Washington was elected by the
unanimous vote of the
Electoral College. He was
inaugurated on April 30th, 1789 at
Federal Hall on the corner of
Wall and Broad Streets,
New York City. Before leaving
Mount Vernon for the ceremonies, he had written a letter expressing
doubts about both his
suitability fro the position and the sucess of the
Republic. But he did believe he possesd certain qualifications for the office, for he wrote, "
Integrity and firmness are all I can promise."
Regardless of political affiliation, the Congress and the people had confidence in Washington. They had different ideas of what should be done, but there was no factiontrying to wreck the Reupblic. Those who had ooposed ratification of the Constitution were not working to establish the government. They hadn't changed their minds, even though they accepted the fact that the Constitution was the government. They were willing that changes to make it more to their liking be achieved by peaceful, legal procedures, not by trying to destroy by violence what had been establisehd by fair elections. This sort of political maturity was remarkable. How different from the experience of several new nations created since World War I!