United States Postmaster General

Postmaster General of the United States Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service
Incumbent Megan Brennan since February 1, 2015
United States Postal Service
Appointer	Board of Governors
Term length	Indefinite
Inaugural holder	Benjamin Franklin
Formation	1775
Deputy	Ronald A. Stroman
Salary	$276,840^[1]
Website	about.usps.com/leadership

The Postmaster General of the United States is the chief executive officer 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 in 1775, serving just over 15 months.

Until 1971, the postmaster general was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office" until the 1820s).^[2] From 1829 to 1971, he was a member of the President's Cabinet.

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 governing party's patronage, and was a powerful position which held much influence within the party.

In 1971, the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, an independent agency of the executive branch. Thus, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the Cabinet and is no longer in Presidential succession.

The Postmaster General is the second-highest paid U.S. government official, based on publicly available salary information, after the President of the United States.^[3]

Postmasters General under the Continental Congress

Name	Date appointed
Benjamin Franklin	July 26, 1775
Richard Bache	November 7, 1776
Ebenezer Hazard	January 28, 1782

Samuel Osgood (1747–1813)

Postmasters general over the U.S. Post Office Department, 1789–1971

As non-Cabinet department, 1789–1829

Name	State of Residence	Date appointed	President(s) served under
Samuel Osgood (pictured right)	Massachusetts	September 26, 1789	Washington
Timothy Pickering	Pennsylvania^[4]	August 12, 1791	Washington
Joseph Habersham	Georgia	February 25, 1795	Washington, Adams, Jefferson
Gideon Granger	Connecticut	November 28, 1801	Jefferson, Madison
Return J. Meigs, Jr.	Ohio	March 17, 1814	Madison, Monroe
John McLean	Ohio	June 26, 1823	Monroe, J. Q. Adams

As cabinet department, 1829–1971

Name	State of Residence	Date appointed	President(s) served under
William T. Barry	Kentucky	March 9, 1829	Jackson
Amos Kendall	Kentucky	May 1, 1835	Jackson, Van Buren
John M. Niles	Connecticut	May 19, 1840	Van Buren
Francis Granger	New York	March 6, 1841	W. H. Harrison, Tyler
Charles A. Wickliffe	Kentucky	September 13, 1841	Tyler
Cave Johnson	Tennessee	March 6, 1845	Polk
Jacob Collamer	Vermont	March 8, 1849	Taylor
Nathan K. Hall	New York	July 23, 1850	Fillmore
Samuel Dickinson Hubbard	Connecticut	August 31, 1852	Fillmore
James Campbell	Pennsylvania	March 7, 1853	Pierce
Aaron V. Brown	Tennessee	March 6, 1857	Buchanan
Joseph Holt	Kentucky	March 14, 1859	Buchanan
Horatio King	Maine	February 12, 1861	Buchanan
Montgomery Blair	District of Columbia	March 5, 1861	Lincoln
William Dennison	Ohio	September 24, 1864	Lincoln, A. Johnson
Alexander W. Randall	Wisconsin	July 25, 1866	A. Johnson
John A. J. Creswell	Maryland	March 5, 1869	Grant
James W. Marshall	Virginia	July 3, 1874	Grant
Marshall Jewell	Connecticut	August 24, 1874	Grant
James N. Tyner	Indiana	July 12, 1876	Grant
David M. Key	Tennessee	March 12, 1877	Hayes
Horace Maynard	Tennessee	June 2, 1880	Hayes
Thomas L. James	New York	March 5, 1881	Garfield, Arthur
Timothy O. Howe	Wisconsin	December 20, 1881	Arthur
Walter Q. Gresham	Indiana	April 3, 1883	Arthur
Frank Hatton	Iowa	October 14, 1884	Arthur
William F. Vilas	Wisconsin	March 6, 1885	Cleveland
Donald M. Dickinson	Michigan	January 6, 1888	Cleveland
John Wanamaker	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1889	B. Harrison
Wilson S. Bissell	New York	March 6, 1893	Cleveland
William L. Wilson	West Virginia	March 1, 1895	Cleveland
James A. Gary	Maryland	March 5, 1897	McKinley
Charles Emory Smith	Pennsylvania	April 21, 1898	McKinley, T. Roosevelt
Henry C. Payne	Wisconsin	January 9, 1902	T. Roosevelt
Robert J. Wynne	Pennsylvania	October 10, 1904	T. Roosevelt
George B. Cortelyou	New York	March 6, 1905	T. Roosevelt
George von L. Meyer	Massachusetts	January 15, 1907	T. Roosevelt
Frank H. Hitchcock	Massachusetts	March 5, 1909	Taft
Albert S. Burleson	Texas	March 5, 1913	Wilson
Will H. Hays	Indiana	March 5, 1921	Harding
Hubert Work	Colorado	March 4, 1922	Harding
Harry S. New	Indiana	February 27, 1923	Harding, Coolidge
Walter F. Brown	Ohio	March 5, 1929	Hoover
James A. Farley	New York	March 4, 1933	F. Roosevelt
Frank C. Walker	Pennsylvania	September 10, 1940	F. Roosevelt, Truman
Robert E. Hannegan	Missouri	May 8, 1945	Truman
Jesse M. Donaldson	Missouri	December 16, 1947	Truman
Arthur E. Summerfield	Michigan	January 21, 1953	Eisenhower
J. Edward Day	California	January 21, 1961	Kennedy
John A. Gronouski	Wisconsin	September 30, 1963	Kennedy, L. Johnson
Lawrence F. O'Brien	Massachusetts	November 3, 1965	L. Johnson
W. Marvin Watson	Texas	April 26, 1968	L. Johnson
Winton M. Blount	Alabama	January 22, 1969	Nixon

