TAMPA – Any schoolchild knows that George Washington was the first president of the United States.
That's a problem for Palm Harbor resident Stanley L. Klos, 54, a scholar of rare historical documents who is on a quest for recognition of the 10 men he says were president before Washington took the oath of office in 1789.
Klos wants people to know about Samuel Huntington of Connecticut. Klos says Huntington was elected under the Continental Congress but ascended to the presidency under the Constitution of 1777, also known as the Articles of Confederation, on March 2, 1781.
Then there are Thomas McKean, John Hanson, Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Nathanial Gorham, Arthur St. Clair and Cyrus Griffin, who left office two months before Washington became president. All these men signed documents as president of the United States. They were leaders of this country's national government known as the United States in Congress Assembled.
"They actually enacted treaties, laws, proclamations and resolutions as presidents of the United States," Klos says. It doesn't bother Klos that historians say he's off base and dismiss his claims as silly. As far as he's concerned, they have it all wrong, and he has the documents to prove it.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/07/scholar-sues-recognize-presidents-washington/
That's a problem for Palm Harbor resident Stanley L. Klos, 54, a scholar of rare historical documents who is on a quest for recognition of the 10 men he says were president before Washington took the oath of office in 1789.
Klos wants people to know about Samuel Huntington of Connecticut. Klos says Huntington was elected under the Continental Congress but ascended to the presidency under the Constitution of 1777, also known as the Articles of Confederation, on March 2, 1781.
Then there are Thomas McKean, John Hanson, Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Nathanial Gorham, Arthur St. Clair and Cyrus Griffin, who left office two months before Washington became president. All these men signed documents as president of the United States. They were leaders of this country's national government known as the United States in Congress Assembled.
"They actually enacted treaties, laws, proclamations and resolutions as presidents of the United States," Klos says. It doesn't bother Klos that historians say he's off base and dismiss his claims as silly. As far as he's concerned, they have it all wrong, and he has the documents to prove it.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/07/scholar-sues-recognize-presidents-washington/
