Which city hosted the first inauguration of George Washington as U.S. president?

New York City hosted the first inauguration of George Washington as U.S. president on April 30, 1789.

Washington took the oath at Federal Hall, then located on Wall Street. New York City was the temporary national capital and the seat of the first Congress operating under the Constitution.

The ceremony happened before the federal government moved to Philadelphia and long before Washington, D.C., became the permanent capital. Robert R. Livingston, New York’s chancellor, administered the oath from the building’s balcony before a large public crowd.

Washington’s inauguration established traditions that later ceremonies developed further, including a public oath and inaugural address. The first ceremony was relatively modest compared with modern inaugurations, but it symbolized the transfer from the government under the Articles of Confederation to the constitutional government created in 1787.