The First President of the United States

          John Hanson (1721-04-14 -> 1783-11-27)
In 1781 while General George Washington was still fighting the
last battles of the Revolution, the 13 Colonies joined together
in a loose union under the Articles of Confederation. Once the
British surrendered at Yorktown, in November of 1781 the
Continental Congress elected John Hanson "President of the United
States in Congress Assembled." Hanson's powers were quite limited
and he was hardly more than the chairman of the Continental
Congress. After one year, he resigned for health reasons. The
next Presidents before Washington :
  Elias Boudinot
  Thomas Mifflin
  Richard Henry Lee
  Nathan Gorham
  Arthur St. Clair
  Cyrus Griffin

  http://www.mysite.com/AreWeStupid/FirstUSPres.htm
  http://www.sonic.net/sentinel/usa7.html
  http://www.dickgregory.com/dick/14_washington.html