United States Postmaster General

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Template:Mdy Template:Short description 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 most recent officeholder is Louis DeJoy, who was appointed on June 16, 2020.[5] DeJoy resigned on March 24, 2025.[6]

History

File:Seal of the United States Post Office Department (1782–1837).png
The first Post Office Department seal, depicting the deity Mercury, used until 1837.

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.[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]Template:Rp) 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]Template:Rp

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 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.[9]Template:Rp[12] As such, the postmaster general is no longer a member of the Cabinet[13] or in line of presidential succession.

List of postmasters general

The following persons held the position of postmaster general:[14][15]

Under the Continental Congress (1775–1789)

No. Name Start End
1 File:Benjamin Franklin by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis.jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts
2 File:Richard Bache (1737-1811) by John Hoppner.jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts
3 File:Ebenezer Hazard (1744-1817) portrait circa 1800.png Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts

US Post Office Department (1789–1971)

As non-Cabinet department (1789–1829)

Parties

Template:Legend2 Template:Legend2 Template:Legend2

No. Name State Start End President(s)
4 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:SOsgood.jpg Template:Sortname Massachusetts Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1789–1797)
5 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Timothy-Pickering.jpg Template:Sortname Pennsylvania Template:Dts Template:Dts
6 rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Joseph Habersham.png Template:Sortname Georgia Template:Dts Template:Dts
style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1797–1801)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1801–1809)
7 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Gideon Granger.jpg Template:Sortname Connecticut Template:Dts Template:Dts
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1809–1817)
8 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Return J. Meigs, Jr 002.png Template:Sortname Ohio Template:Dts Template:Dts
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1817–1825)
9 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:JohnMcLean.jpg Template:Sortname Ohio Template:Dts Template:Dts
style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1825–1829)

As cabinet department (1829–1971)

