On what date did George Washington take the oath as the first U.S. president?

George Washington took the oath as the first U.S. president on April 30, 1789.

The ceremony took place on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, then the nation’s capital. Robert R. Livingston, chancellor of New York, administered the oath before a large public crowd.

Washington had been unanimously chosen by the Electoral College in the first presidential election under the Constitution. John Adams became vice president and had already begun presiding over the Senate before Washington’s inauguration.

The date is often mixed up with March 4, 1789, when the federal government’s constitutional operations officially began. Washington’s presidential term technically began then, but delays in travel and counting electoral votes meant that he did not take the oath until April 30.