Presidential Election of 1789

Following the first presidential election in 1789, George Washington was unanimously elected president of the United States. With 69 electoral votes, Washington won the support from each participating state. No other president since has come into office with a universal mandate to lead.

Electing the President

Between December 15, 1788 and January 10, 1789, the presidential electors were chosen in each of the states. Washington described these electors as having "characters of the gentleman."¹ On February 4, 1789, the Electoral College convened. Ten states cast electoral votes: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. New York, however, failed to field a slate of electors. North Carolina and Rhode Island were unable to participate because they had not yet ratified the Constitution. After a quorum was finally established, the Congress counted and certified the electoral vote count on April 6.

To many, Washington was an obvious first choice for president. As president of the Constitutional Convention, many delegates framed the role of the executive branch around his leadership. He was both a national hero and the favorite son of Virginia, the largest state at the time. Washington ascended to the presidency with practical experience, having served as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

According to Article II of the Constitution, each elector in the Electoral College possessed two votes. The candidate who received a majority of the votes was elected president. The candidate with the second most votes in the Electoral College, whether a majority or a plurality, was elected vice president. Behind Washington, John Adams, who most recently had served as the first U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, finished with 34 electoral votes and became the first vice president of the United States. Being from Massachusetts, Adams’ election provided the administration a regional balance between the south and north. Other candidates receiving multiple electoral votes were John Jay (9), Robert Harrison (6), John Rutledge (6), John Hancock (4), and George Clinton (3). Five candidates split the remaining seven votes. Upon hearing the news of his decisive election, Washington set out from Mount Vernon to take his place in presidential history. 

The First Presidential Inauguration

On April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, the first capital of the United States, Washington took the presidential oath of office. Though filled with great anxiety, Washington shared in his First Inaugural Address that he was assuming the role "in obedience to the public summons," and he explained that "the voice of my Country called me."² With a hand on the Bible, a "sacred volume" borrowed from a local Masonic lodge and subsequently known as the "George Washington Inaugural Bible," he swore his oath as the first president of the United States.

D. Jason Berggren Georgia Southwestern State University, updated by Zoie Horecny, Ph.D., 9 April 2025

Notes:

1.“From George Washington to Henry Lee, 20 January 1789,” Founders Online, National Archives.

2.“First Inaugural Address: Final Version, 30 April 1789,” Founders Online, National Archives.

Bibliography:

Boller, Paul, Jr. Presidential Campaigns. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Greenstein, Fred I. "Presidential Difference in the Early Republic: The Highly Disparate Leadership Styles of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson," Presidential Studies Quarterly 36, no. 3 (September 2006): 373-390.

Landy, Marc, and Sidney M. Milkis. Presidential Greatness. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2000.

McDonald, Forrest. The Presidency of George Washington. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1988.

Michaelsen, William B. Creating the American Presidency, 1775-1789. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987.