Who was the first president of the United States?

[akflightmedic]

And many thanks for reviving a 4 year old thread....

No, President Washington was the first President of the United States. He was elected to the position by the congress that was established at the time. Also, Pres. Washington put the "so help me God" into the oath of office, due to him not knowing what was going to be in store for the newly founded nation.

He did not officially put those words in the oath because to this day, those words are not part of the presidential oath. Also, there is no evidence that he did indeed say those words. It is noted he said them after his ACCEPTANCE speech but he did not utter them after his oath taking. Huge difference.

Several presidents have chosen not to take the oath and instead have done an affirmation. A few more presidents have simply said Yes I do or Yes I will which answers the oath in question as opposed to closing with so help me god.

There is no p[roof that a bible was used in the majority of the oaths either. It was not a part of the process, it was personal decisions leading to those actions.

One man's possible personal deviance (not even proven) from protocol does not dictate the actions of every man to follow, nor should it. This was exactly what was trying to be avoided when the Constitution was created.

[maverick56]

Hehehe, sad but funny. I have fun now and then (when I know they're ok) following the usual "what year is it?","how many fingers" etc with something like "what's the capital of Peru?". The facial expressions are priceless and it helps break the ice.

[Kiwiology]

I couldn't tell you who the first Prime Minister of NZ was, or the first US President ....

How many points did my GCS just drop?

[uglyEMT]

LOL GW was not the first president...

John Hanson was the first President.

The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land). 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.

George Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today. And the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history.

BTW kiwi Henery Sewell 5/7/1856 to 5/20/1856

Edited May 18, 2010 by UGLyEMT

[Kiwiology]

Aw shit I thought our first PM was .... oh bloody hell, that British dude, um, *bangs head on desk repeatedly .... Lt. Governor Hobson who the Queen sent over to keep us in check.

Oh wow, how many points did my GCS drop this time? I don't feel well

[uglyEMT]

Aw shit I thought our first PM was .... oh bloody hell, that British dude, um, *bangs head on desk repeatedly .... Lt. Governor Hobson who the Queen sent over to keep us in check.

Oh wow, how many points did my GCS drop this time? I don't feel well

No need to bang head on desk LOL

I'll still give you a 14

[Just Plain Ruff]

LOL GW was not the first president...

John Hanson was the first President.

The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land). 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.

George Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today. And the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history.

BTW kiwi Henery Sewell 5/7/1856 to 5/20/1856

Someone didn't read the entire thread before he posted. Look for AK's post on Snopes

For all intents and purposes, GW was the first president. Too bad for Mr. Hanson but Washington is considered and always will be considered the First elected (by the people - men only though)President of these United STates.

An argument could be said for the president of the colonies being Mr. Hanson but he was not publicly elected by the populace like GW was.

I may also have some of my history slightly mucked up here because I'm away from my biographies of Jefferson, Adams, washington and the history of the continental congress and the revolutionary war.