United States Postmaster General

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jump to: navigation, search

The Postmaster General is the executive head of the United States Postal Service. From 1872 to 1971, the postmaster general was the head of an executive department concerned with the postal service (the Post Office Department). During that period, he was a member of the President's Cabinet. The Cabinet office 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. In 1971, the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, a government-owned corporation. Thus, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the Cabinet.

During the Civil War, postal services in the Confederacy were provided by the Confederate Post-office Department, headed by Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan.

Contents

Postmasters-General under the Continental Congress

Name Date appointed
Benjamin Franklin July 26, 1775
Richard Bache November 7, 1776
Ebenezer Hazard January 28, 1782

Cabinet-level Postmasters-General, 1789-1971

Name Date appointed President(s) served under
Samuel Osgood September 26, 1789 Washington
Timothy Pickering August 12, 1791 Washington
Joseph Habersham February 25, 1795 Washington, Adams, Jefferson
Gideon Granger November 28, 1801 Jefferson, Madison
Return J. Meigs, Jr. March 17, 1814 Madison, Monroe
John McLean June 26, 1823 Monroe, J. Q. Adams
William T. Barry March 9, 1829 Jackson
Amos Kendall May 1, 1835 Jackson, Van Buren
John M. Niles May 19, 1840 Van Buren
Francis Granger March 6, 1841 W. H. Harrison, Tyler
Charles A. Wickliffe September 13, 1841 Tyler
Cave Johnson March 6, 1845 Polk
Jacob Collamer March 8, 1849 Taylor
Nathan K. Hall July 23, 1850 Fillmore
Samuel D. Hubbard August 31, 1852 Fillmore
James Campbell March 7, 1853 Pierce
Aaron V. Brown March 6, 1857 Buchanan
Joseph Holt March 14, 1859 Buchanan
Horatio King February 12, 1861 Buchanan
Montgomery Blair March 5, 1861 Lincoln
William Dennison September 24, 1864 Lincoln, A. Johnson
Alexander W. Randall July 25, 1866 A. Johnson
John A. J. Creswell March 5, 1869 Grant
James W. Marshall July 3, 1874 Grant
Marshall Jewell August 24, 1874 Grant
James N. Tyner July 12, 1876 Grant
David M. Key March 12, 1877 Hayes
Horace Maynard June 2, 1880 Hayes
Thomas L. James March 5, 1881 Garfield, Arthur
Timothy O. Howe December 20, 1881 Arthur
Walter Q. Gresham April 3, 1883 Arthur
Frank Hatton October 14, 1884 Arthur
William F. Vilas March 6, 1885 Cleveland
Don M. Dickinson January 6, 1888 Cleveland
John Wanamaker March 5, 1889 B. Harrison
Wilson S. Bissell March 6, 1893 Cleveland
William L. Wilson March 1, 1895 Cleveland
James A. Gary March 5, 1897 McKinley
Charles Emory Smith April 21, 1898 McKinley, T. Roosevelt
Henry C. Payne January 9, 1902 T. Roosevelt
Robert J. Wynne October 10, 1904 T. Roosevelt
George B. Cortelyou March 6, 1905 T. Roosevelt
George von Lengerke Meyer January 15, 1907 T. Roosevelt
Frank H. Hitchcock March 5, 1909 Taft
Albert S. Burleson March 5, 1913 Wilson
Will H. Hays March 5, 1921 Harding
Hubert Work March 4, 1922 Harding
Harry S. New February 27, 1923 Harding, Coolidge
Walter F. Brown March 5, 1929 Hoover
James A. Farley March 4, 1933 F. Roosevelt
Frank C. Walker September 10, 1940 F. Roosevelt, Truman
Robert E. Hannegan May 8, 1945 Truman
Jesse M. Donaldson December 16, 1947 Truman
Arthur E. Summerfield January 21, 1953 Eisenhower
J. Edward Day January 21, 1961 Kennedy
John A. Gronouski September 30, 1963 Kennedy, L. Johnson
Lawrence F. O'Brien November 3, 1965 L. Johnson
W. Marvin Watson April 26, 1968 L. Johnson
Winton M. Blount January 22, 1969 Nixon

Postmasters-General, 1971-present

Name Date appointed[1]
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 T. Runyon July 6, 1992
William J. Henderson May 16, 1998
John E. Potter June 1, 2001

See also

Notes

  1. ^  Since July 1, 1971, the Postmaster General has been appointed by and serves under the Governors of the United States Postal Service.

External links

Personal tools