# History of the American Legion

The history of The American Legion, a U.S. war veterans' organization headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, began in Paris, France, March 15 to 17, 1919, by a thousand commissioned officers and enlisted men, delegates from all the units of the American Expeditionary Forces to an organization caucus meeting, which adopted a tentative constitution and selected the name "American Legion." It was subsequently chartered by the 66th U.S. Congress on September 16, 1919.

### List of founding members

The men who initiated the formation of the Legion:
* Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., of the First Division
* Colonel Henry D. Lindsley, formerly Mayor of Dallas, Texas
* Sergeant John J. Sullivan, of Seattle
* Lieutenant Colonel Franklin D'Olier, of Philadelphia
* Ex-Senator Luke Lea, of Tennessee
* Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Huidekoper, of Washington, D.C.
* Major Redmond C. Stewart, of Baltimore
* Wagoner Dale Shaw, of Iowa
* Lieutenant Colonel George A. White, of Oregon
* "Bill" Donovan, of the "Fighting 69th"
* Major Thomas R. Gowenlock, of Illinois
* Lieutenant Earl B. Dickerson, of the 92nd Division
* Sergeant Alvin York, of Tennessee
* Colonel John Price Jackson, of the S.O.S.
* Lieutenant Colonel "Jack" Greenway, of Arizona
* Sergeant Roy C. Haines, of Maine
* G. Edward Buxton, Jr., of Rhode Island
* Eric Fisher Wood, of Pennsylvania
* Chaplain John W. Inzer, of Alabama
* Lieutenant Colonel David M. Goodrich, of Akron
* Chief Petty Officer B. J. Goldberg, of Chicago
* "Tom" Miller, of Delaware
* Major Alex. Laughlin, Jr., of Pittsburgh
* Major Henry Leonard, of the Marine Corps
* Dwight F. Davis, of the 35th Division
* Corporal Charles S. Pew, of Montana
* Brigadier General William G. Price, of the 28th Division
* Bishop Charles H. Brent, Senior Chaplain of the A.E.F.
* Major General John F. O'Ryan, of the 27th Division
* Stewart Edward White, of California
* Private Jesus M. Baca, of New Mexico
* Brigadier General Charles H. Cole, of the 26th Division
* Sergeant E. L. Malsbary, of Nevada
* Lieutenant Samuel Gompers, Jr., of New York
* Colonel Henry L. Stimson, Ex-Secretary of War
* Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey, Commander of the "Lost Battalion"
* Roy Hoffman, of Oklahoma
* Lieutenant Colonel A. Piatt Andrew, of the American Ambulance in France
* Brigadier General Harvey J. Moss, of the State of Washington
* John MacVicar, Mayor of Des Moines before the War
* Sergeant George H. H. Pratt, of New Orleans
* Colonel F. W. Galbraith, of Cincinnati
* Corporal Joseph H. Fountain, of Vermont
* Devereux Milburn, of the 78th Division
* Lieutenant Colonel Wilbur Smith, of the 89th Division
* Sergeant Theodore Myers, of Pennsylvania
* Colonel Bennett C. Clark, son of Champ Clark
* Robert Bacon, Ex-Secretary of State
* Major Horatio N. Jackson, of Vermont

## Notable members

Notable members of The American Legion have included:
* Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States
* Harry Truman, 33rd President of the United States
* Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
* John Kennedy, 35th President of the United States
* Lyndon Johnson, 36th President of the United States
* Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States
* Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States
* Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States
* Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States
* George Bush, 41st President of the United States
* George Bush, 43rd President of the United States
* General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Medal of Honor recipient
* General George Patton, Jr., two-time Distinguished Service Cross recipient
* Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Medal of Honor recipient
* Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, Medal of Honor recipient
* Sergeant Alvin York, Medal of Honor recipient
* Humphrey Bogart, Academy Award winner
* Clark Gable, Academy Award winner

