I had never heard of John Hanson before

[no1_vern]

I had never heard of John Hanson before But technically he is the US's first president:

"The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. <SNIP> 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. "

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.

MORE HERE
And here

[Xeroid]

Good Stuff! I have a real interest in American History.

[no1_vern]

I do too. Its just that only by off chance I heard (while flipping through the channels no less!) a blurb about Hanson being the first president of the USA and I'm going WOW I had never learned that in school!

I just had to look and find out for myself.

Very interesting stuff, n01_vern. US History was a favorite subject for me in Jr High.

I'd love to be able to read my boy's High School History book but where's the time?

[daveleau]

Very interesting. The topic I have been focusing on for the past few months has been around the Revolutionary War. I've read a ton on the subject, but this has not been mentioned in the books I have read. Mostly, I've been concentrating on biographies of the men involved and not a general overview. This may explain why I missed it. Here's what biography.com says about him:

Colonial and Revolutionary official; born in Charles County, Md. He served in the Maryland Assembly almost continuously from 1757 to 1779. He signed the Association of the Freemen of Maryland (1775), which approved armed resistance against the British. Elected to the Continental Congress in 1779, he signed the Articles of Confederation (1781) and then served as president of the Congress of the Confederacy--some historians have therefore called him "the first president of the United States." He worked to free the public lands to the west from the control of individual states, especially Virginia.

http://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=15549

Thanks for the info.

Oh we have a Mifflinburg around here somewhere.
It's kinda cool living in a part of the country that has so much history.

I know what you mean, surreal. There's a lot of Revolutionary War stuff around here.