United States Postmaster General
Template:Infobox official post The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS).[1] The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency.
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.[2] The appointment of the postmaster general does not require Senate confirmation.[3][4] The governors and the postmaster general elect the deputy postmaster general.
The current postmaster general is David Steiner, who has served in the role since July 14, 2025.
History
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The office of U.S. postmaster general predates the country's founding. 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.[5] The formal office of the United States postmaster general was established by act of government on September 22, 1789.[6]
From 1829 to 1971, the postmaster general was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office" until the 1820s[7]: 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.[7]: 120
After passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883 and prior to the passage of the Hatch Act of 1939,[8] 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.[9]
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 of whom 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. The postmaster general is now appointed by the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service, not appointed by the president.[7]: 120 [10] As such, the postmaster general is no longer a member of the Cabinet[11] or in line of presidential succession.
List of postmasters general
[edit | edit source]The following persons held the position of postmaster general:[12][13]
Under the Continental Congress (1775–1789)
[edit | edit source]| No. | Name | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Error creating thumbnail: | Benjamin Franklin | July 26, 1775 | November 7, 1776 |
| 2 | Error creating thumbnail: | Richard Bache | November 7, 1776 | January 28, 1782 |
| 3 | Error creating thumbnail: | Ebenezer Hazard | January 28, 1782 | September 26, 1789 |
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US Post Office Department (1789–1971)
[edit | edit source]As non-Cabinet department (1789–1829)
[edit | edit source]- Parties
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| No. | Name | State | Start | End | Assistant PMG | President(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Error creating thumbnail: | Samuel Osgood | Massachusetts | September 26, 1789 | August 12, 1791 | Jonathan Burrall | George Washington (1789–1797) | ||
| 5 | Error creating thumbnail: | Timothy Pickering | Pennsylvania | August 12, 1791 | January 1, 1795 | Charles Burrall | |||
| Prosper Wetmore | |||||||||
| Charles Burrall | |||||||||
| 6 | Error creating thumbnail: | Joseph Habersham | Georgia | February 25, 1795 | November 28, 1801 | Charles Burrall | |||
| John Adams (1797–1801) | |||||||||
| Abraham Bradley, Jr. | Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) | ||||||||
| 7 | Error creating thumbnail: | Gideon Granger | Connecticut | November 28, 1801 | March 17, 1814 | Abraham Bradley, Jr. | |||
| James Madison (1809–1817) | |||||||||
| 8 | Error creating thumbnail: | Return Meigs | Ohio | March 17, 1814 | June 26, 1823 | Abraham Bradley, Jr. | |||
| James Monroe (1817–1825) | |||||||||
| 9 | File:JohnMcLean.jpg | John McLean | Ohio | June 26, 1823 | March 4, 1829 | Abraham Bradley, Jr. | |||
| John Quincy Adams (1825–1829) | |||||||||
As cabinet department (1829–1971)
[edit | edit source]- Parties
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US Postal Service (1971–present)
[edit | edit source] Denotes acting capacity.
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See also
[edit | edit source]- Postmaster General
- John Reagan, the only postmaster general of the Confederate States
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "39 U.S. Code § 203 – Postmaster General; Deputy Postmaster General". Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ "Members of the Board of Governors – Who we are". about.usps.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ↑ "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 November 16, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ↑ "39 U.S. Code § 202 – Board of Governors". Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ "Benjamin Franklin – About USPS" (PDF). United States Postal Service. Historian US Postal Service. February 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- ↑ "Letters Sent By the Postmaster General, 1789–1836". National Archives and Records Service. August 15, 2016. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 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 June 6, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "About the Board of Governors". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
- ↑ "History of the United States Postal Service". Mailbox Near Me. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
- ↑ "List of Postmasters General". USPS.
- ↑ "U.S. Postmasters General". Smithsonian Nation Postal Museum.
- ↑ Since July 1, 1971, the postmaster general has been appointed by and serves under the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.
- ↑ Shields, Todd J. (May 21, 2001). "NEW POSTMASTER GENERAL NAMED". Editor & Publisher Magazine.
- ↑ "Postmaster General John E. Potter to Retire". USPS. October 25, 2010.
- ↑ "Donahoe Sworn In as 73rd Postmaster General of the United States". USPS. January 14, 2011.
- ↑ "Postmaster General Donahoe to Retire February 2015". USPS. November 14, 2014.
- ↑ "Megan Brennan 74th Postmaster General of the United States". USPS. February 2, 2015.
- ↑ "United States Postal Service Announces Retirement of Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan". USPS. October 16, 2019.
- ↑ "Board of Governors Announces Selection of Louis DeJoy to Serve as Nation's 75th Postmaster General". USPS. May 6, 2020.
- ↑ Heckman, Jory (March 24, 2025). "DeJoy leaves USPS amid search for new postmaster general". WFED.
- ↑ "Postal Service Board of Governors appoints David Steiner to be 76th Postmaster General and CEO of the United States Postal Service". USPS. May 9, 2025.
External links
[edit | edit source]- "Postal leadership". USPS. June 2020. Archived from the original on October 3, 2014.
- "Papers of Arthur E. Summerfield, Postmaster General, 1953–1961". Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008.
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