U.S. Postmasters General In 1775, the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin Postmaster General (PMG). Franklin had previously served in that post under the Crown. He was followed by his son-in-law, Richard Bache, and Ebenezer Hazard. The first Postmaster General of the new United States of America was Samuel Osgood. Postmasters General continued to be appointed by the President until 1971, when the U.S. Post Office Department was reorganized into the U.S. Postal Service. At that time, the office of Postmaster General was removed from the U.S. Cabinet and from that time on, Postmasters General have been named by the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service. Postmaster General Date appointed Appointed by Benjamin Franklin July 26, 1775 Continental Congress Richard Bache November 7, 1776 ContinentalCongress Ebenezer Hazard January 28, 1782 Continental Congress Samuel Osgood September 26, 1789 George Washington Timothy Pickering August 12, 1791 George Washington Joseph Habersham February 25, 1795 George Washington Gideon Granger November 28, 1801 Thomas Jefferson Return J. Meigs, Jr. March 17, 1814 James Madison John McLean June 26, 1823 James Monroe William T. Barry March 9, 1829 Andrew Jackson Amos Kendall May 1, 1835 Andrew Jackson John M. Niles May 19, 1840 Martin Van Buren Francis Granger March 6, 1841 William Henry Harrison Charles A. Wickliffe September 13, 1841 John Tyler Cave Johnson March 6, 1845 James K. Polk Jacob Collamer March 8, 1849 Zachary Taylor Nathan K. Hall July 23, 1850 Millard Filmore Samuel D. Hubbard August 31, 1852 Millard Filmore James Campbell March 7, 1853 Franklin Pierce Aaron V. Brown March 6, 1857 James Buchanan Joseph Holt March 14, 1859 James Buchanan Horatio King February 12, 1861 James Buchanan Montgomery Blair March 5, 1861 Abraham Lincoln William Dennison September 24, 1864 Abraham Lincoln Alexander W. Randall July 25, 1866 Andrew Johnson John A. J. Creswell March 5, 1869 Ulysses S. Grant James W. Marshall July 3, 1874 Ulysses S. Grant Marshall Jewell August 24, 1874 Ulysses S. Grant James N. Tyner July 12, 1876 Ulysses S. Grant David M. Key March 12, 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes Horace Maynard June 2, 1880 Rutherford B. Hayes Thomas L. James March 5, 1881 James A. Garfield Timothy O. Howe December 20, 1881 Chester A. Arthur Walter Q. Gresham April 3, 1883 Chester A. Arthur Frank Hatton October 14, 1884 Chester A. Arthur William F. Vilas March 6, 1885 Grover Cleveland Don M. Dickinson January 6, 1888 Grover Cleveland John Wanamaker March 5, 1889 Benjamin Harrison Wilson S. Bissell March 6, 1893 Grover Cleveland William L. Wilson March 1, 1895 Grover Cleveland James A. Gary March 5, 1897 William McKinley Charles Emory Smith April 21, 1898 William McKinley Henry C. Payne January 9, 1902 Theodore Roosevelt Robert J. Wynne October 10, 1904 Theodore Roosevelt George B. Cortelyou March 6, 1905 Theodore Roosevelt George von L. Meyer January 15, 1907 Theodore Roosevelt Frank H. Hitchcock March 5, 1909 William H. Taft Albert S. Burleson March 5, 1913 Woodrow Wilson Will H. Hays March 5, 1921 Warren G. Harding Hubert Work March 4, 1922 Warren G. Harding Harry S. New February 27, 1923 Warren G. Harding Walter F. Brown March 5, 1929 Herbert Hoover James A. Farley March 4, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt Frank C. Walker September 10, 1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt Robert E. Hannegan May 8, 1945 Harry S. Truman Jesse M. Donaldson December 16, 1947 Harry S. Truman Arthur E. Summerfield January 21, 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower J. Edward Day January 21, 1961 John F. Kennedy John A. Gronouski September 30, 1963 John F. Kennedy Lawrence F. O'Brien November 3, 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson W. Marvin Watson April 26, 1968 Lyndon B. Johnson Winton M. Blount January 22, 1969 Richard M. Nixon (1969) Governors of the USPS (1971) E. T. Klassen January 1, 1972 Governors of the USPS Benjamin F. Bailar February 16, 1975 Governors of the USPS William F. Bolger March 15, 1978 Governors of the USPS Paul N. Carlin January 1, 1985 Governors of the USPS Albert V. Casey January 7, 1986 Governors of the USPS Preston R. Tisch August 16, 1986 Governors of the USPS Anthony M. Frank March 1, 1988 Governors of the USPS Marvin T. Runyon July 6, 1992 Governors of the USPS William J. Henderson May 16, 1998 Governors of the USPS John E. Potter June 1, 2001 Governors of the USPS

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