George Washington took the presidential oath at his first inauguration on April 30, 1789.
The ceremony took place on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, then the nation’s capital. Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the oath before a large crowd. Washington’s inauguration marked the formal beginning of the executive branch under the new Constitution.
The date is sometimes confused with March 4, 1789, which began the first presidential term and the new federal government’s constitutional operations. Delays prevented the Electoral College votes from being counted and certified until April, so Washington could not take office ceremonially in March.
Washington’s vice president, John Adams, had already assumed his duties on April 21. After the inauguration, Washington and members of Congress attended a service at St. Paul’s Chapel. Later inaugurations generally occurred on March 4 until the Twentieth Amendment moved the regular date to January 20, beginning in 1937.