Your American History Reference Guide! - United States Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The Postmaster General is the executive head of the United States Postal Service . From 1872 to 1971 , the postmaster general was the head of an executive department concerned with the postal service (the Post Office Department ). During that period, he was a member of the President's Cabinet . The Cabinet office 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 . In 1971 , the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, a government-owned corporation. Thus, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the Cabinet.
During the Civil War , postal services in the Confederacy were provided by the Confederate Post-office Department , headed by Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan .
See also postmaster general .
Postmasters-General under the Continental Congress
Cabinet-level Postmasters-General, 1789-1971
Name Date appointed President(s) served under
Samuel Osgood
September 26 , 1789
Washington
Timothy Pickering
August 12 , 1791
Washington
Joseph Habersham
February 25 , 1795
Washington, Adams , Jefferson
Gideon Granger
November 28 , 1801
Jefferson, Madison
Return J. Meigs, Jr.
March 17 , 1814
Madison, Monroe
John McLean
June 26 , 1823
Monroe, J. Q. Adams
William T. Barry
March 9 , 1829
Jackson
Amos Kendall
May 1 , 1835
Jackson, Van Buren
John M. Niles
May 19 , 1840
Van Buren
Francis Granger
March 6 , 1841
W. H. Harrison , Tyler
Charles A. Wickliffe
September 13 , 1841
Tyler
Cave Johnson
March 6 , 1845
Polk
Jacob Collamer
March 8 , 1849
Taylor
Nathan K. Hall
July 23 , 1850
Fillmore
Samuel D. Hubbard
August 31 , 1852
Fillmore
James Campbell
March 7 , 1853
Pierce
Aaron V. Brown
March 6 , 1857
Buchanan
Joseph Holt
March 14 , 1859
Buchanan
Horatio King
February 12 , 1861
Buchanan
Montgomery Blair
March 5 , 1861
Lincoln
William Dennison
September 24 , 1864
Lincoln, A. Johnson
Alexander W. Randall
July 25 , 1866
A. Johnson
John A. J. Creswell
March 5 , 1869
Grant
James W. Marshall
July 3 , 1874
Grant
Marshall Jewell
August 24 , 1874
Grant
James N. Tyner
July 12 , 1876
Grant
David M. Key
March 12 , 1877
Hayes
Horace Maynard
??? , 1880
Hayes
Thomas L. James
March 5 , 1881
Garfield , Arthur
Timothy O. Howe
December 20 , 1881
Arthur
Walter Q. Gresham
April 3 , 1883
Arthur
Frank Hatton
October 14 , 1884
Arthur
William F. Vilas
March 6 , 1885
Cleveland
Don M. Dickinson
January 6 , 1888
Cleveland
John Wanamaker
March 5 , 1889
B. Harrison
Wilson S. Bissell
March 6 , 1893
Cleveland
William L. Wilson
March 1 , 1895
Cleveland
James A. Gary
March 5 , 1897
McKinley
Charles Emory Smith
April 21 , 1898
McKinley, T. Roosevelt
Henry C. Payne
January 9 , 1902
T. Roosevelt
Robert J. Wynne
October 10 , 1904
T. Roosevelt
George B. Cortelyou
March 6 , 1905
T. Roosevelt
George von L. Meyer
January 15 , 1907
T. Roosevelt
Frank H. Hitchcock
March 5 , 1909
Taft
Albert S. Burleson
March 5 , 1913
Wilson
Will H. Hays
March 5 , 1921
Harding
Hubert Work
March 4 , 1922
Harding
Harry S. New
February 27 , 1923
Harding, Coolidge
Walter F. Brown
March 5 , 1929
Hoover
James A. Farley
March 4 , 1933
F. Roosevelt
Frank C. Walker
September 10 , 1940
F. Roosevelt, Truman
Robert E. Hannegan
May 8 , 1945
Truman
Jesse M. Donaldson
December 16 , 1947
Truman
Arthur E. Summerfield
January 21 , 1953
Eisenhower
J. Edward Day
January 21 , 1961
Kennedy
John A. Gronouski
September 30 , 1963
Kennedy, L. Johnson
Lawrence F. O'Brien
November 3 , 1965
L. Johnson
W. Marvin Watson
April 26 , 1968
L. Johnson
Winton M. Blount
January 22 , 1969
Nixon
Postmasters-General, 1971[1] -present
Name Date appointed
Winton M. Blount
July 1 , 1971
E. T. Klassen
January 1 , 1972
Benjamin F. Bailar
February 16 , 1975
William F. Bolger
March 15 , 1978
Paul N. Carlin
January 1 , 1985
Albert V. Casey
January 7 , 1986
Preston R. Tisch
August 16 , 1986
Anthony M. Frank
March 1 , 1988
Marvin T. Runyon
July 6 , 1992
William J. Henderson
May 16 , 1998
John E. Potter
June 1 , 2001
[1] Since July 1 , 1971 , the Postmaster General has been appointed by and serves under the Governors of the United States Postal Service .
External link