June 6, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, was George Washington really America’s first president? Perhaps not. Historian and bestselling author Christopher Klein, a regular contributor to History.com and Smithsonian Magazine, shares the little-known story of John Hanson, the man some consider the nation’s first president under the Articles of Confederation.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. Our next story
comes from our regular contributor, Christopher Klein. Whine is the
author of four books and a frequent contributor to the
History Channel. Did you know that there was an American
president before George Washington? Here's Christopher Kleine with a story.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
The sky was as bright as George Washington's resplendid blue
dress uniform as he strode triumphantly into Independence Hall on
November twenty eighth, seventeen eighty one. It was shortly afternoon
in Philadelphia, but it was dawned throughout America. Just weeks earlier,
the British had surrendered at Yorktown, and the newly christened
(00:52):
Government of the United States of America had convened to
elect the fledgling country's first president. It wasn't George Washington,
but John Hanson of Maryland. As Washington entered the chamber
to receive the official recognition of Congress, his gaze fell
upon Hanson, the first man to hold the title President
(01:14):
of the United States in Congress assembled. The man occupying
what Washington called the most important seat in the United States,
rose to his feet and congratulated the General On his
glorious success that effectively ended the American Revolution. Although he
held the nation's highest office nearly a decade before Washington,
(01:36):
don't expect to find John Hanson's image along Old George's
familiar face on quarters, one dollar bills or used car
ads on President's Day. The man, some historians argue, was
truly the country's first president, was long ago swept into
the dust benef history. While Washington has sparked countless tomes,
(01:57):
Hanson has barely inspired footnotes. However, both men led remarkably
parallel lives, only on opposite sides to the Potomac River.
Hanson was born into a prominent family in Port Tobacco, Maryland,
and spent much of his life on a plantation less
than twenty miles away from Washington's beloved Virginia state Mount Vernon.
(02:19):
Both men were prosperous merchants, slave owners, and devout patriots.
Hanson and Washington paid periodic visits to each other's homes
and discussed matters concerning the colony's growing disagreements with the Motherland.
Hanson's political career began in seventeen fifty, when he was
appointed sheriff of Charles County, and in seventeen fifty seven
(02:41):
he was elected to the Maryland General Assembly. America's forgotten
first President. Was one of Maryland's leading opponents of the
Stamp Act and other onerous measures passed by the British Parliament,
and he backed greater rights with colonies. When war broke
out in seventeen seventy five, Hanson was a key figure
in persuading Maryland to back the rebels who had the
(03:02):
British under siege in Boston. He spearheaded the recruitment of
troops and procurement of arms in Frederick County, his new home.
With money scarce, Hanson frequently paid the soldiers with his
own money. Hanson supported independance for the American colonies, and
his family joined in the patriotic cause during the American
Revolution and paid a terrible price. Hanson's eldest son, Alexander,
(03:28):
served Washington as a private secretary, but two of Hanson's
sons would be killed serving in the Coninell Army during
the American Revolution. Son Peter was killed in action defending
Fort Washington, named after George Washington, in November seventeen seventy six.
Hanson's youngest son Samuel, a surgeon on Washington's staff, died
(03:49):
of disease in June seventeen eighty one, in the war's
waning months. He was twenty four. During the early years
of the war, John Hanson served in the Maryland House Delegates,
which named him as a representative to the Second Continental
Congress in seventeen seventy nine. At the time Hanson joined
the Continental Congress, Maryland was alone holdout in ratifying the
(04:11):
Articles of Confederation, the proposed national constitution that required unanimous
consent by all thirteen states. Maryland refused to join until
other states ceded their claims to lands west of the
Appalachian Mountains to the central government, and by some accounts,
Hanson played an important role in getting them to agree.
(04:32):
On March first, seventeen eighty one, Hanson and Daniel Carroll
fixed their signatures to the Articles of Confederation, which created
a new national government for the United States of America.
The Articles also called for the institution of a governing
body the United States and Congress assembled and provided for
the annual election of one of its members at president.
