Who was the first president of the United States?

Nope, it's not who you think!

Washington was the first president under the CONSTITUTION. George Washington didn't start his presidency until 1789 but independence was declared in 1776!

Why is it that our own White House doesn't list anyone before Washington? http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/chronological.html

There were 7 presidents before him.

Who were they?

Hanson was the first.

"The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land). Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the Revolution and an extremely influential member of Congress. "
http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html

The Articles of Confederation only allowed a President to serve a one-year term during any three-year period, so Hanson actually accomplished quite a bit in such little time. He served in that office from November 5, 1781 until November 3, 1782. He was the first President to serve a full term after the full ratification of the Articles of Confederation – and like so many of the Southern and New England Founders, he was strongly opposed to the Constitution when it was first discussed. He remained a confirmed anti-federalist until his untimely death.
Six other presidents were elected after him - [b]Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office. Why don't we ever hear about the first seven Presidents of the United States? It's quite simple - The Articles of Confederation didn't work well[/b]. The individual states had too much power and nothing could be agreed upon. A new doctrine needed to be written - something we know as the Constitution.

Raise your hand if your school taught this in your American History class.

Nope, mine didn't either.

It seems rather important to understand that we had our own trials and failures as a country before adopting the Constitution.

Apparently, my children are going to fail the standardized question "Who was the first president?" Perhaps they will have to ask the examiner whether the question refers to the first president, or the first president under the Constitution.