Who became the first U.S. president under the Constitution in 1789?

George Washington became the first U.S. president under the Constitution in 1789.

Washington won the first presidential election unanimously in the Electoral College. He took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, then the nation’s capital. John Adams, who had finished second in the electoral vote, became vice president.

Washington’s two terms helped establish practices for the new office. He selected advisers who became the first Cabinet, supported the creation of a national financial system, and oversaw the federal government’s move to Philadelphia in 1790. In 1792, he again won every electoral vote.

Washington left office in 1797 after declining to seek a third term. His voluntary retirement became an important political precedent until the Twenty-Second Amendment later limited presidents to two elected terms. He is sometimes confused with the first leader of the United States under the Articles, but Washington was the first president chosen under the Constitution.