Who was the first U.S. president inaugurated, a founding milestone highlighted by America250?

George Washington was the first U.S. president inaugurated. He took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, after the Constitution created the presidency and the electoral college unanimously selected him.

Washington’s inauguration occurred more than a decade after independence and demonstrated that the new constitutional government had begun operating. Chancellor Robert Livingston administered the oath while Washington stood on a balcony before a public crowd. Congress then moved to Philadelphia and later to the permanent capital on the Potomac.

The ceremony established traditions that later inaugurations retained, including the oath and an inaugural address. Washington’s first address was brief and emphasized republican government, public responsibility and reliance on divine providence. America250 commemorates both the revolutionary declaration and the constitutional institutions that followed it.