John Hanson, not George Washington was legally the first president of the United States, When Congress met in 1781, the country was governed by the Articles of Confederation, which were adopted in 1777 and ratified by the states in 1781. At that meeting, Congress elected John Hanson its "President of the U.S. in Congress assembled." After that, George Washington became the first president of the country under the U.S. Constitution in 1789.
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Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of
Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter
of the gods.

-- Albert Einstein