• This document is a "draft for public comment" -- it isn't finished yet, and its current location is not permanent.
• If you have a suggestion of something to add, subtract, rewrite or reformat, please send email to  dheller.aps@yahoo.com .

• nomination, the date of the President's nominating letter to the Senate
• confirmation, the date of the Senate's consent to the nomination
• appointment, or commission, the date on which the nominee is authorized to take the office
• beginning, the date on which the nominee actually took the office
• ending, the date on which the office holder relinquished it

Postmaster General	beginning	Scott Cat.	from news reports
Winton M. Blount	July 1, 1971	--	Resigned, Oct. 29, 1971.  Merrill A. Hayden, Deputy PMG, became acting PMG.
Elmer T. Klassen	Jan. 1, 1972	Dec. 7, 1971	Appointed Dec. 7, 1971, effective Jan. 1, 1972. Resigned Jan. 8, 1975, effective Feb. 15, the end of his contract.
Benjamin F. Bailar	Feb. 15, 1975	same	Appointed Jan. 8, 1975, effective Feb. 15, 1975.
William F. Bolger	Mar. 15, 1978	Mar. 1, 1978	Appointed Mar. 1, 1978, effective Mar. 16, 1978.
Paul N. Carlin	Jan. 1, 1985	same
Albert V. Casey	Jan. 7, 1986	Jan. 6, 1986	Appointed Jan. 6 or 7, 1986 [reports differ].
Preston R. Tisch	Aug. 16, 1986	Aug. 17, 1986	Appointed Aug. 5, 1986; Casey to leave the post Aug. 15, 1986.
Anthony M. Frank	Mar. 1, 1988	same
Marvin T. Runyon	July 6, 1992	same
William J. Henderson	May 16, 1998	same
John E. Potter	June 1, 2001	same
Patrick R. Donahoe	Dec. 6, 2010	Oct. 25, 2010	On Oct. 25, 2010, Potter announced his retirement, effective [Friday] Dec. 3, 2010, and the Board chose Donahoe to succeed him.  Donahoe thus began on Monday, Dec. 6, 2010.
Megan J. Brennan	Feb. 1, 2015	same
Louis DeJoy	June 16, 2020	---	"Follow the money."  -- "Deep Throat", 1972.

(R) recess appointment; nomination and confirmation delayed until the Senate reconvened
(1) Assistant Postmaster General, acting Postmaster General
(2) First Assistant Postmaster General, interim appointment
(3) First Assistant Postmaster General, temporary appointment (see below)
(4) died in office
(5) Beginning dates from USPS; news reports from Wikipedia, Washington Post, NY Times.  The Scott Catalogue dates differ as indicated.

• Timothy Pickering, under the Act of May 8, 1794, 1 Stat. 354; recess appointment, June 1, 1794; nominated Dec. 10, 1794; confirmed, Dec. 11, 1794 [SEJ v.1 p.164-165].
• John A.J. Creswell, under the Tenure of Office Act, nominated Mar. 17, 1873 [SEJ v.19 p.59]; confirmed Mar. 17, 1873 [SEJ v.19 p.73], and reappointed the same day.

• Robert Brent Mosher, Executive Officers of the United States, 1789-1901, Washington : Government Printing Office, 1901, 48 p.
  • Preliminary version of the next item; commission dates.
  • http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t2s47cv27  [LOC]
  • http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020482835  [Michigan]
• Robert Brent Mosher, Executive Register of the United States, 1789-1902, Baltimore : The Lord Baltimore Press, 1903, x + 351 p.
  • Comprehensive date information -- nomination, confirmation, commission (appointment), beginning and ending (often with the reason); recess and interim appointments.
  • This is the primary source for the table given here, to 1902.  Mosher was chief of the State Department's Bureau of Appointments.
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=ShUTAAAAYAAJ  [NYPL] (pages missing)
    
  • same, http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081791067  [NYPL]
    
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=WxwOAAAAIAAJ  [Stanford] (pages missing)
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=xJoFAAAAMAAJ  [Michigan] (pages missing)
  • same, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030802519
    
  • http://archive.org/details/executiveregist00mosh  [LOC]
  • http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002045543643  [Yale]
  • http://archive.org/details/cu31924030470839  [Cornell]
  • same, http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t2z32d58w
• same, Washington : Government Printing Office, 1905, x + 351 p.; Senate Document 58-196
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=JvpKAQAAMAAJ  [Berkeley]
  • same, http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c106027082
  • http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t7np2s037  [LOC]
  • http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101060099940  [Princeton]
• Daniel C. Roper, The United States Post Office, Its Past Record, Present Condition, and Potential Relation to the New World Era, New York : Funk & Wagnalls, 1917.
• Officials of the Post Office Department, 1775-1917, p. 356-361 (link); beginning dates.
• http://books.google.com/books?id=ixM9AAAAYAAJ  [NYPL]
• Roper had been First Assistant Postmaster General, 1913-16, and later was Secretary of Commerce.
  
