According to the Center for Legislative Archives, in 1788, the Confederation Congress announced Washington would be inaugurated on the first Wednesday in March 1789.
However, the beginning of that year was unseasonably cold, with snowy and bad weather delaying many members of the First Federal Congress from arriving promptly to New York City — the temporary seat of government.More than a month late, enough of the members reached NYC to tally the electoral ballots, according to the archives, and Washington won unanimously with 69 electoral votes.Washington took oath as the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789 in front of a crowd of 10,000 people who showed up to witness the historic event, according to History.com.