History of US POST MASTER

The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United
States Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress as
the first postmaster general in 1775[7] serving just over 15 months. Franklin had previously served as
deputy postmaster for the British colonies of North America since 1753.

Until 1971, the postmaster general was the head of the Post Office Department (or simply "Post Office"
until the 1820s).[8]:60–65 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.[8]:120 From 1829 to 1971,
the postmaster general was a member of the president's Cabinet. After the passage of the Pendleton
Civil Service Reform Act and prior to the passage of the Hatch Act of 1939,[9] 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 1933-1940 tenure under Franklin D.
Roosevelt.[10]

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 supporter, including Arthur Summerfield, W.
Marvin Watson, and Larry O'Brien (all of whom played key roles organizing the campaigns of presidents
Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, respectively), and was considered something of a sinecure. Notably,
poet and literary scholar Charles Olson (who served as a Democratic National Committee official during
the 1944 United States 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, and the postmaster general was no longer a member of
the Cabinet[11] nor in line of presidential succession. The postmaster general is now appointed by the
"governors", appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The governors,
along with the postmaster general and the deputy postmaster general, constitute the Board of
Governors of the United States Postal Service.[8]:120[12]

The postmaster general is the second-highest paid U.S. government official, based on publicly available
salary information, after the President of the United States.[13]