LDS First Presidency - A Chronology

Henry B. Eyring, left, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf, right, were called to be counselors
to President Thomas S. Monson, center, in 2008.

The First Presidency was the first organized governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was organized in 1832 by Joseph Smith, who was already head of the church, but he prayed and decided he needed two counselors. There's been occasion when there's been more than two counselors, and in Smith's time, there was also the office of Assistant President.

The inaugural First Presidency:

1832 March 8
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
1st Coun - Jesse Gause
2nd Coun - Sidney Rigdon

Gause was excommunicated on 1832 Dec 3.

1833 March 18
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - Frederick G. Williams

1834 Dec 5
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Asst. Pres - Oliver Cowdery
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - Frederick G. Williams

Smith Jr. then called three assistant counselors, respectively his brother, his uncle, and his father.

1837 Sept 3
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Asst. Pres - Oliver Cowdery
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - Frederick G. Williams
Asst Coun - Hyrum Smith
Asst Coun - John Smith
Asst Coun - Joseph Smith, Sr.

Williams is rejected as 2nd counselor at a church conference.

1837 Nov 7
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Asst. Pres - Oliver Cowdery
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - Hyrum Smith
Asst Coun - John Smith
Asst Coun - Joseph Smith, Sr.

Cowdery is excommunicated.

1838 April 11
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - Hyrum Smith
Asst Coun - John Smith
Asst Coun - Joseph Smith, Sr.

Joseph Smith Sr. dies.

1840 Sept 14
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - Hyrum Smith
Asst Coun - John Smith

1841 Jan 24
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Asst. Pres - Hyrum Smith
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - William Law
Asst Coun - John Smith

1841 Apr 8
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Asst Pres - Hyrum Smith
Asst Pres - John C. Bennett
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - William Law
Asst Coun - John Smith

Bennett is excommunicated, vows to drink the blood of Joseph Smith.

1842 May 25
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Asst Pres - Hyrum Smith
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - William Law
Asst Coun - John Smith

1843 Feb 4
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Asst Pres - Hyrum Smith
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
2nd Coun - William Law
Coun - Amasa Lyman
Asst Coun - John Smith

William Law is excommunicated.

1844 April 18
Pres - JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Asst Pres - Hyrum Smith
1st Coun - Sidney Rigdon
Coun - Amasa Lyman
Asst Coun - John Smith

Joseph Smith Jr. and Hyrum Smith are killed on June 27,1844. The First Presidency dissolves. Had Hyrum lived, he would have been the next leader of the church. There is a succession crisis. Rigdon argues that he should be the new leader of the church, as the senior surviving member of the First Presidency. Amasa Lyman and John Smith side with Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Young and the Twelve lead the majority of the Church, and after they establish themselves in Utah, Young organizes a new First Presidency. The title of Assistant President is never again given. From this point on, assume any changes are due to someone's death. I'll note otherwise. (Trivia note: If Heber C. Kimball had been born three weeks earlier, he would have had seniority over Young.)

1847 Dec 27
Pres - BRIGHAM YOUNG
1st Coun - Heber C. Kimball
2nd Coun - Willard Richards

1854 Apr 7
Pres - BRIGHAM YOUNG
1st Coun - Heber C. Kimball
2nd Coun - Jedidiah M. Grant

1857 Jan 4
Pres - BRIGHAM YOUNG
1st Coun - Heber C. Kimball
2nd Coun - Daniel H. Wells

1866 July 1
Pres - BRIGHAM YOUNG
1st Coun - Heber C. Kimball
2nd Coun - Daniel H. Wells
Coun - JOSEPH F. SMITH

1868 Oct 7
Pres - BRIGHAM YOUNG
1st Coun - George A. Smith
2nd Coun - Daniel H. Wells
Coun - JOSEPH F. SMITH

1873 April 8
Pres - BRIGHAM YOUNG
1st Coun - George A. Smith
2nd Coun - Daniel H. Wells
Coun - JOSEPH F. SMITH
Asst Coun - John Willard Young
Asst Coun - George Q. Cannon
Asst Coun - Brigham Young Jr.
Asst Coun - LORENZO SNOW
Asst Coun - Albert Harrington

1876 Oct 8
Pres - BRIGHAM YOUNG
1st Coun - John Willard Young
2nd Coun - Daniel H. Wells
Coun - JOSEPH F. SMITH
Asst Coun - George Q. Cannon
Asst Coun - Brigham Young Jr.
Asst Coun - LORENZO SNOW
Asst Coun - Albert Harrington

Brigham Young dies August 29, 1877. John Taylor is the senior Apostle and leads the church until the reorganization of the First Presidency in 1880.

1880 Oct 10
Pres - JOHN TAYLOR
1st Coun - George Q. Cannon
2nd Coun - JOSEPH F. SMITH

John Taylor dies July 25, 1887. It's 18 months before the senior Apostle, Wilford Woodruff, reorganizes. After that, First Presidencies tend to reorganize within days of the prophets' death.

