If you ask any elementary school kid in America, "Who is the first president?" they’ll shout "George Washington" before you even finish the sentence. It’s a fact baked into our collective DNA. But honestly, history is rarely that clean. If you dig into the dusty archives of the 1780s, things get kinda weird. There's this persistent historical "well, actually" that pops up at dinner parties: the idea that a guy named John Hanson was the real first president.
So, who’s right?
The answer depends entirely on how you define the job. If you mean the guy with the big house, the veto power, and the title "Commander in Chief," then yeah, it’s Washington. But if you’re looking for the first person to hold a title that included the words "President of the United States," the story takes a detour through a mess of early American politics that most textbooks just skip.
The Man Before Washington: John Hanson
Before the Constitution we use today, the U.S. was basically a loose collection of states barely holding it together under the Articles of Confederation. It was a chaotic time. The central government was weak, intentionally so, because everyone was terrified of replaced King George with another tyrant.
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In November 1781, a Marylander named John Hanson was elected as the "President of the United States in Congress Assembled."
He was the first person to serve a full one-year term under the ratified Articles. This is where the confusion starts. People see that title and think, "Aha! George was number two!" But Hanson’s job was basically being a glorified chairman. He didn’t have an executive branch. He couldn't command the army. He mostly handled a massive amount of paperwork and signed official documents until his eyes hurt. In fact, he hated the job so much he tried to quit after a week. He stayed only because the rules didn't explain how to replace him if he walked away.
Why he isn't usually counted
- No Executive Power: Hanson couldn't enforce laws or make big decisions solo.
- One-Year Term: It was a rotating position, not a national mandate.
- The Government Style: The Articles of Confederation were eventually scrapped because they didn't work.
George Washington: The First True Executive
When we talk about who is the first president in a modern sense, we’re talking about the office created by the 1787 Constitutional Convention. This version of the presidency was a whole different animal. The Founders realized they needed someone who could actually do stuff—lead the military, meet with foreign kings, and keep the states from fighting each other.
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George Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789. He wasn't just a figurehead. He was the first to hold the "Executive Power" of the nation. He had to figure everything out from scratch. Should people call him "Your Highness"? (He went with "Mr. President"). How should he pick a Cabinet? He was essentially building the plane while flying it.
The stakes were massive. If Washington had acted like a king, the American experiment probably would have died right there. Instead, he did the most radical thing possible: he walked away after two terms. That choice defined the office more than any law ever could.
The "Pre-Washington" President List
Hanson wasn't even the only one. Before Washington took the oath, several men presided over the Continental Congress. If you’re a stickler for titles, the list looks something like this:
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- Peyton Randolph (The very first to preside over the Continental Congress in 1774)
- John Hancock (Famous for that massive signature and presiding during the Declaration of Independence)
- John Hanson (The first under the formalized Articles of Confederation)
- Elias Boudinot
- Thomas Mifflin
- Richard Henry Lee
- Nathaniel Gorham
- Arthur St. Clair
- Cyrus Griffin
By the time Cyrus Griffin finished his term in 1788, the old system was basically dead. The country was ready for a "real" president.
Why This Matters Today
It's easy to dismiss this as a trivia question, but it actually shows how much the U.S. government changed in its first decade. We went from a system where the "President" was just a moderator for a committee to a system where the President is one of the most powerful people on Earth.
When you search for who is the first president, you’re really seeing the evolution of a country trying to find its balance between liberty and order. Washington gets the credit—rightfully so—because he was the first to lead the government we still live under. But guys like John Hanson were the ones keeping the lights on when the "United States" was still just a shaky idea.
Check the facts yourself
If you want to dive deeper, you can actually look up the original Articles of Confederation at the National Archives or read Seymour Wemyss Smith’s 1932 biography, John Hanson, Our First President. Just keep in mind that most modern historians, like those at Mount Vernon or the Library of Congress, distinguish between a "President of Congress" and a "President of the United States."
Actionable Next Steps:
- Visit a Primary Source: Check out the National Archives digital records to see how the Articles of Confederation defined the role differently than the Constitution.
- Audit Your History: Next time you see a "fun fact" about John Hanson being the first Black president, remember that there were two John Hansons—the white politician from Maryland and a later African American leader involved with the American Colonization Society. They often get mixed up in internet memes.
- Compare the Roles: Look at Article II of the Constitution and compare it to the powers (or lack thereof) in the Articles of Confederation to see exactly why Washington’s job was a new invention.