George Washington became the first president of the United States.
His first inauguration took place on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City. The ceremony began the executive branch of the government created by the Constitution, which had replaced the weaker national arrangement under the Articles of Confederation.
Robert R. Livingston, New York’s chancellor, administered the presidential oath from the building’s second-floor balcony. Vice President John Adams had already taken office on April 21. Washington then delivered his First Inaugural Address to Congress, emphasizing the responsibility of establishing precedents for the new government.
Washington had commanded the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and later presided over the Constitutional Convention. His selection as president reflected both his military reputation and the political trust he had built by surrendering military power after the war. His inauguration is not the same event as the 1787 Constitutional Convention or the 1776 Declaration adoption, though all three are central to the founding-era narrative remembered by America250.