When the Presidents of the United States are numbered (as 'the First/Second/Third') are the 'Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled' included in the enumeration or not?

smartie806

No, they were more like the Speakers of the House of Representatives: The formal title of “President of the United States, in Congress Assembled” was often shortened to simply “President of the United States”. However, the office of President of the Continental Congress had very little relationship to the office of President of the United States beyond the name. The President of the United States is the head of the executive branch of government, while the President of the Continental Congress was merely the chair of a body that most resembled a legislature, although it possessed legislative, executive, and judicial powers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States_in_Congress_Assembled Aug 25 06, 1:33 PM

bloomsby

Many thanks. As a History editor I sometimes have to deal with correction notices claiming that the first President of the U.S. wasn't George Washington but Samuel Huntington (or someone else) ... Aug 25 06, 1:40 PM

Allergic2Life

He wasn't the first person to be President, under the now defunct Articles of Confederation a few men served under that title, however under our current Constitution (adopted 1787) he was the first President. Aug 25 06, 1:47 PM