When did George Washington take the presidential oath at his first inauguration?

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. Robert R. Livingston, chancellor of New York, administered the oath because the federal judiciary had not yet been organized.

Washington’s election had been certified earlier in April after Congress finally achieved a quorum. The new government’s planned start date was March 4, but travel and organizational delays postponed the actual presidential inauguration until April 30.

The date is often confused with March 4, which was the traditional inauguration date for later presidents until the Twentieth Amendment moved regular inaugurations to January 20 beginning in 1937. Washington’s ceremony was also not held in Washington, D.C., which did not become the national capital until later.