(04:54):
When the Congress met for the initial time on November fifth,
seventeen eighty one its first official act was to unanimously
elect John Hanson to the office. With his health failing
and his heart heavy after the loss of two children
just month before, Hanson would rather have been free to
return home, but he accepted a position out of his
(05:14):
sense of public duty. Hanson's position differed greatly from today's presidency.
It was not an executive office separate from the legislature.
It was more akin to a prime minister in a
parliamentary system. The new president had little executive power and
more closely resembled a presiding officer, but Hanson clearly viewed
(05:35):
his duties as more than merely ceremonial. Based on his
second thoughts on accepting the position. Just eight days after
taking office, he wrote to his son in law, the
load of business which I have very unwillingly and very
imprudently taken on me, I am afraid will be more
than my constitution will be able to bear. The president
(05:56):
offered to resign, but was convinced by his fellow delegates
to remain on the job. Hanson's declining health made it
increasingly difficult to keep up with the job requirements, which
included presiding over sessions receiving foreign ministers, writing correspondence to
state governors and foreign leaders, and signing all laws, treaties,
(06:17):
and official papers. In January seventeen eighty two, Congress agreed
to transfer primary responsibility for writing letters to the States
from Hanson to the Secretary of Congress. It said it
made the move in order that the President may be
relieved from the business with which he is unnecessarily encumbered.
When the President took seriously ill in the spring of
(06:38):
seventeen eighty two, a special measure allowed Carroll to temporarily
preside over the Congress, although he is precluded from signing
official papers. Despite these obstacles, the Congress under Hanson's one
year tenure accomplished much. In the critical months after the
victory at Yorktown. The government chartered a national bank, signed
treaties with Holland and Sweden, law launched the Post Office,
(07:01):
created the Great Seal of the United States, and designated
a last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving. Hanson formed a
quasi cabinet with the first Treasury and Foreign Affairs departments,
and named the country's first Secretary of War and Postmaster General.
With his presidential term complete in November seventeen eighty two,
Hanson retired from Congress, and he passed away little more
(07:24):
than a year later, on November twenty second, seventeen eighty three.
The Articles of Confederation proved to be a bug filled
operating system for America. It was two week to govern
the country and lacked executive in taxing power, but it
set the stage for the vastly improved Constitution two point zero,
and George Washington would be the first president elected under
(07:46):
the United States Constitution. Like a bad childhood memory, the
Articles of Confederation era has been mostly purged from America's
collective history, along with Hanson and the seven men who
succeeded him as President of the United States in Congress
assembled perhaps symbolically, the whereabouts of Hanson's body is a mystery.
(08:08):
Sometime in the nineteen eighties, the corpse went missing from
its crypt and has never been found. He's such an
historical enigma, as some biographies list as birth year as
seventeen fifteen, others seventeen twenty one. The only place where
Hanson's been on equal footing with George Washington is on
top of a pedestal in the United States Capital bronze
(08:30):
statues of both first presidents are part of the National
Statutory Hall collection of Significant Americans. At least for now,
proposals have been floated to replace Hanson's likeness with that
of underground railroad heroine Harriet Tubman. Hanson does have a
highway and middle schools named in his honor in Maryland.
There's also a John Hanson National Memorial in Frederick, Maryland,
(08:53):
next to the side of his former residence, which will
keep him from fading into obscurity. The first American to
hold the title president may not be totally forgotten, but
don't expect to see John Hanson appearing on dollar bills
or use car advertisements anytime sick.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks to
Christopher Klein is the author of four books and a
frequent contributor to the History Channel. And by the way,
all of our history segments are brought to us by
the great folks at Hillsdale College. Go to Hillsdale dot Edu.
Hanson our first president. Under the Articles of Confederation, there
(09:34):
was so little executive power and just well, America couldn't
operate as thirteen separate countries, and finally, by seventeen eighty seven,
we decided to scrap the old and come up with
our Constitution, which in the end was simply an update
on a flawed model. The story of our nation's forgotten president.
