George Washington’s first presidential inauguration was held on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City.
Washington had been unanimously elected by the Electoral College in the first U.S. presidential election, but the new federal government needed time to organize. Congress began meeting in March, and the electoral votes were not formally counted until April 6.
Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York administered the oath on Federal Hall’s balcony before a large crowd. John Adams had already assumed the vice presidency and attended the ceremony. Washington then delivered his first inaugural address inside the Senate chamber.
The ceremony is sometimes confused with March 4, 1789, which marked the start of the first presidential term under the Constitution. Washington’s actual inauguration took place nearly two months later. Federal Hall was also the meeting place of the First Congress and the site where the Bill of Rights was proposed.