Who became the first U.S. president at the inaugural ceremony held on April 30, 1789?

George Washington became the first U.S. president at the inaugural ceremony held on April 30, 1789. He took the oath on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City.

Washington had previously served as commander in chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The Electoral College unanimously elected him in the nation’s first presidential election, held in 1788 and 1789. John Adams became vice president.

Robert R. Livingston, chancellor of New York, administered the oath because the federal judiciary had not yet been organized. Washington then delivered his First Inaugural Address to Congress and the assembled public.

The ceremony occurred nearly two months after the official start of the first presidential term on March 4, 1789. Federal Hall was then the national capital and the meeting place of the First United States Congress. The inauguration marked the practical beginning of the executive branch under the Constitution.