The above is
George Washington's first inaugural address, given in the city of
New York on Thursday, April 30, 1789. The Nation's first chief executive took his oath of office on the balcony of the
Senate Chamber at
Federal Hall on
Wall Street.
General Washington had been unanimously elected President by the first
electoral college, and
John Adams was elected
Vice President because he received the second greatest number of votes. Under the rules, each elector cast two votes. Chancellor of New York and fellow Freemason
Robert R. Livingston administered the oath of office. The
Bible on which the oath was sworn belonged to
New York's
St. John's Masonic Lodge.
The new President gave his inaugural address before a joint session of the two Houses of
Congress assembled inside the
Senate Chamber.
The following is
Washington’s second inaugural address, given in
Philadelphia, on Monday, March 4, 1793.
President Washington's second oath of office was taken in the
Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in
Philadelphia on the date fixed by the Continental Congress for inaugurations. Before an assembly of
Congressmen,
Cabinet officers, judges of the
federal and district courts, foreign officials, and a small gathering of
Philadelphians, the
President offered
the shortest inaugural address ever given.
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court William Cushing administered the oath of office.
Fellow Citizens:
I am again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its
Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this
distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united
America.
Previous to the execution of any official act of the
President the
Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of the
Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the
upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.