The Postmaster General of the United States is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service . The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence . Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first Postmaster General in 1775, serving just over 15 months.
Until 1971, the postmaster general was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office" until the 1820s).[ 2] From 1829 to 1971, he was a member of the President's Cabinet .
The Cabinet post of Postmaster General was often given to a new President's campaign manager or other key political supporter, and was considered something of a sinecure . The Postmaster General was in charge of the governing party's patronage , and was a powerful position which held much influence within the party.
In 1971, the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service , an independent agency of the executive branch. Thus, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the Cabinet and is no longer in Presidential succession .
During the American Civil War , the Confederate States of America Post-office Department provided mail service for the Confederate States, headed by a Postmaster General, John Henninger Reagan .
The Postmaster General is the second-highest paid U.S. government official, based on publicly available salary information, after the President of the United States.[ 3]
Postmasters General under the Continental Congress [ edit ]
Samuel Osgood (1747–1813)
Postmasters general over the U.S. Post Office Department, 1789–1971 [ edit ]
As non-Cabinet department, 1789–1829 [ edit ]
Name
State of Residence
Date appointed
President(s) served under
Samuel Osgood (pictured right )
Massachusetts
September 26, 1789
Washington
Timothy Pickering
Pennsylvania [1]
August 12, 1791
Washington
Joseph Habersham
Georgia
February 25, 1795
Washington, Adams , Jefferson
Gideon Granger
Connecticut
November 28, 1801
Jefferson, Madison
Return J. Meigs, Jr.
Ohio
March 17, 1814
Madison, Monroe
John McLean
Ohio
June 26, 1823
Monroe, J. Q. Adams
As cabinet department, 1829–1971 [ edit ]
Name
State of Residence
Date appointed
President(s) served under
William T. Barry
Kentucky
March 9, 1829
Jackson
Amos Kendall
Kentucky
May 1, 1835
Jackson, Van Buren
John M. Niles
Connecticut
May 19, 1840
Van Buren
Francis Granger
New York
March 6, 1841
W. H. Harrison , Tyler
Charles A. Wickliffe
Kentucky
September 13, 1841
Tyler
Cave Johnson
Tennessee
March 6, 1845
Polk
Jacob Collamer
Vermont
March 8, 1849
Taylor
Nathan K. Hall
New York
July 23, 1850
Fillmore
Samuel Dickinson Hubbard
Connecticut
August 31, 1852
Fillmore
James Campbell
Pennsylvania
March 7, 1853
Pierce
Aaron V. Brown
Tennessee
March 6, 1857
Buchanan
Joseph Holt
Kentucky
March 14, 1859
Buchanan
Horatio King
Maine
February 12, 1861
Buchanan
Montgomery Blair
District of Columbia
March 5, 1861
Lincoln
William Dennison
Ohio
September 24, 1864
Lincoln, A. Johnson
Alexander W. Randall
Wisconsin
July 25, 1866
A. Johnson
John A. J. Creswell
Maryland
March 5, 1869
Grant
James W. Marshall
Virginia
July 3, 1874
Grant
Marshall Jewell
Connecticut
August 24, 1874
Grant
James N. Tyner
Indiana
July 12, 1876
Grant
David M. Key
Tennessee
March 12, 1877
Hayes
Horace Maynard
Tennessee
June 2, 1880
Hayes
Thomas L. James
New York
March 5, 1881
Garfield , Arthur
Timothy O. Howe
Wisconsin
December 20, 1881
Arthur
Walter Q. Gresham
Indiana
April 3, 1883
Arthur
Frank Hatton
Iowa
October 14, 1884
Arthur
William F. Vilas
Wisconsin
March 6, 1885
Cleveland
Donald M. Dickinson
Michigan
January 6, 1888
Cleveland
John Wanamaker
Pennsylvania
March 5, 1889
B. Harrison
Wilson S. Bissell
New York
March 6, 1893
Cleveland
William L. Wilson
West Virginia
March 1, 1895
Cleveland
James A. Gary
Maryland
March 5, 1897
McKinley
Charles Emory Smith
Pennsylvania
April 21, 1898
McKinley, T. Roosevelt
Henry C. Payne
Wisconsin
January 9, 1902
T. Roosevelt
Robert J. Wynne
Pennsylvania
October 10, 1904
T. Roosevelt
George B. Cortelyou
New York
March 6, 1905
T. Roosevelt
George von L. Meyer
Massachusetts
January 15, 1907
T. Roosevelt
Frank H. Hitchcock
Massachusetts
March 5, 1909
Taft
Albert S. Burleson
Texas
March 5, 1913
Wilson
Will H. Hays
Indiana
March 5, 1921
Harding
Hubert Work
Colorado
March 4, 1922
Harding
Harry S. New
Indiana
February 27, 1923
Harding, Coolidge
Walter F. Brown
Ohio
March 5, 1929
Hoover
James A. Farley
New York
March 4, 1933
F. Roosevelt
Frank C. Walker
Pennsylvania
September 10, 1940
F. Roosevelt, Truman
Robert E. Hannegan
Missouri
May 8, 1945
Truman
Jesse M. Donaldson
Missouri
December 16, 1947
Truman
Arthur E. Summerfield
Michigan
January 21, 1953
Eisenhower
J. Edward Day
California
January 21, 1961
Kennedy
John A. Gronouski
Wisconsin
September 30, 1963
Kennedy, L. Johnson
Lawrence F. O'Brien
Massachusetts
November 3, 1965
L. Johnson
W. Marvin Watson
Texas
April 26, 1968
L. Johnson
Winton M. Blount
Alabama
January 22, 1969
Nixon
Postmasters General over the U.S. Postal Service, 1971–present [ edit ]
Name
Date appointed[ 4]
Winton M. Blount
July 1, 1971
E. T. Klassen
January 1, 1972
Benjamin F. Bailar
February 16, 1975
William F. Bolger
March 15, 1978
Paul N. Carlin
January 1, 1985
Albert Vincent Casey
January 7, 1986
Preston Robert Tisch
August 16, 1986
Anthony M. Frank
March 1, 1988
Marvin Travis Runyon
July 6, 1992
William J. Henderson
May 16, 1998
John E. Potter
June 1, 2001
Patrick R. Donahoe
January 14, 2011
Megan Brennan
February 1, 2015
Living former Postmasters General [ edit ]
As of October 2014[update] , there are six living former Postmasters General, the oldest being W. Marvin Watson (1968–1969, born 1924). The most recent Postmaster General to pass away was Preston Robert Tisch (1986–1988), on November 15, 2005.
See also [ edit ]
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