George Washington’s first presidential inauguration took place in New York City on April 30, 1789.
The ceremony was held on the balcony of Federal Hall, then located on Wall Street. New York City was the nation’s first capital under the new federal government established by the Constitution. Washington traveled there after being unanimously elected by the Electoral College in the first presidential election.
Robert R. Livingston, chancellor of New York, administered the presidential oath. John Adams had already become vice president, and the ceremony marked the practical beginning of the constitutional presidency. Washington then delivered his inaugural address to Congress.
The capital later moved to Philadelphia in 1790 and finally to Washington, D.C., in 1800. That sequence can cause confusion when people associate Washington’s inauguration with the modern capital. America250’s broader founding-era story includes this 1789 transition from revolutionary independence to constitutional government.