## List of national commanders

* Franklin D'Olier, of Pennsylvania, 1919–1920
* Frederic W. Galbraith, Jr., of Ohio, 1920–1921
* John G. Emery, of Michigan, 1921
* Hanford MacNider, of Iowa, 1921–1922
* Alvin M. Owsley, of Texas, 1922–1923
* John R. Quinn, of California, 1923–1924
* James A. Drain, of Washington, 1924–1925
* John R. McQuigg, of Ohio, 1925–1926
* Howard P. Savage, of Illinois, 1926–1927
* Edward E. Spafford, of New York, 1927–1928
* Paul V. McNutt, of Indiana, 1928–1929
* O. L. Bodenhamer, of Arkansas, 1929–1930
* Ralph T. O'Neil, of Kansas, 1930–1931
* Henry L. Stevens, Jr., of North Carolina, 1931–1932
* Louis A. Johnson, of West Virginia, 1932–1933
* Edward A. Hayes, of Illinois, 1933–1934
* Frank N. Belgrano, of California, 1934–1935
* Ray Murphy, of Iowa, 1935–1936
* Harry W. Colmery, of Kansas, 1936–1937
* Daniel J. Doherty, of Massachusetts, 1937–1938
* Stephen F. Chadwick, of Washington, 1938–1939
* Raymond J. Kelly, of Michigan, 1939–1940
* Milo J. Warner, of Ohio, 1940–1941
* Lynn U. Stambaugh, of North Dakota, 1941–1942
* Roane Waring, of Tennessee, 1942–1943
* Warren H. Atherton, of California, 1943–1944
* Edward N. Scheiberling, of New York, 1944–1945
* John Stelle, of Illinois, 1945–1946
* Paul H. Griffith, of Pennsylvania, 1946–1947
* James F. O'Neill, of New Hampshire, 1947–1948
* S. Perry Brown, of Texas, 1948–1949
* George N. Craig, of Indiana, 1949–1950
* Erle Cocke, Jr., of Georgia, 1950–1951
* Donald R. Wilson, of West Virginia, 1951–1952
* Lewis K. Gough, of California, 1952–1953
* Arthur J. Connell, of Connecticut, 1953–1954
* Seaborn P. Collins, of New Mexico, 1954–1955
* J. Addington Wagner, of Michigan, 1955–1956
* Dan Daniel, of Virginia, 1956–1957
* John S. Gleason, Jr., of Illinois, 1957–1958
* Preston J. Moore, of Oklahoma, 1958–1959
* Martin B. McKneally, of New York, 1959–1960
* William R. Burke, of California, 1960–1961
* Charles L. Bacon, of Missouri, 1961–1962
* James E. Powers, of Georgia, 1962–1963
* Daniel F. Foley, of Minnesota, 1963–1964
* Donald E. Johnson, of Iowa, 1964–1965
* L. Eldon James, of Virginia, 1965–1966
* John E. Davis, of North Dakota, 1966–1967
* William E. Galbraith, of Nebraska, 1967–1968
* William C. Doyle, of New Jersey, 1968–1969
* J. Milton Patrick, of Oklahoma, 1969–1970
* Alfred P. Chamie, of California, 1970–1971
* John H. Geiger, of Illinois, 1971–1972
* Joe L. Matthews, of Texas, 1972–1973
* Robert E. L. Eaton, of Maryland, 1972–1973
* James M. Wagonseller, of Ohio, 1974–1975
* Harry G. Wiles, of Kansas, 1975–1976
* William J. Rogers, of Maine, 1976–1977
* Robert C. Smith, of Louisiana, 1977–1978
* John M. Carey, of Michigan, 1978–1979
* Frank I. Hamilton, of Indiana, 1979–1980
* Michael J. Kogutek, of New York, 1980–1981
* Jack W. Flynt, of Texas, 1981–1982
* Al Keller, Jr., of Illinois, 1982–1983
* Keith A. Kreul, of Wisconsin, 1983–1984
* Clarence M. Bacon, of Maryland, 1984–1985
* Dale L. Renaud, of Iowa, 1985–1986
* James P. Dean, of Mississippi, 1986–1987
* John P. Comer, of Massachusetts, 1987–1988
* H. F. Gierke III, of North Dakota, 1988–1989
* Miles S. Epling, of West Virginia, 1989–1990
* Robert S. Turner, of Georgia, 1990–1991
* Dominic D. DiFrancesco, of Pennsylvania, 1991–1992
* Roger A. Munson, of Ohio, 1992–1993
* Bruce Thiesen, of California, 1993–1994
* William M. Detweiler, of Louisiana, 1994–1995
* Daniel A. Ludwig, of Minnesota, 1995–1996
* Joseph J. Frank, of Missouri, 1996–1997
* Anthony G. Jordan, of Maine, 1997–1998
* Harold L. Miller, of Virginia, 1998–1999
* Alan G. Lance, Sr., of Idaho, 1999–2000
* Ray G. Smith, of North Carolina, 2000–2001
* Richard J. Santos, of Maryland, 2001–2002
* Ronald F. Conley, of Pennsylvania, 2002–2003
* John A. Brieden III, of Texas, 2003–2004
* Thomas P. Cadmus, of Michigan, 2004–2005
* Thomas L. Bock, of Colorado, 2005–2006
* Paul A. Morin, of Massachusetts, 2006–2007
* Martin F. Conatser, of Illinois, 2007–2008
* David K. Rehbein, of Iowa, 2008–2009
* Clarence E. Hill, of Florida, 2009–2010
* Jimmie L. Foster, of Alaska, 2010–2011
* Fang A. Wong, of New York, 2011–2012
* James E. Koutz, of Indiana, 2012–2013
* Daniel Dellinger, of Virginia, 2013–2014
* Michael D. Helm, of Nebraska, 2014–2015
* Dale Barnett, of Georgia, 2015–2016
* Charles E. Schmidt, of Oregon, 2016–2017
* Denise H. Rohan, of Wisconsin, 2017–2018
* Brett P. Reistad, of Virginia, 2018–2019
* James W. Oxford, of North Carolina, 2019–2021
* Paul E. Dillard, of Texas, 2021–2022
* Vincent J. Troiola, of New York, 2022–2023
* Rev. Daniel J. Seehafer, of Wisconsin, 2023–2024

## List of honorary commanders

* Marshal Ferdinand Foch, of the French Army
* General John J. Pershing, Commander in Chief of the A.E.F.

## List of past national commanders by vote of national conventions

* Henry D. Lindsley, of Texas, 1919
* Milton J. Foreman, of Illinois, 1921
* Bennett Champ Clark, of Missouri, 1926
* Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., of New York, 1949
* Eric Fisher Wood, of Pennsylvania, 1955
* Thomas W. Miller, of Nevada, 1968
* Maurice Stember, of New York, 1975
* Hamilton Fish III, of New York, 1979
* E. Roy Stone, Jr., of South Carolina, 1987
* Robert W. Spanogle, of Michigan, 2008