Harold A. Henry was a community newspaper publisher who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1945 and was its president for four terms from 1947 to 1962.

The President of the Los Angeles City Council is the presiding officer of the Los Angeles City Council. The president presides as chair over meetings of the council and assignments to City Council committees and handles parliamentary duties like ruling motions in or out of order. The president automatically becomes an acting mayor when the mayor is out of state. Since 2020, the president has been elected at the first scheduled council meeting in January of even-numbered years.