Posted on 01/27/2004 1:25:36 AM PST by HAL9000
HARTFORD, Conn. - George Washington is facing an opponent for office, even though his term has long expired.
The title of "first president" has always belonged to Washington, but in the southeastern Connecticut city of Norwich, there's a mounting effort to rewrite history.
The Norwich Historical Society believes the title rightfully belongs to Samuel Huntington, the Connecticut native and president of the Continental Congress when the Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781.
"We don't do this in the spirit of anything except having history be historically correct," said Bill Stanley, the association's president. "The honor of first president is almost sacred. You don't play games with things like that."
Campaigning for Huntington's presidency will be no easy task, especially since Washington's portrait is an icon of American patriotism.
But the society says facts are on their side. Arguing that the Articles of Confederation established the United States as a country, they say that proves Huntington was the true first president.
"One of the ways you do it is you examine the Articles of Confederation and how they were implemented," said Norwich attorney John Cotter, who is helping the society build its case. "I think in many ways, that holds the key. There's no question he was president of the Continental Congress, but what did that mean in the context of his time? That's the issue."
Stanley Klos, a collector of historical documents and historical building renovator from Upper Saint Clair, Pa., has been making the case for Huntington's recognition without success for years.
He's pleaded with Congress, written to the president and traveled the country with an exhibit of documents that refer to Huntington.
He's also considered taking the cause to the federal courts.
On a Web site, www.uspresidency.com, he explains why he believes Huntington and nine other men who led the Congress before Washington's election in 1789 were considered presidents. Sometimes, it gets confusing.
"I get these kids that say, 'I just had a test on who was the first president, and I put down Samuel Huntington, and it got marked wrong," he said. "They say, 'Can you call my teacher?'"
For documentation, Klos plans to offer the Norwich group Journals of the Continental Congress that refer to Huntington as president. Also in his collection is a letter written from France addressed to a "president" Samuel Huntington.
Born in Winsted, Huntington was a state representative for Norwich who rose to lead the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1781. He was elected governor of Connecticut in 1786, and held the office until his death in 1796. During his term, he presided over the decision to erect a new state house in Hartford.
Theories on why he and the other nine leaders of the Continental Congress aren't given presidential status vary. One reason may be because the Articles of Confederation failed, Klos said.
"We like to be associated with winners. We don't want to talk about those dark days after we won the Revolutionary War and the government was basically in shambles," he said.
U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., whose district includes Norwich, said he may push for legislation to have Huntington and his nine colleagues recognized as presidents. That would add them to the list honored on President's Day, and have wreaths placed on their graves on their birthdays.
But as far as securing the title of first president?
"We probably won't go quite that far," he said.
Stanley wants to. Launching his campaign is likely the "first inning in a nine inning fight," he says.
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On the Net:
www.uspresidency.com
http://huntingtonhomestead.org/about_samuel.html
Huntington was President of the Continental Congress, his official title. The Articles of Confederation refer to the position as President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
However, the first man to hold this office after all states had ratified the Articles and thus making them "official" is John Hanson who is in fact the person considered as the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled, not Huntington, even though Hanson was the third man to hold the office. So these Huntington people lose their own arguement to Hanson.
Still doesn't matter as there was no executive branch under the Articles and thus no chief executive - that was created under the U.S. Constitution.
Just for fun, the following men served as the President of the Continental Congress:
Peyton Randolph (September 5, 1774 - October 21, 1774)
Henry Middleton (October 22, 1774 - May 10, 1775)
Peyton Randolph (May 10, 1775 - May 23, 1775) (same as #1)
John Hancock (May 24, 1775 - October 30, 1777)
Henry Laurens (November 1, 1777 - December 9, 1778)
John Jay (December 10, 1778 - September 27, 1779)
Samuel Huntington (September 28, 1779 - February 28, 1781)
And for more fun, the following men served as President of the United States in Congress Assembled:
Samuel Huntington (March 1, 1781 - July 6, 1781)
Thomas McKean (July 10, 1781 to November 4, 1781)
John Hanson (November 5, 1781 to November 4, 1782)
Elias Boudinot (November 4, 1782 to November 3, 1783)
Thomas Mifflin (November 3, 1783 to June 3, 1784)
Richard Henry Lee (November 30, 1784 to November 23, 1785)
John Hancock (November 23, 1785 to June 6, 1786)
Nathaniel Gorham (June 6, 1786 to November 13, 1786)
Arthur St. Clair (February 2, 1787 to October 29, 1787)
Cyrus Griffin (January 22, 1788 to March 4, 1789)
Well, not quite. Independence Day is the day we celebrate for declaring our independence, even though the fight had started and was nowhere near ending, it was the moment we officially made our stand.
True, but a decent American history class will cover that - mine did in the 8th and 10th grades.
Agreed.
LOL
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