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30 April 1789Primary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Washington's First Inauguration

The new republic's first president takes office in New York City

On the timeline · around 30 April 1789 · A New NationA New NationWashington's First Inauguration17851786178717881789

Quick facts

Location
Federal Hall, New York City
Date
30 April 1789
Oath administered by
Chancellor Robert Livingston of New York
Address length
About 10 minutes

What happened

After the Constitution's ratification by the required nine states and unanimous selection by the Electoral College, George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States on 30 April 1789, on a balcony at Federal Hall in New York City, the nation's temporary capital. Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the oath while Secretary of the Senate Samuel Otis held a ceremonial Bible, before a crowd gathered on the street below. Washington then returned inside to deliver his roughly ten-minute Inaugural Address to Congress.

Why it matters

Washington's inauguration set precedents, from taking the oath publicly before a crowd, to swearing on a Bible, to delivering an inaugural address, that presidents have followed ever since. It marked the practical start of the government the Constitutional Convention had designed two years earlier, closing the political chapter of the Revolution that had begun with a tax on stamped paper twenty-four years before.

How we know

Mount Vernon's Digital Encyclopedia and primary source collection describe the ceremony's sequence, drawing on Washington's own address and contemporary accounts of the Federal Hall ceremony.

Sources

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