United States Postmaster General

The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS).^[2] The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency.

United States Postmaster General
Incumbent Louis DeJoy since June 16, 2020
United States Postal Service
Style	Postmaster General
Status	Chief executive
Member of	Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service
Seat	475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C. 20260
Appointer	Board of Governors
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	39 U.S.C. § 203
Formation	1775
First holder	Benjamin Franklin
Deputy	Deputy Postmaster General
Salary	$303,460[1]

The PMG is selected and appointed by the Board of Governors of the Postal Service, which is appointed by the president. The postmaster general then also sits on the board. The PMG does not serve at the president's pleasure and can only be dismissed by the Board of Governors.^[3] The appointment of the postmaster general does not require Senate confirmation.^[4][5] The governors and the postmaster general elect the deputy postmaster general.

The current officeholder is Louis DeJoy, who was appointed on June 16, 2020.^[6]

History

The office of U.S. postmaster general dates back to country's founding. The first position, during the colonial-era British America, was that of Postmaster General. Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first postmaster general in 1775; he had previously served as deputy postmaster for the Thirteen Colonies since 1753.^[7] The formal office of the United States postmaster general was established by act of government on September 22, 1789.^[8]

From 1829 to 1971, the postmaster general was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office" until the 1820s.^{[9]: 60–65}) and was a member of the president's Cabinet. During that era, the postmaster general was appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.^[9]: 120

After passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883 and prior to the passage of the Hatch Act of 1939,^[10] the postmaster general was in charge of the governing party's patronage and was a powerful position which held much influence within the party, as exemplified by James Farley's tenure from 1933 to 1940 under Franklin D. Roosevelt.^[11]

After the spoils system was reformed, the position remained a Cabinet post, and it was often given to a new president's campaign manager or other key political supporters, including Arthur Summerfield, W. Marvin Watson, and Larry O'Brien, each who played important roles organizing the campaigns of presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, respectively, and was considered something of a sinecure. Poet and literary scholar Charles Olson, who served as a Democratic National Committee official during the 1944 U.S. presidential election, declined the position in January 1945.

In 1971, the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, an independent agency of the executive branch, and the postmaster general was no longer a member of the Cabinet^[12] nor in line of presidential succession.

The postmaster general is now appointed by the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service, not appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.^{[9]: 120 [13]}

List of postmasters general

Under the Continental Congress (1775–1789)

Name		Start	End
	Benjamin Franklin	July 26, 1775	November 7, 1776
	Richard Bache	November 7, 1776	January 28, 1782
	Ebenezer Hazard	January 28, 1782	September 26, 1789

US Post Office Department (1789–1971)

As non-Cabinet department (1789–1829)

Parties

  Independent   Federalist   Democratic-Republican

Name			State	Start	End	President(s)
		Samuel Osgood	Massachusetts	September 26, 1789	August 12, 1791		George Washington
		Timothy Pickering	Pennsylvania	August 12, 1791	January 1, 1795		George Washington
		Joseph Habersham	Georgia	February 25, 1795	November 28, 1801		George Washington
							John Adams
							Thomas Jefferson
		Gideon Granger	Connecticut	November 28, 1801	March 17, 1814		Thomas Jefferson
							James Madison
		Return Meigs	Ohio	March 17, 1814	June 26, 1823		James Madison
							James Monroe
		John McLean	Ohio	June 26, 1823	March 4, 1829		James Monroe
							John Quincy Adams

As cabinet department (1829–1971)

