First inauguration of George Washington in the context of "Washington Square Arch"

Robert Robert Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old Style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from New York, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor" after the high New York state legal office he held for 25 years. He was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Roger Sherman, but was recalled by the state of New York before he could sign the document. Livingston administered the oath of office to George Washington when he assumed the presidency April 30, 1789. Livingston was also elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1801.

George Washington's tenure as the inaugural president of the United States began on April 30, 1789, the day of his first inauguration, and ended on March 4, 1797. Washington took office after he was elected unanimously by the Electoral College in the 1788–1789 presidential election, the nation's first quadrennial presidential election. Washington was re-elected unanimously in 1792 and chose to retire after two terms. He was succeeded by his vice president, John Adams of the Federalist Party.

Washington, who had established his preeminence among the new nation's Founding Fathers through his service as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and as president of the 1787 constitutional convention, was widely expected to become the first president of the United States under the new Constitution, though he desired to retire from public life. In his first inaugural address, Washington expressed both his reluctance to accept the presidency and his inexperience with the duties of civil administration, though he proved an able leader.

Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States established under the Constitution. Serving as the meeting place of the First United States Congress and the site of George Washington's first presidential inauguration, the building was located on Wall Street facing the northern end of Broad Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, from 1703 to 1812. The site is occupied by the Federal Hall National Memorial, a Greek Revival–style building completed in 1842 as the New York Custom House. The National Park Service now operates the building as a national memorial commemorating the historic events that occurred at Federal Hall.

The original structure on the site was built from 1699 to 1703 as New York's second city hall. The building hosted the 1765 Stamp Act Congress, before the American Revolution. After the United States became an independent nation, it served as the meeting place for the Congress of the Confederation, the nation's first central government under the Articles of Confederation, from 1785 to 1789, and the building was expanded and updated. With the establishment of the United States federal government in 1789, it hosted the 1st Congress and the inauguration of George Washington as the nation's first president. It was demolished in 1812.

Between seventy-three and seventy-nine days after the presidential election, the president-elect of the United States is inaugurated as president by taking the presidential oath of office. The inauguration takes place for each new presidential term, even if the president is continuing in office for another term.

The first inauguration of George Washington took place on April 30, 1789. Subsequent public inaugurations from 1793 until 1933 were held on March 4, with the exceptions of those in 1821, 1849, 1877, and 1917, when March 4 fell on a Sunday, thus the public inauguration ceremony took place on Monday, March 5. Since 1937, it has taken place at noon Eastern time on January 20, the first day of the new term, except in 1957, 1985, and 2013, when January 20 fell on a Sunday. In those years, the presidential oath of office was administered on that day privately and then again in a public ceremony the next day, on Monday, January 21. The most recent presidential inauguration was held on January 20, 2025, when Donald Trump reassumed office.

The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an international exposition held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair featured exhibitions, activities, performances, films, artworks, and food presented by 62 nations, 35 U.S. states and territories, and more than 1,400 organizations and companies. Slightly over 45 million people attended across two seasons. Themed to "the world of tomorrow" and promoted with the slogan "Dawn of a New Day", the 1,202-acre (486 ha) fairground was divided into seven color-coded zones and two standalone focal exhibits, with approximately 375 buildings.

Plans for the fair were first announced in September 1935, and the New York World's Fair Corporation (WFC) began construction in June 1936. The fair officially opened on April 30, 1939, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the first inauguration of George Washington. Four months after the fair’s opening, World War II began in Europe, prompting several exhibitions to close or scale back. Although the fair ultimately drew more than 45 million visitors, it recouped only 32% of its original cost. When the exposition closed on October 27, 1940, most pavilions were demolished or removed, while others were relocated or reused during the 1964 New York World's Fair.