Feb 04 2009
George’s Record Still Intact
On this day in 1789, the U.S. Electoral College unanimously elected George Washington the first President of the United States. Washington remains the only president to ever receive 100% of the electoral votes and the only one who had not wanted or sought the office.
Washington was sworn in as the first President under the Constitution for the United States of America on April 30, 1789 at Federal Hall (on Wall Street of all places) in New York City.
The 1st United States Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year-a large sum at that time. Washington, already wealthy, declined payment, since he valued his image as a selfless public servant. He eventually accepted compensation, at the urging of Congress, to avoid setting a precedent that would leave the impression that the presidency would be limited only to independently wealthy individuals who could serve without any salary.
As president, Washington lived up to his already solid reputation as an able administrator and an excellent judge of talent and character. He surrounded himself with a sophisticated team of advisors and successfully delegated most of the responsibility for the conduct of their offices to those trusted colleagues.
When confronted with the difficult task of putting together a cabinet from scratch - with no model to guide him - he got it right the first time. He never had to hold a press conference to say “I screwed up.” He never complained about being frustrated. He forged ahead and set precedents for his successors to follow.
Washington only reluctantly agreed to serve a second term of office as president and refused to run for a third, establishing the precedent of a maximum of two terms for a president. More than 40 years of hard public service had drained him physically, mentally, and financially. He was more than happy to hand over the reigns of office to his successor, John Adams, and then return to Mount Vernon to resume farming.
