George Washington took the presidential oath at Federal Hall in New York City on April 30, 1789.
Washington had been unanimously elected in the first presidential election under the Constitution. Travel from Mount Vernon and delays in organizing the new federal government postponed the ceremony beyond the March 4 date originally associated with the start of the government.
New York City was the temporary national capital, and Federal Hall served as the meeting place of the first Congress. Chancellor Robert Livingston of New York administered the oath on the building's second-floor balcony before a large public crowd. John Adams had already begun serving as vice president.
Washington's inauguration is often confused with later inauguration traditions. Regular inaugurations were generally held on March 4 until 1933, when the Twentieth Amendment moved the date to January 20. Washington's first ceremony therefore belongs to a distinct early period of national organization.