• Annual Report of the Postmaster General for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1919, Washington, 1919.
• Officials of the United States Post Office Department, 1775 to 1919, p. 133-136 (link); PMG, beginning dates; assistants, without specific dates.
  
• http://books.google.com/books?id=GVc_AQAAMAAJ  [Ohio State]
• Similar tables appeared in later years, with the same errors.
  
• United States Official Postal Guide, Monthly Supplement, Apr. 1926 // Nov. 1931.  The front cover shows a portrait of the Postmaster General, from Franklin to New, with dates of service.  The beginning dates are given correctly, but the ending dates are all one day before the next beginning date, which neglects interim appointments and gaps.
  
• Annual Report of the Postmaster General, July 1, 1969 - June 30, 1970
  
• http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015079861186  [Michigan]
  
• Presidents of the United States and Officials of the Post Office Department, 1775-1970, p. 150-157. (link)
  
• Robert C. Byrd, Wendy Wolff (ed.), The Senate 1789-1989, vol. 4, Historical Statistics 1789-1992, Senate Document 100-20, 1993.
• Nomination and confirmation dates, starting in 1829 when the Postmaster General first officially entered the Cabinet.
• http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32437010267512  [Ohio State]
  
• Table 7-6, Cabinet Nominations Since 1789, p. 701-723 (link)
  
• By courtesy of the Senate Historical Office, a revised version, April 28, 2017, much improved.
  
• United States Senate Manual, 104th Congress; Cabinet Officers, 1789-1995, p. 1083-1084.
  • Appointment dates.
  • 104th Congress, 1789-1995, http://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SMAN-104/pdf/SMAN-104-pg1077.pdf
    
  • 105th Congress, not published
  • 106th Congress, 1789-2000, http://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SMAN-106/pdf/SMAN-106-pg1113.pdf
    
  • 107th Congress, 1789-2000, http://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SMAN-107/pdf/SMAN-107-pg1145.pdf
    
  • 108th Congress, not published
  • 109th Congress, not published
• United States Senate Manual, 110th Congress; Cabinet Officers, 1789-2008, p. 1293-1294.
  • Confirmation dates, recess appointments, "began service" dates.
  • 110th Congress, 1789-2008, http://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SMAN-110/pdf/SMAN-110-pg1287.pdf
    
  • 111th Congress, not published
  • 112th Congress, 1789-2011, http://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SMAN-112/pdf/SMAN-112-pg1345.pdf
    
  • 113th Congress, 1789-2014, http://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SMAN-113/pdf/SMAN-113-pg1395.pdf
    
  • 114th Congress, not published
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-2005, House Document 108-222, 2005; Executive Officers, 1789-2005, p. 3-29.
  • Appointment (commission) dates, interim positions, "entered upon duties" dates, "to take effect" dates.
  • http://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CDOC-108hdoc222/pdf/GPO-CDOC-108hdoc222-1-5.pdf
  • Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-1989; Executive Officers, 1789-1989, p. 11-35 (link).
  • http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001950338
  • Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1971; Executive Officers, 1789-1971
  • (digital version not located)
  • copied by Vexler as Appendix, in vol. 2, without attribution
  • Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961; Executive Officers, 1789-1961, p. 11-34
  • http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001142296
  • Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949; Executive Officers, 1789-1949, p. 13-33
    
  • http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022220936
  • http://archive.org/details/biographicaldire00unit
  • Ansel Wold, Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1927
  • (digital version not located)
  • http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/15032392009
    
  • A Biographical Congressional Directory, 1774-1911; Executive Officers, 1789-1911, p. 9-21
    
  • http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001142292
  • A Biographical Congressional Directory, 1774 to 1903; Executive Officers, 1789-1903, p. 3-11
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=_ZkFAAAAMAAJ
  • http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001142293
    
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, online version
  
• http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp
  
• http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Historical_Intro_Biographical_Directory.htm

