United States Postmaster General

Information about United States Postmaster General

The United States Postmaster General is the executive head of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first Postmaster General, serving slightly longer than 15 months.

Until 1971, the Postmaster General was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office" until the 1820s).^[1] From 1829, he was a member of the President's Cabinet and the postmaster was last in the presidential line of succession. The Cabinet post of Postmaster General was often given to a new President's campaign manager or other key political supporter, and was considered something of a sinecure. The Postmaster General was in charge of the party in power's patronage, and was a powerful position which held much influence within the party. Former Postmaster General James Farley used the patronage position of the Postmaster General most effectively during Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal administration, in by which he saw that Roosevelt's first 100 days of legislation were passed by party loyalists within the United States Congress, and that they were rewarded with Federal Patronage for their states. Federal appointments, except for a small handful, were screened by Farley before the President could approve the appointments due to the patronage position of the Postmaster General.

In 1971, the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, a special agency independent of the executive branch. Thus, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the Cabinet and is no longer in line to be President. During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America also had a Confederate Post-Office Department, headed by a Postmaster General, John Henninger Reagan.

The current Postmaster General (who is also CEO of the U.S. Postal Service) is John E. Potter.

Postmasters General under the Continental Congress

Name	Date appointed
Benjamin Franklin	July 26, 1775
Richard Bache	November 7, 1776
Ebenezer Hazard	January 28, 1782

Samuel Osgood was the first Postmaster General under the U.S. Constitution.

Cabinet-level Postmasters General, 1789–1971

Name	State of Residence	Date appointed	President(s) served under
Samuel Osgood	New York	September 26, 1789	Washington
Timothy Pickering	Massachusetts	August 12, 1791	Washington
Joseph Habersham	Georgia	February 25, 1795	Washington, Adams, Jefferson
Gideon Granger	Connecticut	November 28, 1801	Jefferson, Madison
Return J. Meigs, Jr.	Ohio	March 17, 1814	Madison, Monroe
John McLean	Ohio	June 26, 1823	Monroe, J. Q. Adams
William T. Barry	Kentucky	March 9, 1829	Jackson
Amos Kendall		May 1, 1835	Jackson, Van Buren
John M. Niles	Connecticut	May 19, 1840	Van Buren
Francis Granger	New York	March 6, 1841	W. H. Harrison, Tyler
Charles A. Wickliffe	Kentucky	September 13, 1841	Tyler
Cave Johnson	Tennessee	March 6, 1845	Polk
Jacob Collamer	Vermont	March 8, 1849	Taylor
Nathan K. Hall	New York	July 23, 1850	Fillmore
Samuel D. Hubbard	Connecticut	August 31, 1852	Fillmore
James Campbell	Pennsylvania	March 7, 1853	Pierce
Aaron V. Brown	Tennessee	March 6, 1857	Buchanan
Joseph Holt	Kentucky	March 14, 1859	Buchanan
Horatio King	Maine	February 12, 1861	Buchanan
Montgomery Blair	Maryland	March 5, 1861	Lincoln
William Dennison	Ohio	September 24, 1864	Lincoln, A. Johnson
Alexander W. Randall	Wisconsin	July 25, 1866	A. Johnson
John A. J. Creswell	Maryland	March 5, 1869	Grant
James W. Marshall		July 3, 1874	Grant
Marshall Jewell	Connecticut	August 24, 1874	Grant
James N. Tyner	Indiana	July 12, 1876	Grant
David M. Key	Tennessee	March 12, 1877	Hayes
Horace Maynard	Tennessee	June 2, 1880	Hayes
Thomas L. James	New York	March 5, 1881	Garfield, Arthur
Timothy O. Howe	Wisconsin	December 20, 1881	Arthur
Walter Q. Gresham	Indiana	April 3, 1883	Arthur
Frank Hatton	Iowa	October 14, 1884	Arthur
William F. Vilas	Wisconsin	March 6, 1885	Cleveland
Don M. Dickinson	Michigan	January 6, 1888	Cleveland
John Wanamaker	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1889	B. Harrison
Wilson S. Bissell	New York	March 6, 1893	Cleveland
William L. Wilson	West Virginia	March 1, 1895	Cleveland
James A. Gary		March 5, 1897	McKinley
Charles Emory Smith	Pennsylvania	April 21, 1898	McKinley, T. Roosevelt
Henry C. Payne	Wisconsin	January 9, 1902	T. Roosevelt
Robert J. Wynne		October 10, 1904	T. Roosevelt
George B. Cortelyou	New York	March 6, 1905	T. Roosevelt
George von L. Meyer	Massachusetts	January 15, 1907	T. Roosevelt
Frank H. Hitchcock		March 5, 1909	Taft
Albert S. Burleson	Texas	March 5, 1913	Wilson
Will H. Hays	Indiana	March 5, 1921	Harding
Hubert Work	Colorado	March 4, 1922	Harding
Harry S. New	Indiana	February 27, 1923	Harding, Coolidge
Walter F. Brown	Ohio	March 5, 1929	Hoover
James A. Farley	New York	March 4, 1933	F. Roosevelt
Frank C. Walker	Montana	September 10, 1940	F. Roosevelt, Truman
Robert E. Hannegan	Missouri	May 8, 1945	Truman
Jesse Monroe Donaldson	Illinois	December 16, 1947	Truman
Arthur E. Summerfield	Michigan	January 21, 1953	Eisenhower
J. Edward Day	Illinois	January 21, 1961	Kennedy
John A. Gronouski	Wisconsin	September 30, 1963	Kennedy, L. Johnson
Lawrence F. O'Brien	Massachusetts	November 3, 1965	L. Johnson
W. Marvin Watson	Texas	April 26, 1968	L. Johnson
Winton M. Blount	Alabama	January 22, 1969	Nixon

