List of Presidents of the Congress under the Articles of Confederation

This article is about the presidents under the United States' first constitution. For the presidents of the Confederate States of America, see President of the Confederate States of America.

The Articles of Confederation were the United States' first written constitution. Eight presidents–mainly figureheads with little political power–served under its laws. One of the presidents, John Hancock, never even entered New York City (the nation's capital at the time) during his term of office. Each president served a one-year term.

Background

These congressional presidents had predecessors under the title of "President of the Continental Congress;" but in 1782, the Articles of Confederation were ratified by the Continental Congress, which changed the body's official name to the Congress of the Confederation (or alternatively, the United States in Congress Assembled.) John Hanson's predecessors, Samuel Huntington and Thomas McKean, were Presidents of the Continental Congress; while the presidents after McKean were Presidents Under the Articles of Confederation. These two offices encompassed different duties and responsibilities. Congress, however, continued to refer to itself simply as the Continental Congress up to the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1788.

Presidents of the Congress under the Articles of Confederation

• John Hanson (1782)
• Elias Boudinot (1783)
• Thomas Mifflin (1784)
• Richard Henry Lee (1785)
• John Hancock (1786)
• Nathan Gorman (1787)
• Arthur St. Clair (1788)
• Cyrus Griffin (1789)

See also

• President of the Continental Congress
• List of United States Presidents