07/03/2026
Presidential Signers Known and Forgotten
The Presidents Among the Men Who Signed Independence
When Americans think of the Declaration of Independence, they often remember the famous names: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Hancock. Yet hidden among the fifty-six signers are men who served not only as patriots, legislators, and revolutionaries, but also as “presidents” under the different forms of American government that existed before the Constitution of 1787.
This matters because the United States did not spring fully formed into the constitutional republic we know today. It passed through stages: first resistance, then revolution, then confederation, and finally the federal constitutional system. Each stage had leaders. Some are remembered. Some are almost forgotten.
The Different Forms of American Government
Before George Washington became the first President under the Constitution, America had earlier national governments.
First came the Continental Congress, which guided the colonies through resistance to Britain and then through the Declaration of Independence. Its presiding officer was called the President of the Continental Congress. This office was not the same as the later executive presidency, but it was the highest presiding role in the national revolutionary assembly.
Then came the government under the Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781. Under this system, the national government was called “The United States in Congress Assembled.” Its presiding officer was called President of the United States in Congress Assembled. Again, this was not a modern executive presidency. He did not command a separate executive branch like Washington later did. But he did preside over the national government of the United States before the Constitution.
Finally, in 1789, the Constitution created the office we know today: President of the United States, beginning with George Washington.
So when we ask, “Which signers became presidents?” the answer depends on which form of American government we mean.
The Constitutional Presidents
Two signers of the Declaration became Presidents of the United States under the Constitution.
John Adams of Massachusetts became the second President of the United States, serving from 1797 to 1801. A fierce advocate for independence, Adams helped push the colonies toward separation from Britain and later served as diplomat, vice president, and president.
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia became the third President of the United States, serving from 1801 to 1809. He is remembered as the principal author of the Declaration, the man whose words gave philosophical shape to the American cause.
These two are the best-known “presidential signers.”
Presidents of the Continental Congress
Several signers served as presidents of the Continental Congress.
John Hancock of Massachusetts served as President of the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1777. He presided when independence was declared, and his bold signature became a symbol of defiance.
Samuel Huntington of Connecticut served as President of the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1781. He helped guide Congress through the war and into the transition under the Articles of Confederation.
These men were not presidents in the later constitutional sense, but they were national leaders at a time when the nation itself was being born.
Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled
Under the Articles of Confederation, several Declaration signers served as President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
Samuel Huntington continued into this period and served during the transition.
Thomas McKean of Delaware served in 1781.
John Hanson of Maryland served from 1781 to 1782 and is often remembered by some as the “first president” under the Articles, though this must be carefully explained. He was not President under the Constitution, but he did preside over the national Congress after the Articles had been ratified.
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia served from 1784 to 1785. He is especially important because he introduced the famous resolution declaring that the colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”
John Hancock was also elected to the office under the Articles in 1785, though he did not effectively serve in the ordinary active sense.
The Full List of Presidential Signers
The signers connected to these presidential offices are:
John Adams — President of the United States
Thomas Jefferson — President of the United States
John Hancock — President of the Continental Congress; elected President under the Articles
Samuel Huntington — President of the Continental Congress; President of the United States in Congress Assembled
Thomas McKean — President of the United States in Congress Assembled
John Hanson — President of the United States in Congress Assembled
Richard Henry Lee — President of the United States in Congress Assembled
Why This Matters
It is important to know all the “presidents” because American history did not begin with George Washington’s inauguration. Washington was the first President under the Constitution, but before him there were men who held the fragile union together through war, uncertainty, debt, foreign pressure, and internal weakness.
To know these forgotten presidents is to understand the long labor of nation-building. The Declaration gave America its birth certificate. The Continental Congress gave it a revolutionary voice. The Articles of Confederation gave it its first national frame. The Constitution gave it a stronger and more enduring structure.
The known presidential signers remind us of greatness remembered. The forgotten presidential signers remind us that nations are also built by men whose names fade from popular memory, though their sacrifices remain written into the foundation of the republic.
The story of America is not only Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. It is also Hancock, Huntington, McKean, Hanson, and Richard Henry Lee—men who stood in the dangerous gap between colonies and country, rebellion and republic, declaration and constitutional union.
