Falcon84 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 1600 times:
I'm not kidding. In fact, if American History were to be truly accurate, George Washington should be listed as the 8th man to be President of this nation.
I stumbled upon this while reading a chronology of the American Revolutionary War, and was startled that I never heard of this man, nor any of the men who followed after him, when the U.S. was governed under the Articles of Confederation.
Is it fair that history has forgotten 7 men who led this country, as title of President? I know why this is so-because Washington was the first to serve under our present Constitution. But I think it a bit of a disservice that 8 men who were legitimately President of the United States, have simply been forgotton.
SlamClick From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 10039 posts, RR: 75 Reply 1, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 1575 times:
I think Robert Ripley is the first person to tell me this story. Remember "Believe it or Not"
I agree that we need to acknowledge this era in our history and the contributions made by such men, but I'm not sure we need to change Dubya to "Bush 51"
After all, it could be argued that we truly did create a new government and that Washington was the first to preside over that government. It has not been changed since, but only evolved.
I think most Americans, unless they really think about it, envision a President, congress and the Bureau of Land Mangagment all nine-to-fiveing it in Washingtod DC five days a week continuously since July 4th 1776 and that is clearly not the case.
Happiness is not seeing another trite Ste. Maarten photo all week long.
DL021 From United States of America, joined May 2004, 11372 posts, RR: 88 Reply 4, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 1543 times:
I'm of the mind, similar to Slamclick (for which I am seeking counseling), that when we enacted the Constitution in 1787 we truly formed our government. Until then the confederation was a caretaking institution that really did not exert much force on the states. We were lucky to be relatively ignored by outside forces during this time as individual states were not as cohesively organized or led.
Under the Articles of Confederation, which were enacted during the Revolutionary War and considered by many to be an interim measure, the individual states had more power and were responsible for maintaining their own militia and naval forces, as authorized by Congress, and were less encumbered by influence from higher political authority.
So, while the first set of Presidents of the United States (properly titled Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled), who include the following men:
Samuel Huntington
Thomas McKean
John Hanson
Elias Boudinot
Thomas Mifflin
Richard Henry Lee
John Hancock
Nathaniel Gorham
Arthur St. Clair
Cyrus Griffin
were indeed leaders, they were not Presidents as we understand the position of Chief Executive to be.
That said, they put themselves at great personal risk by serving as the head of government during a war that was not definitely won, and would have forfeit their lives had we lost. For their leadership and heroism we owe them respect and admiration. Men like that ensured we would have the freedoms we do now.
KROC From United States of America, joined May 2000, 19737 posts, RR: 82 Reply 5, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 1538 times:
Thanks for the link Falcon. Interesting.
"Never tell anybody outside the family what you're thinking again"
LHMARK From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 7255 posts, RR: 53 Reply 6, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 1533 times:
Were there elections for those guys, or were they appointed?
[Edited 2005-12-01 17:16:45]
"Sympathy is something that shouldn't be bestowed on the Yankees. Apparently it angers them." - Bob Feller
DL021 From United States of America, joined May 2004, 11372 posts, RR: 88 Reply 7, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 1524 times:
Mark...these guys were elected by the congressional delegates.
It would be similar to parliamentary Prime Ministers, in that the leader of the party is the head of state because they were elected to be leader of their party by their fellow party members.
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 11863 posts, RR: 67 Reply 8, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 1522 times:
Somehow the thought of "Seattle, HANSON" just doesn't sit well with me though.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
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