• [SEJ] Senate Executive Journal, 1789-1875, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwej.html
  • Nomination and confirmation dates, confirming Mosher's nomination and confirmation dates.
• [SJ] Senate Journal, 1789-1875, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsj.html
• [AC] Annals of Congress, 1789-1824, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwac.html
• [RD] Register of Debates, 1824-1837, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwrd.html
• [CG] Congressional Globe, 1833-1873, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwcg.html
• [CR] Congressional Record, 1873-present, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwcr.html
• [ASP] American State Papers, Post Office Department, 1834, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsp.html
• [Letterbooks] George Washington Papers, Series 2, Letterbooks 1754-1799, http://www.loc.gov/collections/george-washington-papers/
• [OR] Official Register of the United States, 1816 to 1959

• Charles Lanman, Dictionary of the United States Congress, Philadelphia, 1859, 159 p.
• http://books.google.com/books?id=cbVVAAAAYAAJ
  
• Successive Administrations [cabinets], p. 9-15 (link); confirmation dates, mostly.
• Post-Office Department, p. 131-132 (link).
• [2nd ed.], Washington, 1864, 556 p., http://books.google.com/books?id=acUozUAcAT0C
  
• Successive Administrations [cabinets], p. 423-427 (link); confirmation dates, mostly.
• Post-Office Department, p. 526-527 (link).
• 3rd ed., Washington, 1866, http://books.google.com/books?id=7mEDAAAAYAAJ
  
• Successive Administrations [cabinets], p. 435-439 (link).
• Post-Office Department, p. 544-545 (link).
• 4th ed., not located, does it exist?
• 5th ed., Hartford, 1868, http://books.google.com/books?id=CfEtAAAAYAAJ
  
• Successive Administrations [cabinets], p. 439-442 (link).
• Post-Office Department, rates of postage, p. 453 (link), 557-561 (link).
• 6th ed., Hartford, 1869, http://books.google.com/books?id=EsYTAAAAYAAJ
  
• Successive Administrations [cabinets], p. 439-442 (link); confirmation dates, mostly.
• Post Office Department, rates of postage, p. 453 (link), 557-561 (link).
• Charles Lanman, Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States, Washington : Anglim, 1876, 6 + 676 p.
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=fSIoAAAAYAAJ
    
  • Successive Administrations [cabinets], p. 506-509 (link); confirmation dates, mostly.
  • Post Office Department, p. 511 (link), 550-557 (link), 580-581 (link).
• Revised edition, by Joseph M. Morrison, New York : J.M. Morrison, 1887, viii + 568 + cviii p.
  
• http://books.google.com/books?id=UBwVAAAAYAAJ
• Post Office Department, p. lxxix (link), lxxxii-lxxiii (link); appointment dates, mostly.
  

• Ben: [Benjamin] Perley Poore, The Political Register and Congressional Directory, Boston : Houghton, Osgood, 1878, vi + 716 p.
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=Nn0FAAAAQAAJ
    
  • The Executive [cabinets], including the Postmasters General from 1829, p. 215-221 (link).
  • Post-Office Department, p. 236-237 (link); appointment dates, including the three Assistant Postmasters General.

• Gaillard Hunt, Calendar of Applications and Recommendations for Office during the Presidency of George Washington, Washington, 1901.
  
• http://archive.org/details/calendarofapplic00unit
• No information distinguishing successful and unsuccessful applicants.

• Peter Force, The National Calendar, and Annals of the United States, Washington : various publishers, 1820-1836.
• List of Postmasters General since 1789, 1822, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1832, 1835; confirmation dates
• George Watterston and Nicholas Biddle van Zandt, Tabular Statistical Views of the Population, etc., Washington, 1828.
• http://books.google.com/books?id=mTZ_DUmRagAC
• Table of the Post Office establishment, from 1789 to 1827, inclusive, p. 116 (link).
  
• Continuation, 1833, http://books.google.com/books?id=zThfAAAAcAAJ, p. 192 (link).
• For some more about these books, see History of the Library of Congress, 1800-1864 (link).
  