1889 April 7
Pres - WILFORD WOODRUFF
1st Coun - George Q. Cannon
2nd Coun - JOSEPH F. SMITH

1898 Sept 13
Pres - LORENZO SNOW
1st Coun - George Q. Cannon
2nd Coun - JOSEPH F. SMITH

Cannon dies and a few months later, Snow calls Joseph F. Smith and Rudger Clawson to be his first and second counselors. They were sustained but not set apart, as Snow died four days later. I should also mention here that John Willard Young was the senior-most Apostle behind Snow, but he'd never been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. Many within the church felt John Willard Young, ordained at age 11 by his father Brigham in 1855, would be a disaster as church leader. The First Presidency and the Q12 unanimously approved a change in church policy in 1900 that stated seniority went by ordination into the Quorum of the Twelve, not just ordaination as an Apostle.

1901 Oct 17
Pres - JOSEPH F. SMITH
1st Coun - John R. Winder
2nd Coun - Anthon H. Lund

1910 April 7
Pres - JOSEPH F. SMITH
1st Coun - Anthon H. Lund
2nd Coun - John Henry Smith

1911 Dec 7
Pres - JOSEPH F. SMITH
1st Coun - Anthon H. Lund
2nd Coun - Charles W. Penrose

1918 Nov 23
Pres - HEBER J. GRANT
1st Coun - Anthon H. Lund
2nd Coun - Charles W. Penrose

1921 Mar 10
Pres - HEBER J. GRANT
1st Coun - Charles W. Penrose
2nd Coun - Anthony W. Ivins

1925 May 28
Pres - HEBER J. GRANT
1st Coun - Anthony W. Ivins
2nd Coun - Charles W. Nibley

1933 April 6
Pres - HEBER J. GRANT
1st Coun - Anthony W. Ivins
2nd Coun - J. Reuben Clark

1934 Oct 11
Pres - HEBER J. GRANT
1st Coun - J. Reuben Clark
2nd Coun - DAVID O. McKAY

1945 May 21
Pres - GEORGE ALBERT SMITH
1st Coun - J. Reuben Clark
2nd Coun - DAVID O. McKAY

1951 Apr 9
Pres - DAVID O. McKAY
1st Coun - Stephen L. Richards
2nd Coun - J. Reuben Clark

1959 June 12
Pres - DAVID O. McKAY
1st Coun - J. Reuben Clark
2nd Coun - Henry D. Moyle

1961 June 22
Pres - DAVID O. McKAY
1st Coun - J. Reuben Clark
2nd Coun - Henry D. Moyle
3rd Coun - Hugh B. Brown

1961 Oct 12
Pres - DAVID O. McKAY
1st Coun - Henry D. Moyle
2nd Coun - Hugh B. Brown

1963 Oct 4
Pres - DAVID O. McKAY
1st Coun - Hugh B. Brown
2nd Coun - N. Eldon Tanner

1965 Oct 29
Pres - DAVID O. McKAY
1st Coun - Hugh B. Brown
2nd Coun - N. Eldon Tanner
Coun - Thorpe B. Isaacson
Coun - JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH

1968 April 6
Pres - DAVID O. McKAY
1st Coun - Hugh B. Brown
2nd Coun - N. Eldon Tanner
Coun - Thorpe B. Isaacson
Coun - JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH
Coun - Alvin R. Dyer

Upon McKay's death, Brown went back to being a member of the Q12. Isaacson was never ordained an Apostle, and Dyer, while an Apostle, was never officially made part of the Q12.

1970 Jan 23
Pres - JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH
1st Coun - HAROLD B. LEE
2nd Coun - N. Eldon Tanner

1972 July 7
Pres - HAROLD B. LEE
1st Coun - N. Eldon Tanner
2nd Coun - Marion G. Romney

1973 Dec 30
Pres - SPENCER W. KIMBALL
1st Coun - N. Eldon Tanner
2nd Coun - Marion G. Romney

1981 July 23
Pres - SPENCER W. KIMBALL
1st Coun - N. Eldon Tanner
2nd Coun - Marion G. Romney
Coun - GORDON B. HINCKLEY

1982 Dec 2
Pres - SPENCER W. KIMBALL
1st Coun - Marion G. Romney
2nd Coun - GORDON B. HINCKLEY

Romney becomes President of the Q12 upon Kimball's death.

1985 Nov 10
Pres - EZRA TAFT BENSON
1st Coun - GORDON B. HINCKLEY
2nd Coun - THOMAS S. MONSON

1994 Jun 5
Pres - HOWARD W. HUNTER
1st Coun - GORDON B. HINCKLEY
2nd Coun - THOMAS S. MONSON

1995 March 12
Pres - GORDON B. HINCKLEY
1st Coun - THOMAS S. MONSON
2nd Coun - James E. Faust

2007 Oct 6
Pres - GORDON B. HINCKLEY
1st Coun - THOMAS S. MONSON
2nd Coun - Henry B. Eyring

2008 Feb 3
Pres - THOMAS S. MONSON
1st Coun - Henry B. Eyring
2nd Coun - Dieter F. Uchtdorf