Postmasters-General, 1971–present

Name	Date appointed^[2]
Winton M. Blount	July 1, 1971
E. T. Klassen	January 1, 1972
Benjamin F. Bailar	February 16, 1975
William F. Bolger	March 15, 1978
Paul N. Carlin	January 1, 1985
Albert Vincent Casey	January 7, 1986
Preston Robert Tisch	August 16, 1986
Anthony M. Frank	March 1, 1988
Marvin T. Runyon	July 6, 1992
William J. Henderson	May 16, 1998
John E. Potter	June 1, 2001

Notes

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Since July 1, 1971, the Postmaster General has been appointed by and serves under the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.

External links

• • [ e]

United States Postmasters General

Cabinet Level: Osgood • Pickering • Habersham • G Granger • Meigs • McLean • Barry • Kendall • Niles • F Granger • Wickliffe • Johnson • Collamer • Hall • Hubbard • Campbell • A Brown • Holt • King • Blair • Dennison • Randall • Creswell • Marshall • Jewell • Tyner • Key • Maynard • James • Howe • Gresham • Hatton • Vilas • Dickinson • Wanamaker • Bissell • Wilson • Gary • Smith • Payne • Wynne • Cortelyou • Meyer • Hitchcock • Burleson • Hays • Work • New • W Brown • Farley • Walker • Hannegan • Donaldson • Summerfield • Day • Gronouski • O'Brien • Watson • Blount

Non-Cabinet Level: Blount • Klassen • Bailar • Bolger • Carlin • Casey • Tisch • Frank • Runyon • Henderson • Potter

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United States Postal Service

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Founded 1776
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Key people John E. Potter, Postmaster General
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The United States Declaration of Independence was an act of the Second Continental Congress, adopted on July 4, 1776, which declared that the Thirteen Colonies in North America were "Free and Independent States" and that "all political connection between them and the State of
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The Continental Congress was the first national government of the United States. It comprised two successive bodies of representatives of provinces of the Thirteen Colonies in 18th century British North America:

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The Post Office Department is the former name of the United States Postal Service when it was a Cabinet department. It was headed by the United States Postmaster General.
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A sinecure (from Latin sine, without, and cura, care) means an office which requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. Examples are the Lord Privy Seal and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the British cabinet.
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Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege and often financial aid given by a person or an organization. It can also refer to the right of bestowing offices or church benefices, the business given by a regular customer, and the guardianship of saints.
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James (Jim) Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888–June 9, 1976) was an American politician who served as head of the Democratic National Committee and Postmaster General. Farley was the campaign manager for New York State politicians Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D.
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was the thirty-second President of the United States. Elected to four terms in office, he served from 1933 to 1945, and is the only U.S.
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American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major war between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern slave states which declared that they had a right to secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis.
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The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) was the government formed by eleven southern states of the United States of America between 1861 and 1865.
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John Henninger Reagan (October 8, 1818 – March 6, 1905), was a leading 19th century American politician from the U.S. state of Texas. A Democrat, Reagan left the U.S. House of Representatives when his state seceded from the Union to join the Confederate States of America.
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John E. Potter is the current United States Postmaster General and CEO of the United States Postal Service, becoming the 72nd Postmaster General on June 1, 2001.

Prior to becoming Postmaster General, he had been Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Postal Service.
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Richard Bache (1737–1811), born in Yorkshire, England, married the only daughter of Benjamin Franklin in 1767, having immigrated to New York City in 1765. He served as comptroller of the Postal Service under Franklin from 1775-1776, and was Franklin's successor as Postmaster
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Ebenezer Hazard (1744-1817) was born in Philadelphia and educated at Princeton University. He established a publishing business in New York in (1770), but quit that business after five years. He was the Postmaster-General from 1782 to 1789.
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Samuel Osgood (February 3, 1747 – August 12, 1813) was an American merchant and statesman from Andover, Massachusetts. He served in the Massachusetts and New York state legislatures, represented Massachusetts in the Continental Congress and was the first Postmaster General
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United States Postmaster General

Information about United States Postmaster General

Postmasters General under the Continental Congress

Cabinet-level Postmasters General, 1789–1971

Postmasters-General, 1971–present

See also

Notes

External links

Events

Events

Events