• Mary L. Hinsdale, The Cabinet and Congress, an Historical Inquiry, 1906.
• http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015071603164
• Nothing about the postmaster general.
• Mary L. Hinsdale, A History of the President's Cabinet, Ann Arbor, 1911.
• http://books.google.com/books?id=8jAQAQAAMAAJ
• Appointment dates; a detailed history of the Cabinet, but not so much of the Post Office.
• Henry Barrett Learned, The President's Cabinet, Studies in the Origin, Formation and Structure of an American Institution, New Haven, 1912.
• http://books.google.com/books?id=j2MPAAAAYAAJ
• The Postmaster General, p. 220-252 (link); includes a thorough history of the Post Office.
• List of Authorities, p. 404-427 (link); includes references to Mosher, 1903.
• joint review of Hinsdale and Learned, 1913 (link)
• The Postmaster-General, Yale Review, 1911, vol. 1, p. 99-118 (link)
• Ernest Fletcher Clymer, Cabinets of the Presidents and the Speakers of the House of Representatives, New York, 1920.
• http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t3223gv40
• Appointment dates, and little else.
• William Henry Smith, History of the Cabinet of the United States of America, from President Washington to President Coolidge, Baltimore, 1925.
• http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015000552300
• The Post Office Department, p. 357-400 (link)
• Beginning and ending dates, p. 362-364 (link); biographies, p. 52-55 (link), 365-400 (link).
• Robert I. Vexler, The Vice-Presidents and Cabinet Members, Dobbs Ferry (NY) : Oceana, 1975, 2 vol.
• Short biographies, with dates from the Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1971.
• Many small errors, no apparent large errors.  Used extensively by Meschter.
• Robert Sobel, ed., Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1989, Westport (CT) : Greenwood Press, 1990.
• previous editions, for the periods 1774-1977, 1774-1971
• Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1996, Alexandria (VA) : CQ Staff Directories, 1997
• Executive Officers, 1789-1996, p. 1-26; appointment dates, interim positions, "entered upon duties" dates, "to take effect" dates.
• CQ is Congressional Quarterly.
• Robert Sobel and David B. Sicilia, eds., The United States Executive Branch, Westport (CT) : Greenwood Press, 2003, 2 vol.
• Appointment dates; the ending dates are often wrong.
• Mark Grossman, Encyclopedia of the United States Cabinet, Santa Barbara (Calif.) : ABC-CLIO, 2000, 3 vol.
• Post Office, vol. 2, p. 511-608
• Appendix I, Cabinet Officers by Administration, vol. 3, p. 997-1019
• Bibliography, vol. 3, p. 1023-1081
• A lively discussion of political patronage and corruption, more so than accomplishments of the office.

• National Archives, microfilm sets
• Post Office Records (link)
  
• Letters Sent By the Postmaster General, 1789-1836 (link)
• J. Holbrook, Ten Years Among the Mail Bags, Philadelphia, 1855 (link).
• The Post Masters General, p. ix-xiv
  
• D.D.T. Leech, Post Office Directory; or, Business Man's Guide to the Post Offices in the United States, ..., New York : J.H. Colton, 1856.
• p. 3 (link); stated to be appointment dates, but actually a mixture of appointment, confirmation and beginning dates.
• D.D.T. Leech, The Post Office Department of the United States of America, 1879.
• p. 56 (link); appointment dates.
• Leech had died in 1869, and the work was completed by W.L. Nicholson.
• Wesley Everett Rich, The History of the United States Post Office to the Year 1829, Cambridge : Harvard Univ. Press, 1924; reprinted 1977.
• Appendix A, Biographical Notes on the Postmasters General, p. 173-174, Osgood to Barry, using Mosher, 1903, and Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography.
• Dorothy Ganfield Fowler, The Cabinet Politician: The Postmasters General, 1829-1909, New York : Columbia Univ. Press, 1943.
• Scott 2019 Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers, 97th ed., Sidney (Ohio) : Amos Media, 2018, p. 21A.
• Beginning dates.  This table was first published in the 1955 edition.
• Fergus R. Ellsworth, Postal Service Development under United States Postmasters General, and Brief Biographical Sketch of Each, [Milwaukee], 1960.
• Concise histories, but many small errors.
• Arthur Hecht, Postal History Sources: Dating the Postmaster General, The American Philatelist, Sep. 1966, vol. 79, no. 12, p. 917-918.
• Derived from multiple sources, with dates of nomination, confirmation, appointment, etc., up to Horace Maynard in 1880.
  
• Daniel Y. Meschter, The Postmasters General of the United States, 2 vol.
• vol. 1, 1789-1869, 2006; vol. 2, 1869-1898, 2008; APRL, G3701 .P8574 M578p
• Originally published as a series of 55 installments in La Posta, from 2002 to 2012.
• Part XXIIA, The Assistant/First Assistant Postmasters General, 1789-1869.
• Steve Kochersperger, Pennsylvania's Postmasters General, Pennsylvania Postal Historian, May 2012, vol. 40, no. 2, p. 7-12.
• Franklin, Bache, Hazard, Pickering, Campbell, Marshall, etc.
• Stamp Smarter, Postmasters General and Assistant Postmasters General; appointment dates, mostly.
  