Parties

Template:Legend2 Template:Legend2 Template:Legend2

No. Portrait Name State Start End President(s)
10 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:William T. Barry by C.B. King.jpg Template:Sortname Kentucky Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1829–1837)
11 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Amos Kendall cph.3a02184 (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Kentucky Template:Dts Template:Dts
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1837–1841)
12 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:JohnMiltonNiles (3x4a).jpg Template:Sortname Connecticut Template:Dts Template:Dts
13 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color" | File:Francis Granger (cropped 3x4).jpg Template:Sortname New York Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1841)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1841-1845)
14 style="background: Template:Party color" | File:Wickliffe CA.jpg Template:Sortname Kentucky Template:Dts Template:Dts
15 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Cave Johnson.jpg Template:Sortname Tennessee Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1845-1849)
16 style="background: Template:Party color" | File:Jacob Collamer - Postmaster General of USA.jpg Template:Sortname Vermont Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1849–1850)
17 style="background: Template:Party color" | File:Nathan Kelsey Hall, half-length portrait, three-quarters to the left.jpg Template:Sortname New York Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1850–1853)
18 style="background: Template:Party color" | File:SDHubbard.jpg Template:Sortname Connecticut Template:Dts Template:Dts
19 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:JamesCampbell1.JPG Template:Sortname Pennsylvania Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1853–1857)
20 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Hon. Aaron V. Brown, Tenn - NARA - 528326 (3x4a).jpg Template:Sortname Tennessee Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1857–1861)
21 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Judge Joseph Holt - NARA - 526106 (3x4a).jpg Template:Sortname Kentucky Template:Dts Template:Dts
22 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Postmaster-HKing.jpg Template:Sortname Maine Template:Dts Template:Dts
23 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Abraham Lincoln (1897) (14591178008).jpg Template:Sortname District of Columbia Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1861–1865)
24 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:William Dennison, Jr., War Governor of Ohio.jpg Template:Sortname Ohio Template:Dts Template:Dts
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1865–1869)
25 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:AWRandall.jpg Template:Sortname Wisconsin Template:Dts Template:Dts
26 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:John Angel James Creswell, sitting.jpg Template:Sortname Maryland Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1869–1877)
27 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:James William Marshall, Brady-Handy bw photo portrait, ca1865-1880.jpg Template:Sortname Virginia Template:Dts Template:Dts
28 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Marshall Jewell - Brady-Handy (cropped).png Template:Sortname Connecticut Template:Dts Template:Dts
29 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:James Noble Tyner, Brady-Handy bw photo portrait, ca1865-1880.jpg Template:Sortname Indiana Template:Dts Template:Dts
30 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:David M. Key - Brady-Handy.jpg Template:Sortname Tennessee Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1887–1881)
31 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Horace Maynard, 1870s.jpg Template:Sortname Tennessee Template:Dts Template:Dts
32 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Thomas L James.JPG Template:Sortname New York Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1881)
rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1881–1885)
33 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Timothy O. Howe - Brady-Handy.jpg Template:Sortname Wisconsin Template:Dts Template:Dts
34 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:WQ Gresham (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Indiana Template:Dts Template:Dts
35 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Frank Hatton (US politician).png Template:Sortname Iowa Template:Dts Template:Dts
36 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:William F. Vilas (10506825074) (1).jpg Template:Sortname Wisconsin Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1885–1889)
37 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Donald McDonald Dickinson (1846-1917) (10506724465) (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Michigan Template:Dts Template:Dts
38 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:John Wanamaker.jpg Template:Sortname Pennsylvania Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1889–1893)
39 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Wilson S. Bissell cph.3b27412.jpg Template:Sortname New York Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1893–1897)
40 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:William Lyne Wilson.jpg Template:Sortname West Virginia Template:Dts Template:Dts
41 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:James Albert Gary.jpg Template:Sortname Maryland Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1897–1901)
42 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Charles Emory Smith, 1898.jpg Template:Sortname Pennsylvania Template:Dts Template:Dts
rowspan=5 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1901–1909)
43 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Portrait of Henry Clay Payne.jpg Template:Sortname Wisconsin Template:Dts Template:Dts
44 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:RJWynne.jpg Template:Sortname Pennsylvania Template:Dts Template:Dts
45 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Shadow and light; an autobiography with reminiscences of the last and present century (1902) (14580486337) (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname New York Template:Dts Template:Dts
46 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:GvLMeyer.jpg Template:Sortname Massachusetts Template:Dts Template:Dts
47 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:FHHitchcock.jpg Template:Sortname Massachusetts Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1909–1913)
48 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Albert S. Burleson.jpg Template:Sortname Texas Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1913–1921)
49 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Portrait of Will H. Hays.jpg Template:Sortname Indiana Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1921–1923)
50 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:HWork-SecofInter2.jpg Template:Sortname Colorado Template:Dts Template:Dts
51 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Postmaster Harry Stewart New on February 27, 1923 - LCCN2016847240 (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Indiana Template:Dts Template:Dts
style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1923–1929)
52 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:WFBrown.jpg Template:Sortname Ohio Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1929–1933)
53 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:JamesFarleyProfile.jpg Template:Sortname New York Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1933–1945)
54 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Frank C. Walker.jpg Template:Sortname Pennsylvania Template:Dts Template:Dts
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1945–1953)
55 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Hannegan 2013-925 (1).jpg Template:Sortname Missouri Template:Dts Template:Dts
56 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:JesseMDonaldson.jpg Template:Sortname Missouri Template:Dts Template:Dts
57 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Arthur Summerfield (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Michigan Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1953–1961)
58 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:J. Edward Day 1961.jpg Template:Sortname California Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1961–1963)
59 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:John A. Gronouski.png Template:Sortname Wisconsin Template:Dts Template:Dts
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1963–1969)
60 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Larry O'Brien 1961.jpg Template:Sortname Massachusetts Template:Dts Template:Dts
61 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Portrait officiel de W. Marvin Watson.jpg Template:Sortname Texas Template:Dts Template:Dts
62 style="background: Template:Party color;" | File:Winton M. Blount.jpg Template:Sortname Alabama Template:Dts Template:Dts style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1969–1974)

US Postal Service (1971–present)

<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />
  Denotes acting capacity.
No. Portrait Name Start[16] End Ref. President(s)
62 File:Winton M. Blount.jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1969–1974)
63 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1969–1974)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1974–1977)
64 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1974–1977)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1977–1981)
65 File:William Bolger 1984.jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1977–1981)
rowspan=5 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1981–1989)
66 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1981–1989)
67 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1981–1989)
68 File:BobTisch.jpeg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1981–1989)
69 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1981–1989)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1989–1993)
70 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1989–1993)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1993–2001)
71 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Sortname
(1993–2001)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2001–2009)
72 File:Jack Potter 72nd United States Postmaster General.jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts [17][18] Template:Sortname
(2001–2009)
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2009–2017)
73 File:Patrick R. Donahoe 2013 (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts [19][20] Template:Sortname
(2009–2017)
74 File:Megan Brennan USPMG at 225th Anniversary of U.S. Coast Guard stamp event.jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts [21][22] Template:Sortname
(2009–2017)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2017–2021)
75 File:Official portrait of Louis DeJoy, United States Postmaster General.jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts [23][24] Template:Sortname
(2017–2021)
style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2021–2025)
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2025–present)
– File:Acting United States Postmaster General Doug Tulino.jpg Template:Sortname
Acting 		Template:Dts Template:Dts [24] Template:Sortname
(2025–present)
76 File:David P. Steiner.jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts present [25] Template:Sortname
(2025–present)

See also

References

Template:Reflist

External links

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  16. ↑ Since July 1, 1971, the postmaster general has been appointed by and serves under the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.
  17. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
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