“eight presidents before George Washington”?
Of course 95% of the nation can’t name one, because they didn’t exist!
Think he’s referring to the Presidents of Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
If you're talking about Presidents of the United States of America, then you'd be correct as Washington was the first President of the USA.
But, if you'll recall after the war, the original 13 colonies signed Articles of Confederation and there were 10 different Presidents prior to the forming of the USA. These are usually referred to as "Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled".
From: Presidents of the United States before George Washington
Presidents of the United States Congress under the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)
| # | NAME | STATE | TERM | TIME IN OFFICE | NOTES | CONGRESS |
| 1 | Samuel Huntington * | Connecticut | March 2, 1781 - July 10, 1781 | 4 months, 8 d. | resigned | 1st |
| 2 | Thomas McKean * | Delaware | July 10, 1781 - November 4, 1781 | 3 months, 24 d. | ||
| 3 | John Hanson | Maryland | November 5, 1781 - November 3, 1782 | 11 months, 29 d. | full term | 2nd |
| 4 | Elias Boudinot | New Jersey |
November 4, 1782 - November 2, 1783 | 11 months, 28 d. | full term | 3rd |
| 5 | Thomas Mifflin | Pennsylvania | November 3, 1783 - October 31, 1784 | 11 months, 28 d. | full term | 4th |
| No one, Congress adjourned | October 31, 1784 - November 30, 1784 | 1 month | ||||
| 6 | Richard Henry Lee * | Virginia | November 30, 1784 - November 6, 1785 | 11 months, 6 d. | full term | 5th |
| No one, Congress adjourned | November 6, 1785 - November 23, 1785 | 17 d. | ||||
| 7 | John Hancock * | Massachusetts | November 23, 1785 - June 5, 1786 | 6 months, 12 d. | resigned | 6th |
| 8 | Nathaniel Gorham | Massachusetts | June 5, 1786 - November 5, 1786 | 5 months | ||
| No one, Congress adjourned | November 5, 1786 - February 2, 1787 | 2 months, 27 d. | ||||
| 9 | Arthur St. Clair | Pennsylvania | February 2, 1787 - November 4, 1787 | 9 months, 2 d. | resigned | 7th |
| No one, Congress adjourned | November 4, 1787 - January 22, 1788 | 2 months, 18 d. | ||||
| 10 | Cyrus Griffin | Virginia | January 22, 1788 - November 2, 1788 | 9 months, 10 d. | 8th | |
| No one, Congress adjourned | November 2, 1788 - April 30, 1789 | 5 months, 28 d. | ||||
| The Presidents of the United States of America | April 30, 1789 — | |||||