Parties

  Democratic   Whig   Republican

Name			State	Start	End	President(s)
		William Barry	Kentucky	March 9, 1829	April 10, 1835		Andrew Jackson
		Amos Kendall	Kentucky	May 1, 1835	May 18, 1840		Andrew Jackson
							Martin Van Buren
		John Niles	Connecticut	May 19, 1840	March 4, 1841		Martin Van Buren
		Francis Granger	New York	March 6, 1841	September 18, 1841		William Henry Harrison
							John Tyler
		Charles Wickliffe	Kentucky	September 18, 1841	March 4, 1845		John Tyler
		Cave Johnson	Tennessee	March 6, 1845	March 4, 1849		James K. Polk
		Jacob Collamer	Vermont	March 8, 1849	July 22, 1850		Zachary Taylor
		Nathan Hall	New York	July 23, 1850	August 31, 1852		Millard Fillmore
		Samuel Hubbard	Connecticut	August 31, 1852	March 4, 1853		Millard Fillmore
		James Campbell	Pennsylvania	March 7, 1853	March 4, 1857		Franklin Pierce
		Aaron Brown	Tennessee	March 6, 1857	March 8, 1859		James Buchanan
		Joseph Holt	Kentucky	March 9, 1859	December 31, 1860		James Buchanan
		Horatio King	Maine	February 12, 1861	March 4, 1861		James Buchanan
		Montgomery Blair	District of Columbia	March 5, 1861	September 24, 1864		Abraham Lincoln
		William Dennison	Ohio	September 24, 1864	July 25, 1866		Abraham Lincoln
							Andrew Johnson
		Alexander Randall	Wisconsin	July 25, 1866	March 4, 1869		Andrew Johnson
		John Creswell	Maryland	March 5, 1869	June 22, 1874		Ulysses S. Grant
		James Marshall	Virginia	July 3, 1874	August 24, 1874		Ulysses S. Grant
		Marshall Jewell	Connecticut	August 24, 1874	July 12, 1876		Ulysses S. Grant
		James Tyner	Indiana	July 12, 1876	March 3, 1877		Ulysses S. Grant
		David Key	Tennessee	March 12, 1877	June 2, 1880		Rutherford B. Hayes
		Horace Maynard	Tennessee	June 2, 1880	March 4, 1881		Rutherford B. Hayes
		Thomas James	New York	March 5, 1881	December 20, 1881		James A. Garfield
							Chester A. Arthur
		Timothy Howe	Wisconsin	December 20, 1881	March 25, 1883		Chester A. Arthur
		Walter Gresham	Indiana	April 3, 1883	September 4, 1884		Chester A. Arthur
		Frank Hatton	Iowa	October 14, 1884	March 4, 1885		Chester A. Arthur
		William Vilas	Wisconsin	March 6, 1885	January 6, 1888		Grover Cleveland
		Donald Dickinson	Michigan	January 6, 1888	March 4, 1889		Grover Cleveland
		John Wanamaker	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1889	March 4, 1893		Benjamin Harrison
		Wilson Bissell	New York	March 6, 1893	March 1, 1895		Grover Cleveland
		William Wilson	West Virginia	March 1, 1895	March 4, 1897		Grover Cleveland
		James Gary	Maryland	March 5, 1897	April 21, 1898		William McKinley
		Charles Smith	Pennsylvania	April 21, 1898	January 8, 1902		William McKinley
							Theodore Roosevelt
		Henry Payne	Wisconsin	January 9, 1902	October 4, 1904		Theodore Roosevelt
		Robert Wynne	Pennsylvania	October 10, 1904	March 5, 1905		Theodore Roosevelt
		George Cortelyou	New York	March 6, 1905	January 14, 1907		Theodore Roosevelt
		George Meyer	Massachusetts	January 15, 1907	March 4, 1909		Theodore Roosevelt
		Frank Hitchcock	Massachusetts	March 5, 1909	March 4, 1913		William Howard Taft
		Albert Burleson	Texas	March 5, 1913	March 4, 1921		Woodrow Wilson
		Will Hays	Indiana	March 5, 1921	March 3, 1922		Warren G. Harding
		Hubert Work	Colorado	March 4, 1922	March 4, 1923		Warren G. Harding
		Harry New	Indiana	March 4, 1923	March 3, 1929		Warren G. Harding
							Calvin Coolidge
		Walter Brown	Ohio	March 5, 1929	March 4, 1933		Herbert Hoover
		James Farley	New York	March 4, 1933	September 10, 1940		Franklin D. Roosevelt
		Frank Walker	Pennsylvania	September 10, 1940	May 8, 1945		Franklin D. Roosevelt
							Harry S. Truman
		Robert Hannegan	Missouri	May 8, 1945	December 15, 1947		Harry S. Truman
		Jesse Donaldson	Missouri	December 16, 1947	January 20, 1953		Harry S. Truman
		Arthur Summerfield	Michigan	January 21, 1953	January 20, 1961		Dwight D. Eisenhower
		Edward Day	California	January 21, 1961	August 9, 1963		John F. Kennedy
		John Gronouski	Wisconsin	September 30, 1963	November 2, 1965		John F. Kennedy
							Lyndon B. Johnson
		Larry O'Brien	Massachusetts	November 3, 1965	April 10, 1968		Lyndon B. Johnson
		Marvin Watson	Texas	April 26, 1968	January 20, 1969		Lyndon B. Johnson
		Winton Blount	Alabama	January 22, 1969	January 1, 1971		Richard Nixon

