First president being sworn in at federal hall in new york city. That would have been in 1789, in april. How well where the duties and office that he was about to step into, how well where they defined at this moment when he was sworn in . They werent defined at all. There was a brandnew institution, certainly in america and really in the world, its a new experiment of an elected magistrate that would have at one point been the head of state, like a king, but also be the chief executioner of the laws, the chief executive in this case, the chief policy maker. And it wasnt exactly clear where the powers of the of the legislature and where thedefine. Powers of the president would be defined. And so washington really created that office. Reallmany of the precedents, mf the things that we come to think of as president ial really come downwn from his example in the office. He took the oath, what were his views at the time about expanding or restricting the power of the office that he was ste
Of the president would be defined. And so washington really created that office. Many of the precedents, many of the t down from his example in the office. April of 1789, age 57 when he took the oath, what were h cour representatives, people represent their districts. In the senate they represent the states. And so as president , he is the only elected officer that represents all the people. And s been purchased for some 10 million. I want to show viewers a bit of what it looks like and what president George Washington did to learn about the powers of the presidency. George washington is very, very exacting with his books. We see that he takes great care of them. He has them in beautiful glass fronted shelves in his personal library at mt. Vernon. Often putting a wonderful flourish of his grand signature in the upper righthand corner of the title page which he does with this volume. He also, especially on very important papers, puts a book plate. This is a book plate washington ordered
Of the president would be defined. And so washington really created that office. Many of the precedents, many of the t down from his example in the office. April of 1789, age 57 when he took the oath, what were h cour representatives, people represent their districts. In the senate they represent the states. And so as president , he is the only elected officer that represents all the people. And s been purchased for some 10 million. I want to show viewers a bit of what it looks like and what president George Washington did to learn about the powers of the presidency. George washington is very, very exacting with his books. We see that he takes great care of them. He has them in beautiful glass fronted shelves in his personal library at mt. Vernon. Often putting a wonderful flourish of his grand signature in the upper righthand corner of the title page which he does with this volume. He also, especially on very important papers, puts a book plate. This is a book plate washington ordered
President s day. First, sir, explain the significance of that moment thats portrayed over your shoulder there, the swearing in of George Washington. You see the first president being sworn in at federal hall in new york city. This would have been in 1789 in april. How well were the duties and the powers of the office that he was about to step into . How well were they defined at that moment when he was sworn in . They werent defined at all. There was nothing like it in america and really in the world. It was a new experiment of an elected magistrate who would at one point be the head of state like a king but at the same time also sort of the chief executioner of the laws, the chief executive in this case, the chief policymaker. And it wasnt exactly clear where the powers of the legislature and where the powers of the president would be defined. Washington created that office and many of the precedents, many of the things we come to think of as president ial really come down from his ex
Of the president would be defined. And so washington really created that office. Many of the precedents, many of the t down from his example in the office. April of 1789, age 57 when he took the oath, what were h cour representatives, people represent their districts. In the senate they represent the states. And so as president , he is the only elected officer that represents all the people. And s been purchased for some 10 million. I want to show viewers a bit of what it looks like and what president George Washington did to learn about the powers of the presidency. George washington is very, very exacting with his books. We see that he takes great care of them. He has them in beautiful glass fronted shelves in his personal library at mt. Vernon. Often putting a wonderful flourish of his grand signature in the upper righthand corner of the title page which he does with this volume. He also, especially on very important papers, puts a book plate. This is a book plate washington ordered