List of presidents of the National Rifle Association

The position of president of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a symbolic figurehead role,^[1][2] which dates back to the organization's foundation in New York on November 17, 1871.^[3] Founded by George Wood Wingate and William Conant Church, two Union veterans dismayed by the lack of shooting skills among recruits,^[4] the rifle association voted to have Union general Ambrose Burnside as its first president.^[5] Church succeeded Burnside as the second president of the organization,^[6] and Wingate became the tenth in 1886.^[7] Traditionally, the first vice president is elevated to president when the position becomes open while the second vice president is similarly promoted,^[8][9] but this practice has not always been followed.^[10]

President of the National Rifle Association of America
Incumbent Bill Bachenberg since 2025
Term length	1 year
Inaugural holder	Ambrose Burnside
Formation	November 17, 1871
Salary	Unpaid

Throughout its history, presidents have served purposes and effects including providing the NRA greater legitimacy;^[7][11] holders of the office have also intentionally provoked outrage and condemnation.^[3][12] Since the 1990s, some NRA presidents have made controversial statements such as when James W. Porter II referred to Barack Obama, whose administration he perceived as hostile to gun rights,^[13] as a "fake president" and when Charlton Heston proclaimed to gun control advocates that they could only have his firearm after taking it "from my cold, dead hands."^[3][14]

While once elected at the annual convention,^[15] as of 2020^[update], NRA presidents are chosen by the board of directors.^[1][16] They generally serve out two one-year terms.^[17] However, the NRA board of directors amended the organization's bylaws to make an exception for actor Charlton Heston to allow him to serve out a unique five-year term and for Charles Cotton to allow him to serve for three terms.^[10] Under said bylaws, the position of president is unpaid.^[18] During Oliver North's time in office he sought to make the position a paid one, but this initiative failed when he was ousted as president after a power struggle with executive vice president Wayne LaPierre.^[19] Some presidents have been employed by the NRA after leaving office.^[20] Marion Hammer was the association's first female president and went on to be executive director of the group's Florida affiliate.^[21][22] The executive vice president acts as the group's chief operating officer. Wayne LaPierre held this post between 1991 and 2024,^[23][24] despite several internal challenges to his role.^[25][26]

There have been 67 NRA presidents, serving 69 distinct tenures as both Smith W. Brookhart and Carolyn D. Meadows have served two nonconsecutive times in the office. Others who have held the position include former United States president Ulysses S. Grant, lobbyist Harlon Carter, American Football League commissioner Joe Foss, and conservative activist David Keene.

Presidents of the National Rifle Association

Post-Civil war photograph of Ambrose Burnside of Rhode Island

Presidential Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant (1875)

Retired Marine officer "Red Mike" Edson (c. 1936)

Actor Charlton Heston at an American Film Institute gala (1981)

Oliver North speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (2015)