(09:55):
Here on our American Stories.
And we continue with our American stories. Our next story
comes from our regular contributor, Christopher Klein. Whine is the
author of four books and a frequent contributor to the
History Channel. Did you know that there was an American
president before George Washington? Here's Christopher Kleine with a story.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
The sky was as bright as George Washington's resplendid blue
dress uniform as he strode triumphantly into Independence Hall on
November twenty eighth, seventeen eighty one. It was shortly afternoon
in Philadelphia, but it was dawned throughout America. Just weeks earlier,
the British had surrendered at Yorktown, and the newly christened
(00:52):
Government of the United States of America had convened to
elect the fledgling country's first president. It wasn't George Washington,
but John Hanson of Maryland. As Washington entered the chamber
to receive the official recognition of Congress, his gaze fell
upon Hanson, the first man to hold the title President
(01:14):
of the United States in Congress assembled. The man occupying
what Washington called the most important seat in the United States,
rose to his feet and congratulated the General On his
glorious success that effectively ended the American Revolution. Although he
held the nation's highest office nearly a decade before Washington,
(01:36):
don't expect to find John Hanson's image along Old George's
familiar face on quarters, one dollar bills or used car
ads on President's Day. The man, some historians argue, was
truly the country's first president, was long ago swept into
the dust benef history. While Washington has sparked countless tomes,
(01:57):
Hanson has barely inspired footnotes. However, both men led remarkably
parallel lives, only on opposite sides to the Potomac River.
Hanson was born into a prominent family in Port Tobacco, Maryland,
and spent much of his life on a plantation less
than twenty miles away from Washington's beloved Virginia state Mount Vernon.
(02:19):
Both men were prosperous merchants, slave owners, and devout patriots.
Hanson and Washington paid periodic visits to each other's homes
and discussed matters concerning the colony's growing disagreements with the Motherland.
Hanson's political career began in seventeen fifty, when he was
appointed sheriff of Charles County, and in seventeen fifty seven
(02:41):
he was elected to the Maryland General Assembly. America's forgotten
first President. Was one of Maryland's leading opponents of the
Stamp Act and other onerous measures passed by the British Parliament,
and he backed greater rights with colonies. When war broke
out in seventeen seventy five, Hanson was a key figure
in persuading Maryland to back the rebels who had the
(03:02):
British under siege in Boston. He spearheaded the recruitment of
troops and procurement of arms in Frederick County, his new home.
With money scarce, Hanson frequently paid the soldiers with his
own money. Hanson supported independance for the American colonies, and
his family joined in the patriotic cause during the American
Revolution and paid a terrible price. Hanson's eldest son, Alexander,
(03:28):
served Washington as a private secretary, but two of Hanson's
sons would be killed serving in the Coninell Army during
the American Revolution. Son Peter was killed in action defending
Fort Washington, named after George Washington, in November seventeen seventy six.
Hanson's youngest son Samuel, a surgeon on Washington's staff, died
(03:49):
of disease in June seventeen eighty one, in the war's
waning months. He was twenty four. During the early years
of the war, John Hanson served in the Maryland House Delegates,
which named him as a representative to the Second Continental
Congress in seventeen seventy nine. At the time Hanson joined
the Continental Congress, Maryland was alone holdout in ratifying the
(04:11):
Articles of Confederation, the proposed national constitution that required unanimous
consent by all thirteen states. Maryland refused to join until
other states ceded their claims to lands west of the
Appalachian Mountains to the central government, and by some accounts,
Hanson played an important role in getting them to agree.
(04:32):
On March first, seventeen eighty one, Hanson and Daniel Carroll
fixed their signatures to the Articles of Confederation, which created
a new national government for the United States of America.
The Articles also called for the institution of a governing
body the United States and Congress assembled and provided for
the annual election of one of its members at president.
