In which city was George Washington inaugurated as the first U.S. president?

George Washington was inaugurated as the first U.S. president in New York City.

The ceremony took place on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall on Wall Street. Robert R. Livingston, the chancellor of New York, administered the presidential oath, and Washington delivered his inaugural address to Congress and invited observers.

New York City was the temporary capital of the new federal government under the Constitution. Philadelphia later served as the capital from 1790 to 1800, while Washington, D.C., became the permanent capital after the federal government moved there in 1800.

The inauguration is important in the story leading to America250 because it was the first peaceful transfer from a constitutional design to an operating executive branch. Washington had been unanimously elected by the Electoral College in the first presidential election. John Adams became vice president, although his inauguration occurred separately several days earlier.