Publication 100 - The United States Postal Service - An American History 1775 - 2006 >
The history of the United States PostalService > Postmasters General
A list of Postmasters General and the names of those who appointed them follows. All appointments by the President were made with the advice and consent of the Senate. Dates prior to 1900 are the dates the Postmasters General were appointed or commissioned. Dates after 1900 are the dates the Postmasters General took office. Italics indicate a carryover from the previous administration.
Postmaster General
|
Date
|
Appointed by
|
Benjamin Franklin
|
July 26, 1775
|
Continental Congress
|
Richard Bache
|
November 7, 1776
|
|
Ebenezer Hazard
|
January 28, 1782
|
|
Samuel Osgood
|
September 26, 1789
|
George Washington
|
Timothy Pickering
|
August 12, 1791
|
|
Joseph Habersham
|
February 25, 1795
|
|
Joseph Habersham
|
...
|
John Adams
|
Joseph Habersham
|
...
|
Thomas Jefferson
|
Gideon Granger
|
November 28, 1801
|
|
Gideon Granger
|
...
|
James Madison
|
Return J. Meigs, Jr.
|
March 17, 1814
|
|
Return J. Meigs, Jr.
|
...
|
James Monroe
|
John McLean
|
June 26, 1823
|
|
John McLean
|
...
|
John Quincy Adams
|
William T. Barry
|
March 9, 1829
|
Andrew Jackson
|
Amos Kendall
|
May 1, 1835
|
|
Amos Kendall
|
...
|
Martin Van Buren
|
John M. Niles
|
May 19, 1840
|
|
Francis Granger
|
March 6, 1841
|
William Henry Harrison
|
Francis Granger
|
...
|
John Tyler
|
Charles A. Wickliffe
|
September 13, 1841
|
|
Cave Johnson
|
March 6, 1845
|
James K. Polk
|
Jacob Collamer
|
March 8, 1849
|
Zachary Taylor
|
Nathan Kelsey Hall
|
July 23, 1850
|
Millard Filmore
|
Samuel D. Hubbard
|
August 31, 1852
|
|
James Campbell
|
March 7, 1853
|
Franklin Pierce
|
Aaron V. Brown
|
March 6, 1857
|
James Buchanan
|
Joseph Holt
|
March 14, 1859
|
|
Horatio King
|
February 12, 1861
|
|
Montgomery Blair
|
March 5, 1861
|
Abraham Lincoln
|
William Dennison
|
September 24, 1864
|
|
William Dennison
|
...
|
Andrew Johnson
|
Alexander W. Randall
|
July 25, 1866
|
|
John A. J. Creswell
|
March 5, 1869
|
Ulysses Grant
|
James W. Marshall
|
July 3, 1874
|
|
Marshall Jewell
|
August 24, 1874
|
|
James N. Tyner
|
July 12, 1876
|
|
David M. Key
|
March 12, 1877
|
Rutherford B. Hayes
|
Horace Maynard
|
August 26, 1880
|
|
Thomas L. James
|
March 5, 1881
|
James A. Garfield
|
Thomas L. James
|
...
|
Chester A. Arthur
|
Timothy O. Howe
|
December 20, 1881
|
|
Walter Q. Gresham
|
April 3, 1883
|
|
Frank Hatton
|
October 14, 1884
|
|
William F. Vilas
|
March 6, 1885
|
Grover Cleveland
|
Don M. Dickinson
|
January 16, 1888
|
|
John Wanamaker
|
March 5, 1889
|
Benjamin Harrison
|
Wilson S. Bissell
|
March 6, 1893
|
Grover Cleveland
|
William L. Wilson
|
March 1, 1895
|
|
James A. Gary
|
March 5, 1897
|
William McKinley
|
Charles Emory Smith
|
April 21, 1898
|
|
Charles Emory Smith
|
...
|
Theodore Roosevelt
|
Henry C. Payne
|
January 15, 1902
|
|
Robert J. Wynne
|
October 10, 1904
|
|
George B. Cortelyou
|
March 7, 1905
|
|
George von L. Meyer
|
March 5, 1907
|
|
Frank H. Hitchcock
|
March 6, 1909
|
William H. Taft
|
Albert S. Burleson
|
March 5, 1913
|
Woodrow Wilson
|
Will H. Hays
|
March 4, 1921
|
Warren G. Harding
|
Hubert Work
|
March 4, 1922
|
|
Harry S. New
|
March 5, 1923
|
|
Harry S. New
|
...
|
Calvin Coolidge
|
Walter F. Brown
|
March 6, 1929
|
Herbert Hoover
|
James A. Farley
|
March 6, 1933
|
Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
Frank C. Walker
|
September 11, 1940
|
|
Frank C. Walker
|
...
|
Harry S. Truman
|
Robert E. Hannegan
|
June 30, 1945
|
|
Jesse M. Donaldson
|
December 16, 1947
|
|
Arthur E. Summerfield
|
January 21, 1953
|
Dwight D. Eisenhower
|
J. Edward Day
|
January 21, 1961
|
John F. Kennedy
|
John A. Gronouski
|
September 30, 1963
|
|
John A. Gronouski
|
...
|
Lyndon B. Johnson
|
Lawrence F. O'Brien
|
November 3, 1965
|
|
W. Marvin Watson
|
April 26, 1968
|
|
Winton M. Blount
|
January 22, 1969
|
Richard M. Nixon
|
Table 100Appointed by the Governors of the United States Postal Service
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
|
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