(04:54):
When the Congress met for the initial time on November fifth,
seventeen eighty one its first official act was to unanimously
elect John Hanson to the office. With his health failing
and his heart heavy after the loss of two children
just month before, Hanson would rather have been free to
return home, but he accepted a position out of his
(05:14):
sense of public duty. Hanson's position differed greatly from today's presidency.
It was not an executive office separate from the legislature.
It was more akin to a prime minister in a
parliamentary system. The new president had little executive power and
more closely resembled a presiding officer, but Hanson clearly viewed
(05:35):
his duties as more than merely ceremonial. Based on his
second thoughts on accepting the position. Just eight days after
taking office, he wrote to his son in law, the
load of business which I have very unwillingly and very
imprudently taken on me, I am afraid will be more
than my constitution will be able to bear. The president
(05:56):
offered to resign, but was convinced by his fellow delegates
to remain on the job. Hanson's declining health made it
increasingly difficult to keep up with the job requirements, which
included presiding over sessions receiving foreign ministers, writing correspondence to
state governors and foreign leaders, and signing all laws, treaties,
(06:17):
and official papers. In January seventeen eighty two, Congress agreed
to transfer primary responsibility for writing letters to the States
from Hanson to the Secretary of Congress. It said it
made the move in order that the President may be
relieved from the business with which he is unnecessarily encumbered.
When the President took seriously ill in the spring of
(06:38):
seventeen eighty two, a special measure allowed Carroll to temporarily
preside over the Congress, although he is precluded from signing
official papers. Despite these obstacles, the Congress under Hanson's one
year tenure accomplished much. In the critical months after the
victory at Yorktown. The government chartered a national bank, signed
treaties with Holland and Sweden, law launched the Post Office,
(07:01):
created the Great Seal of the United States, and designated
a last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving. Hanson formed a
quasi cabinet with the first Treasury and Foreign Affairs departments,
and named the country's first Secretary of War and Postmaster General.
With his presidential term complete in November seventeen eighty two,
Hanson retired from Congress, and he passed away little more
(07:24):
than a year later, on November twenty second, seventeen eighty three.
The Articles of Confederation proved to be a bug filled
operating system for America. It was two week to govern
the country and lacked executive in taxing power, but it
set the stage for the vastly improved Constitution two point zero,
and George Washington would be the first president elected under
(07:46):
the United States Constitution. Like a bad childhood memory, the
Articles of Confederation era has been mostly purged from America's
collective history, along with Hanson and the seven men who
succeeded him as President of the United States in Congress
assembled perhaps symbolically, the whereabouts of Hanson's body is a mystery.
(08:08):
Sometime in the nineteen eighties, the corpse went missing from
its crypt and has never been found. He's such an
historical enigma, as some biographies list as birth year as
seventeen fifteen, others seventeen twenty one. The only place where
Hanson's been on equal footing with George Washington is on
top of a pedestal in the United States Capital bronze
(08:30):
statues of both first presidents are part of the National
Statutory Hall collection of Significant Americans. At least for now,
proposals have been floated to replace Hanson's likeness with that
of underground railroad heroine Harriet Tubman. Hanson does have a
highway and middle schools named in his honor in Maryland.
There's also a John Hanson National Memorial in Frederick, Maryland,
(08:53):
next to the side of his former residence, which will
keep him from fading into obscurity. The first American to
hold the title president may not be totally forgotten, but
don't expect to see John Hanson appearing on dollar bills
or use car advertisements anytime sick.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks to
Christopher Klein is the author of four books and a
frequent contributor to the History Channel. And by the way,
all of our history segments are brought to us by
the great folks at Hillsdale College. Go to Hillsdale dot Edu.
Hanson our first president. Under the Articles of Confederation, there
(09:34):
was so little executive power and just well, America couldn't
operate as thirteen separate countries, and finally, by seventeen eighty seven,
we decided to scrap the old and come up with
our Constitution, which in the end was simply an update
on a flawed model. The story of our nation's forgotten president.
(09:55):
Here on our American Stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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