term was considerably longer than Henry Middleton's 4 day foray as President of the Continental Congress).  Thomas McKean was President at the time that hostilities waned and the American Revolution effectively concluded with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis on October 19, 1781 (although the Paris Treaty with Britain would not be signed until September 3, 1783).  A former Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, McKean went on to become Governor of Pennsylvania.

John Hanson (1781-1782) is generally credited with having been the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled, although, in this author's humble opinion, he was not.  Some consider Hanson to have been the first President as he ordered foreign troops to leave America, and it appears that he ordered that flags of foreign nations no longer be flown over American soil, a signal to colonists at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War that they were now Americans, and not simply a collection of immigrants and descendents of immigrants of various nationalities.  John Hanson , whose farm was on the opposite side of the Potomac River from George Washington's farm in Virginia, was the first person to serve a full term, albeit 1 year, as "President of the United States in Congress Assembled."  His accomplishments in office were enormous; he established much of the "machinery" of the federal government, including the U.S. Postal Service.

Elias Boudinot (1782-1783) was a lawyer.  During his term, Congress declared victory over Britain, and disbanded the American Revolutionary Army.  Protests of unpaid war veterans caused Congress to move from Philadelphia to Princeton, New Jersey.  Boudinot was President during the signing of the Paris Treaty with Britain on September 3, 1783, which brought the American Revolution to a formal conclusion.  The treaty was signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay.  Boudinot returned to his law practice but later became Director of the U.S. Mint.  Like Hanson, Boudinot was strongly opposed to slavery, and became a proponent of rights for Native Americans.

Thomas Mifflin (1783-1784) was General George Washington's Aide-de-Camp during the Revolutionary War and was later appointed as the Continental Army's first Quartermaster General.  Mifflin was a front line soldier and he was promoted to brigadier general and later to major-general.  As a leader of the Conway Cabal of 1777, a failed attempt to have General Washington replaced as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army by Horatio Gates, Mifflin may have made his own life temporarily miserable.  He alternately resigned from and temporarily resumed a number of military positions and was threatened with investigations into his conduct as Quartermaster General.  Mifflin's timing is of some historical interest; he was the President who received George Washington's resignation as Commander in 1784.  Mifflin later became the first Governor of Pennsylvania.

Richard Henry Lee (1784 to 1785) was born rebellious.  He was a thorn in the side of the British, actively opposing the British at every opportunity.  When, in 1775, John Adams nominated Colonel George Washington of the Virginia forces for Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, Lee was one of Washington's strongest proponents.  When Congress met in 1776, Lee pushed strongly for a Declaration of Independence.  Lee publicly wrote and spoke against slavery and his ideals were reflected in the words of the Declaration of Independence of 1776... "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."  Among the names which appear on the Declaration of Independence, Lee's name appears alongside that Thomas Jefferson, also of Virginia.  Both men recognized that, from that day forward, equality was a foregone conclusion; although abolition did not gain its final foothold until the Republican Party was formed in 1854 to stop the westward spread of slavery, and Abraham Lincoln, elected as the first Republican President in 1858, brought slavery to an end across the nation.  Oddly enough, Lee's grandson, General Robert E. Lee, would prove to be somewhat of a thorn to Lincoln.

John Hancock (1785-1786) is a name recognized by all Americans.  He was President of the Continental Congress (1775-1777) at the time of signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  Hancock signed the Declaration with a large signature in defiance of British offers of rewards for his capture.  Hancock scoffed at offers to join the British military command.  Hancock was later elected Governor of Massachusetts..  As President of the Continental Congress in 1776, it fell upon John Hancock to inform George Washington that the independence of the states from Britain had been declared (July 4, 1776), officially making it Washington's responsibility to drive the British army  from American soil, as opposed to simply defending citizens from abuses by British soldiers and tax collectors (quite frankly, many colonists were already actively opposing taxation).

Nathaniel Gorham (1786-1787) was a leading member of the Massachusetts' Board of War during the American Revolution.  The Board of War may have been the closest Revolutionary equivalent to the Pentagon.  Nathaniel Gorham was a strong supporter of the Constitution.  Gorham has been alternately described as having a wonderful education or a poor education.  Following a loss of his fortune due to a large land purchase that coincided with uncontrolled inflation of paper money, Gorham probably lost a fortune.  He then either died poor or made another fortune in land deals, once again depending on which reference you choose to believe.

Arthur St. Clair (Sinclair) (1787-1788) was a major general during the Revolution.  Brigadier General St. Clair served alongside General Washington in 1776.  In 1777, General St. Clair was given command of Fort Ticonderoga but was forced to evacuate by the British.  St. Clair was subsequently court-martialed, although he was later re-instated.  St. Clair was President during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which is ironic in that St. Clair appears to have been an opponent of the Constitution; the convention was chaired by future President, George Washington.  St. Clair later became the Northwest Governor, but was removed by President Jefferson as St. Clair opposed statehood for Ohio.  Born into great family wealth, St. Clair died in poverty.

Cyrus Griffin (1788-1789) served as President of the United States in Congress Assembled throughout the ratification procedure of the Constitution.  He was a staunch supporter of adoption of the Constitution who feared for the future of the colonies should the Constitution not be ratified by all 13 States.  It should be remembered that there were detractors fighting against ratification of the Constitution in each and every State.  With final approval of the constitution on March 4th, 1789, the position of President of the United States in Congress Assembled was eliminated, and President Griffin's term came to an end.

George Washington was the first U.S. President elected by the Electoral College Vote and he was the first 4 year term President.  Washington gave his inaugural address at Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City on April 30th of 1789, less than 2 months after ratification of the Constitution.  Washington's inaugural address is every bit as moving to read as the Declaration of Independence written 13 years earlier.  The First Amendment (1791) guarantees freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, and freedom to petition grievances to the government.  For those who would twist the First Amendment to suggest that the Founding Fathers were inclined to distance the United States from God (referred to by Washington as the Supreme Being, the Great Author, the Invisible Hand, and the Benevolent Parent of the Human Race), I humbly include for your edification, the closing statements from the first inaugural address of the First President of the United States, President George Washington (note President Washington's use of the word conspicuous).

"Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication that, since He has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for the security of their union and the advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend." (President George Washington, April 30, 1789).