US Postal Service (1971–present)

Name		Start[14]	End	President(s)
	Winton Blount	January 1, 1971	January 1, 1972		Richard Nixon
	Ted Klassen	January 1, 1972	February 16, 1975		Richard Nixon
					Gerald Ford
	Benjamin Bailar	February 16, 1975	March 15, 1978		Gerald Ford
					Jimmy Carter
	William Bolger	March 15, 1978	January 1, 1985		Jimmy Carter
					Ronald Reagan
	Paul Carlin	January 1, 1985	January 7, 1986		Ronald Reagan
	Albert Casey	January 7, 1986	August 16, 1986		Ronald Reagan
	Preston Tisch	August 16, 1986	March 1, 1988		Ronald Reagan
	Anthony Frank	March 1, 1988	July 6, 1992		Ronald Reagan
					George H. W. Bush
	Marvin Runyon	July 6, 1992	May 16, 1998		George H. W. Bush
					Bill Clinton
	William Henderson	May 16, 1998	May 31, 2001		Bill Clinton
					George W. Bush
	John Potter	June 1, 2001	December 6, 2010		George W. Bush
					Barack Obama
	Patrick Donahoe	January 14, 2011	February 1, 2015		Barack Obama
	Megan Brennan	February 1, 2015	June 15, 2020		Barack Obama
					Donald Trump
	Louis DeJoy	June 15, 2020	present		Donald Trump
					Joe Biden

See also

• Postmaster General
• John Reagan, the only postmaster general of the Confederate States

References

1. "DeJoy hired four people who worked for his businesses to work at USPS". CNN. September 15, 2020. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
2. "39 U.S. Code § 203 – Postmaster General; Deputy Postmaster General". Archived from the original on 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
3. "Members of the Board of Governors – Who we are". about.usps.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
4. "Board of Governors Announces Selection of Louis DeJoy to Serve as Nation's 75th Postmaster General". about.usps.com – Newsroom. Archived from the original on 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
5. "39 U.S. Code § 202 – Board of Governors". Archived from the original on 2022-01-29. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
6. "PMG/CEO Louis DeJoy – Who we are/Leadership". about.usps.com. Archived from the original on 2022-03-24. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
7. "Benjamin Franklin – About USPS" (PDF). United States Postal Service. Historian US Postal Service. February 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
8. "Letters Sent By the Postmaster General, 1789–1836". National Archives and Records Service. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
9. The United States Postal Service: An American History 1775–2006 (PDF). United States Postal Service. 2020. ISBN 978-0-9630952-4-4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
10. Savage, Sean J. (1991). Roosevelt: The Party Leader, 1932–1945. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813117553. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020.
11. "Farley and Howe to Rule Patronage; to Ease Roosevelt's Burden, They Will Meet the Office-seekers at Capital. Working All Next Month. Meantime, Republicans Plan to Reorganize Committees and Start Publicity for 1936". The New York Times. January 11, 1933. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
12. "History of the United States Postal Service". Mailbox Near Me. Archived from the original on 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
13. "About the Board of Governors". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
14. 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

• "Postal leadership". USPS. June 2020. Archived from the original on 2014-10-03.
• "Papers of Arthur E. Summerfield, Postmaster General, 1953–1961". Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008.