2 Answers

If you're going to get technical, I can do you one better.
The First Continental Congress which existed from September 5th of 1774 to October 26th. Then the Second Continental Congress followed having existed from May 10th of 1775, shortly after the Revolution had begun, till March 1st of 1781, when the Articles of Confederations were ratified. It can be argued that the Presidents of the Continental Congress were the first presidents of the United States, even before the presidents under the Articles of Confederation, then followed by the presidents under the current Constitution.

The following is a list of the Presidents of the Continental Congress.

1. Peyton Randolph Sep. 5, 1774 - Oct. 22, 1774

2. Henry Middleton Oct. 22, 1774 - Oct. 26, 1774

3. Peyton Randolph May 10, 1775 - May 24, 1775

4. John Hancock May 24, 1775 - Oct. 29 1777

5. Henry Laurens Nov. 1, 1777 - Dec. 9, 1778

6. John Jay Dec. 10, 1778 - Sep. 28 1779

7. Samuel Huntington Sep. 28, 1779 - July 10, 1781

8. Thomas McKean July 10, 1781 - Nov. 5 1781

9. John Hanson Nov. 5, 1781 - Nov. 4 1782

10. Elias Boudinot Nov. 4 1782 - Nov. 3, 1783

11. Thomas Mifflin Nov. 3 1783 - June 3 1784

12. Richard Henry Lee Nov. 30, 1784 - Nov. 4, 1785

13. John Hancock Nov. 23, 1785 - June 5 1786

14. Nathaniel Gorham June 6, 1786 - Nov. 3, 1786

15. Arthur St. Clair Feb. 2, 1787 - Nov. 4, 1787

16. Cyrus Griffin Jan. 22 1788 - Nov. 15, 1788

Great, I love it, but weren't they known as the colonies at this time and not the United States? I'm not sure. Also, I've seen two articles on this and they don't mention the others,but both article make the reference to Hanson. Don't you just love this site?

Colleen, I went back to see why those people you listed weren't considered president and it was because the United States didn't exist until the Articles of Confederation was adopted. And it wasn't technical, he was president. The United States has existed under two ruling documents , the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. But, it was the United States under both and there was a president under both and evidently there were five or six others and they all served one year, but I couldn't find their names.