page_title: List of presidents of the National Rifle Association
section_title: Presidents of the National Rifle Association
hierarchical_section_title: List of presidents of the National Rifle Association / Presidents of the National Rifle Association
caption_attribution_description: Ambrose Burnside. Library of Congress description: "Burnside, Hon. Ambrose of R.I."
context_page_description: The position of president of the National Rifle Association is a symbolic figurehead role, which dates back to the organization's foundation in New York on 17 November 1871. Founded by George Wood Wingate and William Conant Church, two Union veterans dismayed by the lack of shooting skills among recruits, the rifle association voted to have Union general Ambrose Burnside as its first president. Church succeeded Burnside as the second president of the organization, and Wingate would become the tenth in 1886.
  Throughout its history, presidents have served purposes ranging from providing the NRA greater legitimacy to provoking outrage and condemnation. Since the 1990s, some NRA presidents have made controversial statements such as when James W. Porter II referred to Barack Obama as a "fake president" and when Charlton Heston proclaimed to gun control advocates that they could only have his firearm after taking it "from my cold, dead hands."
  While once elected at the annual convention, as of 2019, NRA presidents are chosen by the board of directors. They generally serve out two one-year terms.
caption: Ambrose Burnside was the first president of the NRA.
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