Reception Upon Arriving at New York Harbor On His Way to His Inauguration

Upon reaching Elizabethtown, New Jersey on April 23, 1789, Washington was escorted across New York Harbor harbor to Manhattan in a specially built barge rowed by thirteen sailors in white. He was also accompanied by a committee consisting of three newly elected U.S. Senator and five newly elected Representatives. While being rowed across the harbor, Washington was saluted by all the ships that had congregated in the harbor to greet him, including a Spanish ship that displayed an array of flags of all nations and fired a thirteen gun salute in Washington's honor. Meanwhile, upon reaching the New York side of the harbor, Washington was greeted with another thirteen gun salute from the fort there and an even larger crowd of people and officials.

Inauguration as Our Nation's First President

On April 30, 1789, George Washington was sworn in as our nation's first President. For the inauguration ceremony, he worn a plain American-made brown suit with buttons with eagles embozzed on them, white stockings, and a ceremonial sword. The inauguration ceremony took place at Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City. It was conducted on a balcony overlooking a cheering crowd below. After the brief ceremony, Washington and the other dignitaries returned to the Senate chamber inside where Washington gave his inaugural speech.

President George Washington and His Cabinet

Pictured in this illustration are President George Washington and his cabinet. From left to right, illustrated are George Washington, Secretary of War Henry Knox, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Not pictured because he was not technically a part of the Cabinet was Vice President John Adams. Historians generally agree that George Washington put together the most brilliant group of cabinet officers in our nation's history. Unlike subsequent presidents that often polled their cabinet officers in making decisions, however, George Washington made all presidential decisions. He would often seek memos from his cabinet officers to seek their differing opinions, but he never put decisions to a vote. Instead, his cabinet was modeled after his counsel of generals underneath himself where he sought their views, but there could only be one commander. From today's perspective, Washington might be accused of micro-managing. But given the small size of the federal government when he was President and the lack of the type of White House support staff that modern presidents have to assist them, George Washington had no choice but to become involved in almost all the details of running the new government. This was one of the reasons why George Washington was the most qualified to become the nation's first president - since he had experience in running a large plantation (that was larger than the entire federal government when Washington was President) and had experience in commanding the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Also, George Washington was the one person that the country could unite behind in putting aside their regional differences.

1790 Painting by Edward Savage of George Washington and His Family

In this 1790 painting of George Washington and his family by Edward Savage, Martha Washington is pointing to map of the planned new capitol for the nation to be named the District of Columbia - or Washington, D.C. Standing behind Martha Washington is Billy Lee, the long-time personal valet to George Washington. He was the one slave of Washington's to be immediately freed upon his death because of his service as Washington's personal valet throughout the American Revolutionary War.

An Engraving of George Washington and His Family

Another Engraving of George Washington and His Family

First Lady Martha Washington