George Washington became the first president of the United States.
The Electoral College unanimously elected Washington in the nation’s first presidential election under the Constitution. He took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, then the national capital. His vice president was John Adams, who had received the second-highest electoral vote.
Washington had already become a major national figure during the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress appointed him commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775, and his leadership helped sustain the revolutionary cause through the war’s difficult years. He later presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
Washington served two terms, from 1789 to 1797, and voluntarily retired. Although the Constitution did not originally impose a two-term limit, his example established a powerful political tradition that lasted until Franklin D. Roosevelt won a third term in 1940.