As the first president of the United States, George Washington set lasting precedents for future leaders, helping to define both the qualities befitting a president and the appropriate conduct of presidents while in office.
Early on the afternoon of April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office of
The fifty-seven-year-old Washington took office in a newly formed nation of four million people, citizens and noncitizens, living in thirteen states. He came to the presidency without previous experience in any elected executive office, despite a lifetime of dedicated public service. Influenced as were many men of his generation by the principles of the Enlightenment, Washington believed in the republican ideal, with its emphasis on self-sacrifice and the public good.
Washington’s long career had begun in 1758 with his election to the Virginia Assembly. He served as a colonel in the Virginia militia under the British in the French and Indian War. As commander in chief of the Continental army,
The anxieties of war, his labor for the Constitution, his desire for retirement from public life, and his love for his family and his home at Mount Vernon made Washington’s decision to accept the presidency a difficult one. He wrote: “My movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution, so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skills, abilities and inclination which is necessary to manage the helm.”
Thus, it was with mixed emotions that Washington set out for New York on April 16, 1789. Acclamations met him on each stage of his journey. In Alexandria, Georgetown, Baltimore, Wilmington, and Philadelphia, grateful citizens welcomed their acknowledged leader, who traveled by carriage, horseback, and flotilla. One week before his inauguration, Washington arrived at the end of Wall Street by barge from Elizabeth Town Point, New Jersey, to be met by thousands of cheering New Yorkers, a great display of boats and festooned ships, and the loud roar of cannon.
Crowds gather outside Federal Hall in New York City to witness the inauguration of the first president of the United States, George Washington.
Washington represented for the people who cheered him the last great hope for unity. Americans had been made wary by the revolution, the inadequacy of the
That Washington keenly felt the need for unity was apparent in his inaugural address, although the event was marred somewhat by factional debate over what title Washington should take as president.
After taking the oath of office, the new president entered the Senate Chamber, where both houses of Congress and various dignitaries took seats. On the canopied dias with the president were Vice President John Adams, Chancellor Livingston, and New York governor
Recognizing his duty under the Constitution to make recommendations to the Congress, Washington expressed his trust that the legislators would rise above the local pledges or attachments and petty animosities. In the only specific suggestion of the address, Washington urged Congress to quell “inquietude” by deciding to what extent it would advocate constitutional amendments. He expressed confidence in Congress’s ultimate wisdom in pursuit of the public good. Washington concluded on the theme of unity, trusting that God had
been pleased to favor the American people, with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for the security of their Union and the advancement of their happiness; so his divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations and the wise measures on which the success of the Government must depend.
From Federal Hall, the president walked triumphantly with congressmen and guests through streets lined with militia to services at St. Paul’s Chapel.
Washington believed that his inauguration as president represented the consummation of the revolution. The political experiment should have a fair trial, and the new president vowed to do his best to support it. Deeply conscious that he was setting the pattern that future presidents would follow, Washington brought the same dignity and modesty he had demonstrated throughout his career to the office of the presidency. Because he was the first president, the specific virtues he displayed in office became the virtues that Americans would expect of all their presidents for generations. Moreover, as the leader of the new nation, Washington projected an international image that became the image of American leadership in the eyes of the world at large.
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Alden, John R. George Washington: A Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1984. A comprehensive, interesting biography that bypasses the common mistake of lionizing the subject. -
Burns, James MacGregor, and Susan Dunn. George Washington. New York: Times Books, 2004. Concise biography, one in a series of books on the American presidents. Much of the book describes how Washington carefully created a public image emphasizing self-sacrifice and dignity. The authors also praise Washington’s presidency, lauding his ability to establish a strong executive branch and to develop the most effective style of collective leadership of any American president. -
Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. Best-selling and highly acclaimed biography, based in large part on Washington’s newly cataloged letters and papers at the University of Virginia. Ellis provides a complete account of Washington’s life and career, placing it within the context of the eighteenth century United States. He describes how Washington, who skillfully crafted his public personality, was equally adept at crafting a political system for the newly created United States. -
Langston, Thomas S., and Michael G. Sherman. George Washington. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2003. One in a series of books about the American presidents published by the Congressional Quarterly. The authors, who are political scientists, examine Washington’s life, election campaigns, his presidential policies, and the political crises that occurred during his administration. Each of the book’s six chapters includes a brief bibliographic essay. -
Schwartz, Barry. George Washington: The Making of an American Symbol. New York: Free Press, 1987. An exploration of the iconization of Washington, a process influenced by public events such as Washington’s inauguration. -
Smith, Richard Norton. Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Beginning with an account of Washington’s inauguration, this book explores the ways in which Washington defined the presidency. -
Washington, George. April-June, 1789. Vol. 2 in The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series, edited by W. W. Abbot and Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992-1995. Includes the full text of Washington’s address, as well as the fragmentary text discarded. -
Zagarri, Rosemarie, ed. David Humphreys’ “Life of General Washington” with George Washington’s “Remarks.” Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991. A newly edited version of the authorized biography of Washington, which includes his feelings about the presidency and the difficulties of life in public office.
American Revolutionary War
U.S. Constitution Is Adopted
Judiciary Act
First U.S. Political Parties
Hamilton’s Report on Public Credit
Nootka Sound Convention
Little Turtle’s War
U.S. Bill of Rights Is Ratified
Battle of Fallen Timbers
Jay’s Treaty
Pinckney’s Treaty
Washington’s Farewell Address
John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; George Washington.