Postmasters General over the U.S. Postal Service, 1971–present

Name	Date appointed^[5]
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 Vincent Casey	January 7, 1986
Preston Robert Tisch	August 16, 1986
Anthony M. Frank	March 1, 1988
Marvin Travis Runyon	July 6, 1992
William J. Henderson	May 16, 1998
John E. Potter	June 1, 2001
Patrick R. Donahoe	January 14, 2011
Megan Brennan	February 1, 2015

Living former Postmasters General

As of October 2014, there are six living former Postmasters General, the oldest being W. Marvin Watson (1968–1969, born 1924). The most recent Postmaster General to pass away was Preston Robert Tisch (1986–1988), on November 15, 2005.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
W. Marvin Watson	1968–1969	(1924-06-06) June 6, 1924
Benjamin F. Bailar	1975–1978	(1934-04-21) April 21, 1934
Paul N. Carlin	1985–1986	(1931-08-25) August 25, 1931
Anthony M. Frank	1988–1992	(1931-05-31) May 31, 1931
William J. Henderson	1998–2001	(1947-06-16) June 16, 1947
John E. Potter	2001–2010	1956 (aged 57–58)
Patrick R. Donahoe	2011–2015	c1955

Notes

↑ O'Keefe, Ed (May 10, 2011). "Salaries of top Postal Service executives revealed". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
↑ Publication 100 – The United States Postal Service: An American History 1775–2006. United States Postal Service, May 2007. Also available in PDF format.
↑ Michael B. Sauter and Jon C. Ogg. "The 10 Highest-Paid Government Jobs". 24/7WallSt.com. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
↑
↑ Since July 1, 1971, the Postmaster General has been appointed by and serves under the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.

External links

United States Postmasters General

Confederal	Franklin Bache Hazard

Federal	Osgood Pickering Habersham G. Granger Meigs McLean

Cabinet level Post Office Department	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 Donahoe Brennan

Leaders of the United States federal executive departments

Current	Agriculture Commerce Defense Education Energy Health and Human Services Homeland Security Housing and Urban Development Interior Justice Labor State Transportation Treasury Veterans Affairs

Past	Commerce and Labor Health, Education, and Welfare Navy Post Office War

Benjamin Franklin

January 6, 1706 – April 17, 1790 President of Pennsylvania (1785–1788), Ambassador to France (1779–1785) Second Continental Congress (1775–1776)

Founding of the United States	'Join, or Die' (1754 political cartoon) Albany Plan of Union Albany Congress Hutchinson Letters Affair Committee of Secret Correspondence Committee of Five Declaration of Independence Model Treaty Franco-American alliance Treaty of Amity and Commerce Treaty of Alliance Staten Island Peace Conference Treaty of Paris, 1783 Delegate, 1787 Constitutional Convention Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly Postmaster General Founding Fathers

Inventions, other events	Franklin's electrostatic machine Bifocals Franklin stove Glass armonica Gulf Stream exploration, naming, and chart Lightning rod Kite experiment Pay it forward Associators 111th Infantry Regiment Junto club American Philosophical Society Library Company of Philadelphia Pennsylvania Hospital The Academy and College of Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Contributionship Union Fire Company Early American currency United States Postal Service President, Pennsylvania Abolition Society Master, Les Neuf Sœurs Other social contributions and studies Gravesite

Writings	Silence Dogood letters (1722) A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain (1725) Pennsylvania Gazette (1729–1790) Poor Richard's Almanack (1732–1758) "Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress" (1745) "The Speech of Polly Baker" (1747) Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc. (1751) Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1751) Birch letters (1755) The Way to Wealth (1758) Pennsylvania Chronicle (1767) Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One (1773) Proposed alliance with the Iroquois (1775) A Letter To A Royal Academy (1781) Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America (1784) The Morals of Chess (1786) An Address to the Public (1789) A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks (1789) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1771–90, pub. 1791) Bagatelles and Satires (pub. 1845) Franklin as a journalist

Legacy	Franklin Court Benjamin Franklin House Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Franklin Institute Benjamin Franklin Medal Depicted in The Apotheosis of Washington Benjamin Franklin statue, Washington D.C. In popular culture Ben and Me (1953 short) Ben Franklin in Paris (1964 musical play) 1776 (1969 musical 1972 film) Benjamin Franklin (1974 miniseries) Liberty! (1997 documentary series) Liberty's Kids (2002 animated series) Benjamin Franklin (2002 documentary series) John Adams (2008 miniseries) Sons of Liberty (2015 miniseries) Sons of Ben (supporters group for the Philadelphia Union soccer club Franklin half dollar One-hundred dollar bill Washington-Franklin stamps other stamps Cities, counties, schools named for Franklin Franklin Field State of Franklin Ships named USS Franklin Ben Franklin effect

Related	Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment The New-England Courant The American Museum magazine American Revolution patriots Syng inkstand

Family	Deborah Read (wife) Sarah Franklin Bache (daughter) Francis Franklin (son) William Franklin (son) Richard Bache Jr. (grandson) Benjamin F. Bache (grandson) Louis F. Bache (grandson) William Franklin (grandson) Andrew Harwood (great-grandson) Alexander Bache (great-grandson) Josiah Franklin (father) Jane Mecom (sister) James Franklin (brother) Mary Morrill (grandmother) Peter Foulger (grandfather) Richard Bache (son-in-law) Ann Smith Franklin (sister-in-law)

Commons Wikibooks Wikiquote Wikisource texts American Revolutionary War Portal

Government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation

Congresses	1st Continental Congress 2nd Continental Congress The US in Congress Assembled Delegates Committee of the States

Congressional Officers	President Secretary

Civil Officers	Postmaster General Superintendent of Finance/Agent of the Marine Secretary at War Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Military	Board of War Continental Army Commander in Chief Continental Navy Continental Marines

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