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Who were the first and second Presidents of The United States of America?
Question
#105725. Asked by armindasantana. (May 20 09 2:31 PM)
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star_gazer
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Actually the first President of The United States of America was a man named John Hanson.
 http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html
And a gentleman named Elias Boudinot appears to have been the second President.
Please read the final paragraph of the very interesting site I give above.
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CapainNemo
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John Hanson certainly was not the first President of the USA.
He was however President of the Constitutional Congress - a largely ceremonial position similar to Speaker of the House of Representatives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hanson_(myths)
The first president was definitely George Washington.
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star_gazer
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As the first President, Hanson had quite the shoes to fill. No one had ever been President and the role was poorly defined. His actions in office would set precedent for all future Presidents. He took office just as the Revolutionary War ended. Almost immediately, the troops demanded to be paid. As would be expected after any long war, there were no funds to meet the salaries. As a result, the soldiers threatened to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the throne as a monarch. All the members of Congress ran for their lives, leaving Hanson running the government. He somehow managed to calm the troops and hold the country together. If he had failed, the government would have fallen almost immediately and everyone would have been bowing to King Washington.
Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the removal of all foreign flags. This was quite a feat, considering the fact that so many European countries had a stake in the United States since the days following Columbus. Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which all Presidents have since been required to use on all official documents. President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department. Lastly, he declared that the fourth Thursday of every November was to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still true today.
http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html
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Yankeesix
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Check out the link CaptainNemo provided, it should dispel the first president myth (and a few others).
Here's a link on the first election for the office of President of the United States, the office that was created by the Constitution when it was ratified. Prior to that, there was no office of President of the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1789
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star_gazer
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I'm sorry, I made a mistake, I trusted the wrong web site.
After a little more research, I see that Hanson was not the first US President; infact, the US was not officially created untill the adoption of the Constitution.
It was this Snopes article that convinced me.
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/hanson.asp
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