George Washington: First Inaugural Address

Audience

Washington delivered his First Inaugural Address to a joint session of Congress in New York City's Federal Hall, which forty-eight representatives, eleven senators, and Vice President John Adams attended. The president addressed them as “Fellow Citizens of the Senate, and the House of Representatives.” As a tribute “to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism” of those elected to Congress, Washington decided not to present them with a legislative blueprint to follow because he felt that they were qualified to set their own agenda. He did, however, ask them to consider adding a bill of rights in the form of amendments to the Constitution. Again, he deferred to their “discernment and pursuit of the public good” in providing what would be included in the list of “the characteristic rights of freemen.”

Washington also knew that he was addressing both his fellow citizens and the foreign diplomatic corps. The inaugural speech was quickly printed and reprinted in newspapers, broadsides, and pamphlets.