# United States Postmaster General

The **United States Postmaster General** is the executive head of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first Postmaster General, serving slightly longer than 15 months.

In 1971, the United States Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, a special agency independent of the executive branch. Thus, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the Cabinet and is no longer in line to be President.

## Postmasters General under the Continental Congress

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

Samuel Osgood was the first Postmaster General under the U.S. Constitution.
## Postmasters General under the U.S. Constitution, 1789–1971

| Name | State of Residence | Date appointed | President(s) served under |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Samuel Osgood | New York | September 26, 1789 | Washington |
| Timothy Pickering | Massachusetts | August 12, 1791 | Washington |
| Joseph Habersham | Georgia | February 25, 1795 | Washington, Adams, Jefferson |
| Gideon Granger | Connecticut | November 28, 1801 | Jefferson, Madison |
| Return J. Meigs, Jr. | Ohio | March 17, 1814 | Madison, Monroe |
| John McLean | Ohio | June 26, 1823 | Monroe, J. Q. Adams |

### Cabinet-level Postmasters General

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

## Postmasters general of the U.S. Postal Service, 1971–present

|  | Name | Date appointed | President(s) served under |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 62 | Winton M. Blount | July 1, 1971 | Nixon |
| 63 | E. T. Klassen | January 1, 1972 | Nixon, Ford |
| 64 | Benjamin F. Bailar | February 16, 1975 | Ford, Carter |
| 65 | William F. Bolger | March 15, 1978 | Carter, Reagan |
| 66 | Paul N. Carlin | January 1, 1985 | Reagan |
| 67 | Albert Vincent Casey | January 7, 1986 |
| 68 | Preston Robert Tisch | August 16, 1986 |
| 69 | Anthony M. Frank | March 1, 1988 | Reagan, H.W. Bush |
| 70 | Marvin Travis Runyon | July 6, 1992 | H.W. Bush, Clinton |
| 71 | William J. Henderson | May 16, 1998 | Clinton, Bush |
| 72 | John E. Potter | June 1, 2001 | Bush, Obama |
| 73 | Patrick R. Donahoe | January 14, 2011 | Obama |
| 74 | Megan Brennan | February 1, 2015 | Obama, Trump |
| 75 | Louis DeJoy | June 15, 2020 | Trump, Biden |