[254][o] The state electors under the Constitution voted for the president on February 4, 1789, and Washington suspected that most republicans had not voted for him.[260] The mandated March 4 date passed without a Congressional quorum to count the votes, but a quorum was reached on April 5. The votes were tallied the next day,[261] and Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson was sent to Mount Vernon to tell Washington he had been elected president. Washington won the majority of every state's electoral votes; John Adams received the next highest number of votes and therefore became vice president.[262] Washington had "anxious and painful sensations" about leaving the "domestic felicity" of Mount Vernon, but departed for New York City on April 16 to be inaugurated.[263]

Presidency (1789–1797)
Main article: Presidency of George Washington
President George Washington, a portrait by Gilbert Stuart (1795)
Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, taking the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City.[264][p] His coach was led by militia and a marching band and followed by statesmen and foreign dignitaries in an inaugural parade, with a crowd of 10,000.