On the one hand, I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years: a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. In closing his brief remarks, the newly-installed President Washington put responsibility for the nation in the hands of its citizens saying “… the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”ĪpFellow Citizens of the Senate and the House of Representatives.Īmong the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the fourteenth day of the present month. There he delivered a much shorter inaugural address that was largely written by James Madison. After he was sworn in, Washington and the members of Congress moved into the Senate Chamber in Federal Hall. This address was, however, never delivered. He wrote a lengthy inaugural address during these months that was filled with his thoughts and aspirations for the nation. In Mount Vernon, Washington waited and began to ponder what he should say to the new nation on the occasion of his inauguration. Nevertheless, the process of election specified by the Constitution took some time to unfold. #THE PRESERVATION OF THE SACRED FIRE OF LIBERTY SERIES#He was revered throughout the new country for his heroic leadership during the war as well as for his service and measured judgement in the series of congresses that had advanced independence. There was never any doubt that George Washington would be the first president. From the day George Washington placed his hand on the Bible and recited the oath, inaugural ceremonies have been an important symbol of the continuity and permanence of American government. This thirty-five-word oath prescribed in Article 2 of the Constitution formally ends one president’s term and begins the next. The Constitution requires that presidents must take this oath of office before they assume their presidential duties. The air exploded with cheers: “Long live George Washington, President of the United States!” Washington placed his hand on the Bible and took the oath of office, the same oath that every American president has subsequently sworn to. George Washington presented himself to the people as one of them, an ordinary citizen now assuming the role of president. The world had never seen a national leader dressed so simply – no lavish robes trimmed with fur, not even a dashing military uniform. Washington wore a dark brown suit “of homespun clothes.” It was made in America, and the symbolism was rich to the members of the international press in attendance. At dawn, thirteen cannons roared their salute, and George Washington emerged on the portico of Federal Hall as the sun broke through the clouds. In every window, on every roof, and in the streets a massive throng of people had gathered. New York was a city of 29,000 residents, 300 grog shops, and no sidewalks so the crowding was intense. “We shall remain here, even if we have to sleep in a tent,” said one visitor. Clouds blanketed the city, but an eager public in New York City was determined to take part in a grand jubilee to celebrate the elevation of George Washington to the presidency of the United States.
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