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U. S. Presidents
The new country was actually formed on March
1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. 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 running the government.
He somehow managed to calm the troops 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. 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. He served in that office
from November 5, 1781 until November 3, 1782.
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. Why don't we
ever hear about the first seven Presidents of the United States? 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.
Source:
Many sites have this information. we used www.marshallhall.org
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