United States Postmaster General

Postmaster General of the United States Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service
Incumbent Megan Brennan since February 1, 2015
United States Postal Service
Appointer	Board of Governors
Term length	Indefinite
Inaugural holder	Benjamin Franklin
Formation	1775
Deputy	Ronald A. Stroman
Salary	$276,840[1]
Website	about.usps.com/leadership

The Postmaster General of the United States is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first Postmaster General in 1775, serving just over 15 months.

Until 1971, the postmaster general was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office" until the 1820s).^[2] From 1829 to 1971, he was a member of the President's Cabinet.

The Cabinet post of Postmaster General was often given to a new President's campaign manager or other key political supporter, and was considered something of a sinecure. The Postmaster General was in charge of the governing party's patronage, and was a powerful position which held much influence within the party.

In 1971, the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, an independent agency of the executive branch. Thus, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the Cabinet and is no longer in Presidential succession.

The Postmaster General is the second-highest paid U.S. government official, based on publicly available salary information, after the President of the United States.^[3]

Postmasters General under the Continental Congress

Samuel Osgood (1747–1813)

Postmasters general over the U.S. Post Office Department, 1789–1971

As non-Cabinet department, 1789–1829

As cabinet department, 1829–1971

Postmasters General over the U.S. Postal Service, 1971–present

Living former Postmasters General

As of October 2014, there are six living former Postmasters General, the oldest being W. Marvin Watson (1968–1969, born 1924). The most recent Postmaster General to pass away was Preston Robert Tisch (1986–1988), on November 15, 2005.

See also

• Postmaster General (disambiguation)
• John Henninger Reagan, the only Postmaster General of the Confederate States of America

Notes

External links

• Official site
• Papers of Arthur E. Summerfield, Postmaster General, 1953–1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

United States Postmasters General Confederal Franklin Bache Hazard Federal Osgood Pickering Habersham G. Granger Meigs McLean Cabinet level Post Office Department Barry Kendall Niles F. Granger Wickliffe Johnson Collamer Hall Hubbard Campbell A. Brown Holt King Blair Dennison Randall Creswell Marshall Jewell Tyner Key Maynard James Howe Gresham Hatton Vilas Dickinson Wanamaker Bissell Wilson Gary Smith Payne Wynne Cortelyou Meyer Hitchcock Burleson Hays Work New W. Brown Farley Walker Hannegan Donaldson Summerfield Day Gronouski O'Brien Watson Blount U.S. Postal Service Blount Klassen Bailar Bolger Carlin Casey Tisch Frank Runyon Henderson Potter Donahoe Brennan