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United States Postmaster General
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Until 1971, the Postmaster General was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office" until the 1820s).[1] From 1829, he was a member of the President's Cabinet and the postmaster was last in the presidential line of succession. The Cabinet post of Postmaster General was often given to a new President's campaign manager or other key political supporter, and was considered something of a sinecure. The Postmaster General was in charge of the party in power's patronage, and was a powerful position which held much influence within the party. Former Postmaster General James Farley used the patronage position of the Postmaster General most effectively during Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal administration, in by which he saw that Roosevelt's first 100 days of legislation were passed by party loyalists within the United States Congress, and that they were rewarded with Federal Patronage for their states. Federal appointments, except for a small handful, were screened by Farley before the President could approve the appointments due to the patronage position of the Postmaster General.
In 1971, the 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. During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America also had a Confederate Post-Office Department, headed by a Postmaster General, John Henninger Reagan.
The current Postmaster General (who is also CEO of the U.S. Postal Service) is John E. Potter.
Contents |
| Name | Date appointed |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin | July 26, 1775 |
| Richard Bache | November 7, 1776 |
| Ebenezer Hazard | January 28, 1782 |
- ^ http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub100/pub100.htm
- ^ Since July 1, 1971, the Postmaster General has been appointed by and serves under the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.
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Pre-federal: Franklin • Bache • Hazard
Cabinet level: Osgood • Pickering • Habersham • G Granger • Meigs • McLean • Barry • Kendall • Niles • F Granger • Wickliffe • Johnson • Collamer • Hall • Hubbard • Campbell • A Brown • Holt • King • Blair • Dennison • Randall • Creswell • Marshall • Jewell • Tyner • Key • Maynard • James • Howe • Gresham • Hatton • Vilas • Dickinson • Wanamaker • Bissell • Wilson • Gary • Smith • Payne • Wynne • Cortelyou • Meyer • Hitchcock • Burleson • Hays • Work • New • W Brown • Farley • Walker • Hannegan • Donaldson • Summerfield • Day • Gronouski • O'Brien • Watson • Blount U.S. Postal Service: Blount • Klassen • Bailar • Bolger • Carlin • Casey • Tisch • Frank • Runyon • Henderson • Potter |
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| Agriculture • Commerce • Defense • Education • Energy • Health and Human Services • Homeland Security • Housing and Urban Development • Interior • Justice • Labor • State • Transportation • Treasury • Veterans Affairs
Past department leaders: Commerce and Labor • Health, Education, and Welfare • Navy • Post Office • War |