While visiting friends in Burlington, NJ, the mayor popped in to say hello to them. We were discussing history of the local area during the founding of our country. He commented that Elias Boudinot was the first president, not Washington. I asked him to prove it. We went to the local historical socity museum, and sure enough, there were copies of documents to verify his statement. Appears that when the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1787, Elias Boudinot was the president of the Continental Congress, and at the signing, his title became, "President of the United States in Congress". Two years later, in 1789, when Washington was elected, his title became, "President of United States under the new Constitution".
A quick hike over to St. Mary's Episcopal Church cemetery, and there was the gravesite for Boudinot. Who knew?
...but the way I figure is that the office of the Presidency didn't exist as we know it today during the Continental Congress. Really, we didn't exist as a nation then. The current government came into being when the Constitution was ratified.
Speaking of George Washington, I took a trip to The Natural Bridge in SW Virginia last year and found somebody's initials carved into the rock.
Wasn't the Treaty of Paris signed in 1783 and ratified and signed by Britain in 1784? And the Constitution wasn't signed until September of 1787.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)
I was posting from memory, and at my age, had a senior moment, got the year wrong. However, Boudinot was still the president until Washington took office in 1789. Contrary to what willy said above, the Treaty was the first acknowledgment by the other signators that USA was a nation.
I agree that The Treaty of Paris was the first "official document" recognizing the USA as a separate Nation as it did give us Britains surrender. I'll have to admit that I was unaware of Boudinot signing with that title. It is an interesting point to bring out. But I believe we recognize Washington as the first solely based on the signing of the Constitution, and how he went on to "define the office" which included the role and title of "Commander and Chief". Washington did a lot to add to the office beyond what the Constitution actually spelled out, including such things as the first Cabinet.
Thanks for pointing this out Jersey!
We operated under a different government under the Articles of Confederation at that time. As I recall, that gov't had more of a parlimentary-like government, and had no power to enforce the laws they passed. There was no real executive branch of government under the Confederation.
For all practical purposes each colony was it's own separate nation. So, while there was a President of the Continential Congress (just like there's a President of the Senate today), there was no President of the United States, as in a head of the executive branch of gov't.
When the Constitution was ratified a new government came into being, and with it, it created the office of the Presidency.
So, yes, Washington would be the first President if you want to get technical about it.
But if you count the Presidents of the Continential Congress, we had a whole slew of them, all before Washington.
-- Modified on 2/3/2010 10:31:29 PM
Wonka got this one right (I'm still waiting on the definition for 'mouth breather')
Even our Founding Fathers saw the need for term limits. Gee...I got to post TERM LIMITS twice in one day...lol I can only hope for the change!
George Washington was the first President of the United States under the US Constitution which we follow today.
The Articles of Confederation did not establish a "President of the United States" or an Executive branch of government for Boudinot or the others to head .
Look at the link WW posted.
US News & World Report had an interesting article about the other presidents, so yep I have heard this before.
Also according to Wikipedia
''In 1781, Boudinot returned to the Congress, and this term lasted through 1783. In 1783, he signed the Treaty of Paris. In November 1782 he was elected the President of the Continental Congress for a one year term. The President of Congress was a mostly ceremonial position with no real authority, but the office did require him to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents.[2]
When the United States government was formed in 1789, New Jersey sent Boudinot to the House of Representatives.''
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Boudinot
--
-- Modified on 2/4/2010 3:39:57 AM
Always check with Snopes first - I've never found them to be wrong.
-- Modified on 2/4/2010 7:36:37 AM
Granted, there were several so-called presidents prior to him, but Boudinot became "President of the United States of Congress" upon his signing of the Treaty of Paris, which established a sovereign nation called the "United States". Prior to his signing, there was no sovereign nation called the "United States", only a collection of 13 individual states. This may appear to some as a word game, but read the Treaty.
"Always check with Snopes first-I've never found them to be wrong".
Snopes is NOT infallible. I have found them to be wrong on at least 2 situations that I was personally involved in. Snopes is reputed to be run by a husband and wife team in California, and both have a very left leaning agenda. I cannot verify that, but that is what I've heard from numerous reliable sources. Same for wikipedia. Anyone on this board can go on that website and enter, delete, or falsify whatever data they choose to do so.