The first presidential election
Following the Constitutional convention From May 1787, on which George Washington had presided over, his ascent to the presidency was anything but a fact. As commander of the continental army during Revolutionary war,, Washington had proven to be masterful to balance the strategic and political requests of the office. His perseverance and devotion to his men and his full awareness of the ideals for whom they fought earned him the respect and loyalty of many. Consequently, his signature on the new Constitution was a decisive approval for some of those who had opposed federalization.
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Following the ratification of the constitution by the nine states necessary in July 1788, the congress set on January 7 of the following year on the date of which the states had to choose voters. The people chosen would vote a month later, on February 4. Washington was reluctant to leave the comfort of Mount VernonBut his comrade Founding fathers considered his acceptance of the presidency as a fatality. February 4, 1789, voters summoned in 10 states to vote. North Carolina,, Rhode IslandAnd new York abstained from the process; The first two states had not ratified the Constitution, and the second was in the midst of an intestine legislative conflict. Of the 72 voters, all except three voted their bulletins (voters voted for two candidates). Washington appeared on the 69 ballots, while almost half of the voters voted for John Adamswhich was duly elected vice-president. The rest of the votes were divided between 10 other candidates.
On April 16, after having received the notification of the Honor Congress, Washington started to To go up Vernon, reaching new York In time to be inaugurated on April 30. His journey to the North was a celebration procession while the people of each city and village through which he passed have proven to be greeted, often with banners and speeches and in certain places with triumphant arches. He came across the Hudson river In a specially built barge decorated in red, white and blue. The inaugural ceremony was carried out on Wall StreetNear the place now marked by the statue of John Quincy Adams Ward of Washington. A large crowd collapsed while Washington, standing on the balcony of the Federal Hall, was sworn administered by the chancellor Robert Livingston And withdrew inside to read his inaugural speech in the congress. Washington was dressed in an American brown costume, but he wore white stockings and a fashionable sword of European courts.
For the results of the following election, see American presidential election of 1792.