Former president Carolyn Meadows served two nonconsecutive terms

List of presidents

No.	Name	Tenure	Background	Ref.
1	Ambrose Burnside	1871–1872	Union general	[5]
2	William Conant Church	1872–1875	Journalist	[27][28]
3	Alexander Shaler	1875–1877	Union general	[29][30]
4	N. P. Stanton	1877–1880	Judge	[30][31][32]
5	Henry Alger Gildersleeve	1880	Judge	[32][33]
6	Winfield S. Hancock	1880–1881	Democratic presidential nominee in 1880	[34][35][36]
7	E. L. Molineux	1882	Union Colonel	[33][37]
8	Ulysses S. Grant	1883–1884	18th President of the United States	[33]
9	Philip Sheridan	1885	Union general	[33]
10	George Wood Wingate	1886–1900	Union soldier	[7][11]
11	Bird W. Spencer	1900–1907	Brigadier general	[11][38]
12	James Drain	1907–1916	Washington adjutant general	[38][39]
13	William Libbey	1916–1921	Sports shooter	[40][41]
14	Smith W. Brookhart	1921–1925	U.S. Senator from Iowa	[42][43]
15	Francis E. Warren	1925[a]	U.S. Senator from Wyoming	[45][44]
16	Smith W. Brookhart	1925–1926	U.S. Senator from Iowa	[46][47]
17	Fred M. Waterbury	1926–1927	Lieutenant colonel	[48]
18	Lewis Miller Rumsey Jr.	1928	Lieutenant colonel	[49][50]
19	Patrick J. Hurley	1929	Assistant Secretary of War	[51]
20	Benedict Crowell	1930–1931	Brigadier general	[52]
21	G. A. Fraser	1932	Brigadier general	[52][53]
22	Karl T. Frederick	1934	Sports shooter	[54]
23	Ammon B. Critchfield	1936	Ohio adjutant general	[52][55][56]
24	Gustavus D. Pope	1937–1938	Humanitarian	[52][57][58]
25	Littleton W. T. Waller Jr.	1939	Brigadier general	[52][59]
26	Nathaniel C. Nash	1941	Botanist	[52][60]
27	Hilliard Comstock	1942–1943	Judge	[52][61]
28	Thurman Randle	1944–1946	Lieutenant colonel	[52][62]
29	Francis W. Parker Jr.	1946–1947	Patent lawyer	[52][63]
30	Emmett Swanson	1948–1949	Sports shooter	[52][64]
31	Merritt A. Edson	1949–1950	Marine Corps general	[52][64]
32	Harry D. Linn	1951–1952	Businessman	[52][65]
33	J. Alvin Badeaux	1953–1954	Businessman	[52][66][67]
34	Morton C. Mumma	1955	Rear admiral	[52][68]
35	George R. Whittington	1957	Attorney	[52][69]
36	Irvine C. Porter	1959–1961	Attorney	[52][70][71]
37	John M. Schooley	1961–1963	Sheriff of Denver	[52][72][73]
38	Bartlett Rummel	1963–1964	Judge	[52][74]
39	Harlon Carter	1965–1967	Activist	[52][75]
40	Harold W. Glassen	1967–1968	Sports shooter	[52][76]
41	Woodson D. Scott	1969–1970	Attorney	[77][78]
42	Fred M. Hakenjos	1971	Artist	[52][79]
43	Clinton R. Gutermuth	1973–1974	Conservationist	[52][80][81]
44	Merrill W. Wright	1975	Major general	[52][70]
45	Lloyd M. Mustin	1977–1978	Vice admiral	[15][82][83][84]
46	John B. Layton	1979	Chief of police of Washington, D.C.	[52][85]
47	Keith M. Gaffaney	1981–1983	Police officer	[52][86]
48	Howard W. Pollock	1983–1985	Alaskan congressman	[52][87]
49	Alonzo H. Garcelon	1985	Dentist	[52][70][88]
50	James E. Reinke	1985–1988	Eastern Airlines vice president	[88][89][90][91]
51	Joe Foss	1988–1990	20th Governor of South Dakota	[52][92]
52	Richard D. Riley	1990–1992	Activist	[93][52][94]
53	Robert K. Corbin	1992–1993	Arizona Attorney General	[52][95]
54	Thomas L. Washington	1994–1995	Conservationist	[52][96]
55	Marion Hammer	1995–1998	Activist	[22][97][98]
56	Charlton Heston	1998–2003	Actor	[99]
57	Kayne Robinson	2003–2005	Des Moines chief of detectives	[100][101]
58	Sandra Froman	2005–2007	Attorney	[102][103]
59	John C. Sigler	2007–2009	Attorney	[104][105]
60	Ron Schmeits	2009–2011	Mayor of Jordan, Minnesota	[105][106]
61	David Keene	2011–2013	Activist	[107]
62	James W. Porter II	2013–2015	Activist[b]	[71][108]
63	Allan D. Cors	2015–2017	Sports shooter	[100][109][110]
64	Pete Brownell	2017–2018	Businessman	[100][111]
65	Carolyn D. Meadows	2018	Activist	[112]
66	Oliver North	2018–2019	Lieutenant Colonel	[113]
67	Carolyn D. Meadows	2019–2021	Activist	[112][114]
67	Charles Cotton	2021-2024	Activist	[115]
68	Bob Barr	2024-2025	Attorney
69	Bill Bachenberg	since 2025	Businessman

Notes

1. Resigned May 16, 1925, along with first Vice President Major General Fred C. Ainsworth. At the time, Fred M. Waterbury was second Vice President.^[44]
2. Son of Irvine C. Porter^[71]