• US Postal Service, List of Postmasters General; appointment dates to 1900, then starting dates.
• From The History of the US Postal Service, Postmasters General
  
• Smithsonian National Postal Museum, U.S. Postmasters General; appointment dates.
• Wikipedia, United States Postmaster General; appointment dates.
• Category: United States Postmasters General
  

• Osgood Field, Memoir of Samuel Osgood, Presented with Selections from his Correspondence, Proceedings of the New-York Historical Society, p. 177-181 (link).  Osgood resigned as PMG rather than move from New York to Philadelphia (ref).  Field donated manuscripts, Papers of Samuel Osgood, but the NYHS catalogue shows nothing as PMG.
  
• Sketch of the Life of Samuel Osgood, First Postmaster-General of the United States, written by himself, The Magazine of American History, 1889, vol. 21, p. 324-328 (link).  Very little on his term as PMG.
• Autobiography of Amos Kendall, William Stickney, ed., Boston : Lee and Shepard, 1872.
• http://books.google.com/books?id=6KtSAjBaXKEC
• Joseph Holt Papers, Library of Congress
• http://www.loc.gov/collections/joseph-holt-papers/about-this-collection/
• Horatio King, Turning on the Light: A Dispassionate Survey of President Buchanan's Administration, From 1860 to its Close, Philadelphia : Lippincott, 1895.  Biographical Sketch of Horatio King, p. 7-21 (link).
  
• http://books.google.com/books?id=ewVmzCH-dVkC
  

• Gazette of the United States, New York, Sep. 30, 1789, p. 195; Samuel Osgood appointed.
• Massachusetts Centinel, Boston, Oct. 3, 1789, p. 23; Samuel Osgood appointed Sep. 26.
• Federal Gazette, Philadelphia, Aug. 13, 1791, p. 3; Timothy Pickering appointed.
• New York Times, March 10, 1859, p. 1; Joseph Holt appointed and confirmed, Mar. 9, 1859, following the death of Aaron Brown.

• The Campaign Text Book, Why the People Want a Change, The Republican Party Reviewed, Its Sins of Commission and Omission, New York : National Democratic Committee, 1876.
• Republican Mismanagement; The Post Office Department, p. 430-443 (link).
• similar, 1880.
• The Postal Frauds, p. 442-457 (link); The Post Office Department, p. 458 (link).

• American Almanac, 1830-1861
• Congressional Directory, 1790-
• Gerald Cullinan, The United States Postal Service, New York : Praeger, 1973.
• National Intelligencer, 1800-1869
  
• Wikipedia, holdings, holdings
• NewspaperArchive.com (1826-1938), GenealogyBank.com (NewsBank)
• United States Telegraph
• Washington Globe, to 1845
• Niles' Register, to 1849
• National Archives, Guide to Federal Records, Records of the Post Office Department, 1773-1971

• 14 Stat. 430, An Act regulating the Tenure of certain Civil Offices, Mar. 2, 1867.  Passed over Pres. Johnson's objections.
• Cabinet officers were limited to the President's term of office (plus one month) unless renominated and reconfirmed.
  
• 15 Stat. 168, An Act to authorize the temporary Supplying of Vacancies in the Executive Departments, July 23, 1868.
• Vacancies can be filled temporarily for at most ten days.
  
• 16 Stat. 6, An Act to amend "An Act regulating the Tenure of certain Civil Offices", Apr. 5, 1869.
• The term of office is now defined by the appointment, unless removed or a successor is appointed.
  
• Revised Statutes, Sec. 1767-1772, Tenure of Office.
  
• 24 Stat. 500, An act to repeal certain sections of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to the appointment of civil officers, Mar. 3, 1887.
• Limitation on cabinet officers removed. 
  
• On reconfirmations, see Pres. Wilson's letter of 23 Jan. 1918 (ref).
  

• Sen. John A.J. Creswell voted against the confirmation of Alexander W. Randall on July 25, 1866 [SEJ v.14 p.1052].
• Jacob Collamer later served as Chair of the Senate Committee on Post-Offices and Post Roads.
  

• 1789, Post-Office
• 1810, Establishment
• 1825, Department
• 1874, Executive Department