Who were the chief executives of the United States in the thirteen years before George Washington?
Upvote:9
There was no Chief Executive under the Articles Of Confederation because there was no executive. That was one of its major flaws that the US Constitution corrected.
The Presidents of the Continental Congress were "presidents" in name only. They were appointed by Congress to act as a moderator, sort of like a modern Speaker of the House, but with just about no power.
The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to ... appoint one of their members to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of three years;
That's it. That's what the Articles Of Confederation have to say about the President of Congress.
The "president" was an appointed member who presides over Congress. Presiding means they're the Chairman who makes sure Congress goes about their business in an orderly fashion, but with no listed powers they had only the powers Congress decided to grant to the chair.
Upvote:12
George Washington was _not the “first president of the United States”; he was the first president under the Constitution. Before Washington took office in 1789, the United States had sixteen “presidents”—the presidents of the Continental and Confederation Congresses.
Of course, these men did not have the power and prestige of modern presidents; they were elected annually by the Congress to serve as chairman of the sessions of Congress. Nor did the office have the high reputation of the modern presidency. During his term as president in 1785-1786, for example, John Hanc**k didn’t bother to show up for a single session. Another man, who was in poor health, asked a friend’s advice when he was offered the position. The friend replied that he should take it because it was “the Easiest in the Union for an invalid."
The list below gives the names of these presidents and the dates of their election. Some of them (such as John Hanc**k, John Jay, or Richard Henry Lee) are justly famous in their own right. Others are almost unknown, sometimes deservedly so. None of them, however, gained any lasting fame through office, with the possible exception of John Hanc**k, who, as president of Congress in 1776, was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Perry Randolph (September 5, 1774)
Henry Middleton (October 22, 1774)
Peyton Randolph (May 10, 1775)
John Hanc**k (May 14, 1775)
Henry Laurens (November 1, 1777)
John Jay (December 10, 1778)
Samuel Huntington (September 28, 1779)
Thomas McKean (July 10, 1781)
John Hanson (November 5, 1781)
Elias Boudinot (November 4, 1782)
Thomas Mifflin (November 5, 1783)
Richard Henry LeeNovember 30, 1784)
John Hanc**k (November 23, 1785)
Nathaniel Gorham (June 6,01786)
Arthur St. Clair ( February 2, 1787)
Cyrus Griffin (January 22, 1788)
Note, however, that neither the office nor at times the men who filled were held in high esteem.
More post
- 📝 Did the British government oppose racial segregation in South Africa from 1815-1931?
- 📝 What became of the plan to partition Angola?
- 📝 How have changes in taxation affected philanthropy in the US?
- 📝 Why didn't the eunuch faction improve stability in Imperial China?
- 📝 Why did Britain not purchase Alaska when Russia had it up for sale?
- 📝 In Mongolian Conquests, how did they screen the population for engineers?
- 📝 Why didn't Sir John Kerr just call an election?
- 📝 How many illegitimate children did King Henry VIII have?
- 📝 What is the source for this Leonardo Da Vinci quote?
- 📝 Were there any pro-Native American groups during the Indian Wars?
- 📝 What did Russia do in 1848 that could make the Austrians seek "brutal revanche" towards the Russians?
- 📝 Medal of Honor for retreating before an enemy?
- 📝 How did mid-19th century American legislation affect the corporate structure of railroad companies?
- 📝 Was Kandhar/Gandhar renamed Afghanistan?
- 📝 Why did Cleon say this in the Mytilenian Debate?
- 📝 How did the lighthouse at Pharos work?
- 📝 Were there bows employed by tribes living in the desert, and if so, what were they made of?
- 📝 How long to travel from Ireland or England in 1680 to Plymouth in the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
- 📝 Is Oskar Potiorek considered a suspect in the Archduke Ferdinand assassination?
- 📝 How do they prove adultery before video/digital evidence was available?
- 📝 Did any ancient historian consider Tiberius' first year as Emperor to be the first year of his co-regency with Augustus?
- 📝 Was it common in Europe in the modern era that proper names were translated?
- 📝 What's the rationale for shipping coins back to Spain from its colonies?
- 📝 Aside from the Jews, did Hitler have a final solution plan for other ethnicities/races in the Third Reich?
- 📝 During WW2, why did the USA occupy Clipperton Island?
- 📝 When was the term for WW2 first used and was it more popular in, say, US before Europe?
- 📝 Who first precisely measured the length of the year?
- 📝 How many days have elapsed since October 23, 4004 B.C.?
- 📝 How many vehicles were involved in Operation Gothic Serpent (Mogadishu, October 3-4, 1993)?
- 📝 Was murdering a slave illegal in American slavery, and if so, what punishments were given for it?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Who were the chief executives of the United States in the thirteen years before George Washington?
- 📝 Who is the woman in this United States military propaganda image representing?
- 📝 How were interracial relationships between African-Americans and Latinos treated in Southern states before the Loving decision?
- 📝 Before the use of Anno Domini dating (BCE/CE), how were years numbered?
- 📝 Who thought there might be a war between the British Empire and the United States of America in the 1920s?
- 📝 What were the factors that led to stagflation in the United States during the 1970s?
- 📝 Who was the first member of the United States Senate to resign?
- 📝 Who were the Catholic popes before Francis I who used names not of Latin, Greek or Jewish origin?
- 📝 Were there any monarchs of England or the United Kingdom who were not technically first in the line of succession?
- 📝 Who was the real first president of the United states of america?
- 📝 Were any signers of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, or Constitution of the United States Black (also called Negro)?
- 📝 Were there women who were against giving women the right to vote?
- 📝 Why does the United States keep using "old" date representations and imperial system, while being in the minority?
- 📝 Is there any evidence to support the claim that the United States was "suckered into WW1" by Zionists, made by Benjamin Freedman in his 1961 speech?
- 📝 Why didn’t Japan attack the West Coast of the United States during World War II?
- 📝 Has the United States ever had a non-Christian President?
- 📝 Why did the United States not resort to nuclear weapons in Vietnam?
- 📝 Why would silk underwear disqualify you from the United States military draft?
- 📝 Were there any drunk driving laws before the automobile?
- 📝 How was the United States able to produce excellent tanks in 1942?
- 📝 Did the United States have a third atomic bomb to drop on Japan?
- 📝 Why were Albanians the only nation in the Balkans who converted to Islam during the Ottoman occupation?
- 📝 How did gold come to symbolize lower ranks than silver in the United States Air Force?
- 📝 Was slavery in the United States legally limited to blacks?
- 📝 Did Muslim states hire Western European knights as mercenaries before the Crusades?
- 📝 Are there any documented examples of wooden ships which were in active service for 100 years or more? If not, what is the longest?
- 📝 Who were the Huns and/or Xiongnu?
- 📝 Why are the signatures on the United States Declaration of Independence structured as they are?
- 📝 Why did the Japanese expect the United States navy would attack the Home Islands?
- 📝 Why did the United States not invade North Vietnam?
