United States Postmaster General: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The United States Postmaster General is the executive head of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than either the United States Constitution or the United States Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first Postmaster General, serving slightly longer than 15 months.

Until 1971, the Postmaster General was the head of the Post Office Department. During most of that period, he was a member of the President's Cabinet and the postmaster was last in the presidential line of succession. 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.

In 1971, the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, a special agency independent of the executive branch. Thus, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the Cabinet and is no longer in line to be President. During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America also had a Confederate Post-Office Department, headed by a Postmaster General, John Henninger Reagan.

The current Postmaster General (who is also CEO of the U.S. Postal Service) is John E. Potter.

Postmasters General under the Continental Congress

Cabinet-level Postmasters General, 1789–1971

Postmasters-General, 1971–present

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