A Googling of “John Hanson” reveals some controversy over whether he should be considered the first President of the United States, the third or just President of the Continental Congress (leaving the POTUS title for GW).
The fact is that John Hanson was indeed the first President of the Continental Congress elected under the terms of the Articles of Confederation, which were officially ratified by all 13 colonies on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation called for Congress “to meet on the first Monday in November, in every year,” (Article V), and gave Congress the authority “to appoint one of their members to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year” (Article IX). Under these ratified Articles — the first constitution of the United States of America — John Hanson was elected on November 5, 1781.
Here is the brief but important report from the November 7, 1781 Freeman’s Journal (Philadelphia) announcing the election of what some historians recognize as the first President of the United States. To those who call Hanson the first, this is arguably the most important presidential report in newspaper history. Only the Pennsylvania Packet scooped this report with its own on November 6, 1781.
In an odd but Hanson-related note, the May 10, 1783 Newport Mercury (Newport, Rhode Island) published a report on page two clarifying the rumored death of John Hanson. See below.
