On January 7, 1789, the first presidential election was held in America. George Washington won and was sworn into office on April 30, 1789 in New York City. He delivered his famous Inaugural Address and assisted Congress in adoption of amendments that become the Bill of Rights.

George Washington served as president from 1789 to 1796. His election and reelection were so clearly favored by the American populace that he faced no opposition. In a letter to James Madison, he wrote:

As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent, it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.

NewsHour
Prof. Jack Warren responds to questions and myths about the first president of the U.S. George Washington, from Feb. 19, 1996. While truly a man to admire, he was not quite as saintly as folklore suggests, according to Warren. The story of a boy who refused to lie about cutting down a cherry tree, was only one of a number of myths created by Washington’s first biographer, the clergyman Mason Locke Weems.

PBS Documentary “Rediscovering George Washington”
The site discusses three character traits which allowed him to gain and wield power-skill as a warrior, charisma, and political savvy—and three traits which taught him to use it justly and to give it up-devotion to right ideas, civility, and magnanimous renunciation.