George Washington was sworn in at Federal Hall during the first U.S. presidential inauguration in 1789.
The ceremony took place on April 30, 1789, in New York City, which was then the national capital. Federal Hall stood on Wall Street and served as the meeting place of the first Congress under the Constitution. Washington took the oath on an exterior balcony before a large public crowd.
Robert R. Livingston, the chancellor of New York, administered the oath of office. Vice President John Adams had already begun his duties in the Senate. Afterward, Washington delivered his inaugural address to Congress, describing the new government as an important experiment in republican self-rule.
The location is often confused with the U.S. Capitol, which was not yet the setting for presidential inaugurations. Washington later took his second oath in Philadelphia in 1793. The capital moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800, after temporary periods in New York and Philadelphia.