United States Postmaster General

The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency.

The PMG is selected and appointed by the Board of Governors of the Postal Service, which is appointed by the president. The postmaster general then also sits on the board. The PMG does not serve at the president's pleasure and can only be dismissed by the Board of Governors. The appointment of the postmaster general does not require Senate confirmation. The governors and the postmaster general elect the deputy postmaster general.

The current postmaster general is David Steiner, who has served in the role since July 14, 2025.

History

The office of U.S. postmaster general predates the country's founding. Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as the first postmaster general in 1775; he had previously served as deputy postmaster for the Thirteen Colonies since 1753. The formal office of the United States postmaster general was established by act of government on September 22, 1789.

From 1829 to 1971, the postmaster general was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office" until the 1820s) and was a member of the president's Cabinet. During that era, the postmaster general was appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.

After passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883 and prior to the passage of the Hatch Act of 1939, the postmaster general was in charge of the governing party's patronage and was a powerful position which held much influence within the party, as exemplified by James Farley's tenure from 1933 to 1940 under Franklin D. Roosevelt.

After the spoils system was reformed, the position remained a Cabinet post, and it was often given to a new president's campaign manager or other key political supporters, including Arthur Summerfield, W. Marvin Watson, and Larry O'Brien, each of whom played important roles organizing the campaigns of presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, respectively, and was considered something of a sinecure. Poet and literary scholar Charles Olson, who served as a Democratic National Committee official during the 1944 U.S. presidential election, declined the position in January 1945.

In 1971, the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, an independent agency of the executive branch. The postmaster general is now appointed by the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service, not appointed by the president. As such, the postmaster general is no longer a member of the Cabinet or in line of presidential succession.

List of postmasters general

The following persons held the position of postmaster general:

Under the Continental Congress (1775–1789)

US Post Office Department (1789–1971)

As non-Cabinet department (1789–1829)

Parties

Independent Federalist Democratic-Republican

As cabinet department (1829–1971)

Parties

Democratic Whig Republican

US Postal Service (1971–present)

See also

• Postmaster General
• John Reagan, the only postmaster general of the Confederate States

External links

• . USPS. June 2020. from the original on October 3, 2014.
• . Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from on May 12, 2008.