http://www.ripon.edu/academics/pogo/presidency/pre_pres.HTML Under the Articles of Confereration there were fourteen presidents. The Articles of Confederation provided a loose framework for a national government, however, the national government had very little authority. The majority of the people in the United States identified their local and state governments as being the most important governing bodies. Therefore, the first fourteen presidents go virtually unrecognized during the study of American History. The developers of this presidential web site would like to recognize the first fourteen Presidents of the United States by naming them, identifing the state they were from and identifing the day they took office. 1. Peyton Randolph Virginia September 5, 1774. 2. Henry Middelton South Carolina October 22, 1774. **Peyton Randolph Virginia May 10, 1775.(finished Middleton`s term) 3. John Hancock Massachusetts May 24, 1775. 4. Henry Laurens South Carolina November 1,1777. 5. John Jay New York December 10, 1778. 6. Samuel Huntington Connecticut September 28, 1779. 7. Thomas McKean Delaware July 10, 1781. 8. John Hanson Maryland November 5, 1781. 9. Elis Boudinot New Jersey November 4, 1782. 10. Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania November 3, 1783. 11. Richard Henry Lee Virginia November 30, 1784. 12. Nathaniel Gorham Massachusetts June 6, 1786. 13. Arthur St. Clair Pennsylvania February 2, 1787. 14. Cyrus Griffin Virginia January 22, 1788. Now that everyone is acquainted with the first fourteen unofficial presidents, click here for the remaining Presidents of the United States.