You’ve probably heard it in a bar trivia night or seen a frantic post on social media claiming everything you learned in fifth grade was a lie. People love to drop the "actually" bomb. They'll lean in and ask if you know who was the first president of america before george washington. It sounds like a conspiracy theory. It sounds like one of those Mandela Effect things where we all collectively misremembered the start of the United States.
But it’s not exactly a lie. It's just a matter of how you define the word "President."
If you’re looking for a simple name, you’re going to be disappointed because there isn't just one. Depending on how much of a history nerd you want to be, there are technically 14 men who held a title featuring the word "President" before George Washington ever took the oath of office in April 1789.
The Peyton Randolph Problem
History is messy. It’s rarely as clean as a list in a textbook. Before we had the Constitution—the document that basically runs our lives now—we had the Continental Congress. In 1774, when the colonies were starting to get really annoyed with King George III, they sent a bunch of guys to Philadelphia to vent. They needed someone to keep the meeting on track.
Enter Peyton Randolph.
Randolph was the first President of the Continental Congress. He was a Virginian, a lawyer, and by all accounts, a man who commanded a lot of respect. But was he the President of the United States? Honestly, no. He was more like a Speaker of the House or a moderator of a very intense group chat. He didn't have an executive branch. He didn't have an army. He just had a gavel and a room full of stressed-out revolutionaries.
He served for a few weeks, got sick, and went home. If you want to win a very specific type of argument, you could call him the first. But you’d be ignoring the fact that the "United States" didn't officially exist as a sovereign nation while he was sitting in that chair.
Why John Hancock Gets a Mention
Most people know John Hancock for his massive signature on the Declaration of Independence. He wanted the King to be able to read it without spectacles. Legend or not, it’s a great story.
Hancock was the President of the Second Continental Congress. This is where things get a bit more "Presidential." Under his watch, the colonies actually declared independence. He was the guy presiding over the body that created the Continental Army and appointed Washington as the general.
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There's a massive difference between what Hancock did and what Washington did. Hancock was an administrator. He was "President of the Congress," not "President of the United States." It’s a nuance that sounds like semantics until you realize that Hancock had zero power to enforce laws. He couldn't tax people. He couldn't even really tell the states what to do; he had to ask them nicely and hope they sent money or troops.
The Articles of Confederation Era
After the Declaration of Independence, the colonies needed a "real" government. They came up with the Articles of Confederation. This is usually the era people are talking about when they ask who was the first president of america before george washington.
The Articles were, frankly, a bit of a disaster. They were designed to be weak because the colonists were terrified of creating another King. Under this system, the "President of the United States in Congress Assembled" was a position that lasted exactly one year.
John Hanson is the name that pops up most often in those "Real First President" Facebook memes.
Hanson was the first man to serve a full one-year term under the Articles of Confederation starting in 1781. Because his title included the words "United States," people get excited. Even some of his descendants in the 19th century tried to campaign to have him recognized as the true first president.
But here is the catch: The job was mostly ceremonial.
Hanson hated it. He tried to resign almost immediately because the work was tedious and his health was failing. He spent most of his time signing official papers and dealing with endless correspondence. He didn't live in a White House. He didn't have a Cabinet. He was basically a high-level clerk who presided over legislative sessions.
The Full List of Pre-Washington Presidents
If you want to be "that person" at the dinner party, here are the men who presided over the Continental Congress or the Congress of the Confederation before 1789:
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- Peyton Randolph (The moderator)
- Henry Middleton (Served for only a few days)
- John Hancock (The big signature guy)
- Henry Laurens (A wealthy merchant from South Carolina)
- John Jay (Later the first Chief Justice)
- Samuel Huntington (Presided when the Articles were finally ratified)
- Thomas McKean (Served a tiny four-month stint)
- John Hanson (The one the memes talk about)
- Elias Boudinot (Helped sign the peace treaty with Britain)
- Thomas Mifflin (Accepted Washington’s resignation as General)
- Richard Henry Lee (A heavy hitter in Virginia politics)
- Nathaniel Gorham (Served during the lead-up to the Constitutional Convention)
- Arthur St. Clair (A Scottish-born soldier)
- Cyrus Griffin (The final guy before the current system took over)
It’s a long list of forgotten names. Most of these men were brilliant, deeply patriotic, and risked their lives to build the country. But none of them held the office that we recognize today.
Why Washington is Actually First
So, if all these guys had the title, why do we still say George is Number One?
It’s about the Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation were so weak that the country was literally falling apart. States were printing their own money. There was no national court system. There was no way to pay off the massive war debt. Basically, the "President" back then was a figurehead for a government that didn't work.
In 1787, they threw the old rules in the trash and wrote a new playbook. This new Constitution created the Executive Branch. This was a totally different animal.
When George Washington took office, he wasn't just presiding over a meeting. He was the head of a branch of government. He had the power to veto laws. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the military. He appointed judges. He was a head of state.
The guys before him were leaders of a legislature. Washington was the leader of a nation.
The John Hanson "First" Myth
Let's circle back to John Hanson for a second, because the myth-making there is really interesting. In the 1920s and 30s, there was a push to elevate his status. Some historians (and a lot of people in Maryland) wanted to give him his flowers.
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There's a famous story that Hanson was the "first" because he was the first to serve under the first formal governing document. That’s technically true. But if you use that logic, then the person who runs a temporary homeowner's association is the "President" of the neighborhood before the city is even incorporated.
It’s a bit of a stretch.
Also, it's worth noting that the "President" under the Articles couldn't even go for a walk without permission from Congress. Washington, on the other hand, set the precedent for executive privilege and independent action. The two roles share a name but almost nothing else.
How to Answer the Question Next Time
When someone asks you who was the first president of america before george washington, you can give them the nuanced answer.
You can tell them about Peyton Randolph and the early days of the revolution. You can mention John Hanson and the failed experiment of the Articles of Confederation. But you should probably also mention that without the failure of those "first" presidents, we never would have realized we needed a "real" one like Washington.
The confusion usually stems from the fact that we use the same word for two very different jobs. It’s like calling a "President" of a local chess club and the "President" of a multinational corporation by the same title. They both lead something, but the scope is worlds apart.
Actionable Takeaways for History Buffs
If you want to dive deeper into this weird quirk of American history, here is what you should do:
- Read the Articles of Confederation. It’s a short document and honestly quite shocking how little power the federal government had. It explains why those early presidents were so ineffective.
- Visit the National Archives online. They have the records of the Continental Congress. You can see the actual letters signed by guys like Elias Boudinot and Cyrus Griffin. It makes them feel real, not just names on a trivia list.
- Check out the "Committee of the States." This was a weird group that was supposed to run the country when Congress was on break. It was a disaster, but it shows how desperate they were to find a leadership model that worked.
- Look into the John Hanson Statue. Maryland actually put a statue of him in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall. It’s a great piece of "protest history" from people who insisted he was the first.
History is written by the winners, but it's also simplified for the sake of time. Washington was the first President of the United States of America as we know it today. The others? They were the brave, often frustrated men who tried to steer the ship before the engine was even built.
Understanding the distinction doesn't take away from Washington’s legacy. If anything, it makes what he did more impressive. He took a title that was basically a glorified secretary position and turned it into the most powerful office in the world.