George Washington took the first United States presidential oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City.
Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street. Chancellor Robert Livingston administered the oath, and Washington then delivered his inaugural address to Congress. New York City was the temporary national capital at the start of the federal government under the Constitution.
Federal Hall had previously served as the meeting place of the Confederation Congress. It was also the location where the United States Congress met under the new Constitution before the capital moved to Philadelphia in 1790 and later to Washington, D.C., in 1800.
The original Federal Hall was demolished in 1812. The present Federal Hall National Memorial stands on the site and commemorates the building's role in the nation's early government. Washington's inauguration is a key bridge between the Constitution's ratification and the functioning federal system celebrated during America250.