The First Inauguration: George Washington and the Invention of the Republic by Stephen Howard Browne

Author:Stephen Howard Browne [Browne, Stephen Howard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Washington, George, 1732–1799—Inaugurations, 1732–1799. Inaugural address of 1789, United States—Politics and government—1789–1797
Publisher: The Pennsylvania State University Press

FEDERAL HALL

Federal Hall was not particularly ornate, nor was it exceptionally large (fig. 9). A happy synthesis of European and new-world federal tastes, the structure was nevertheless perfectly suited to its time, place, and purpose. “The style is bold, simple and regular,” noted one admirer, “the parts few, large and distinct—and we think the whole has an air of grandeur.” Situated at the corner of Wall and Nassau Streets, Federal Hall featured three stories, the second of which offered a balcony (12′ by 44′) facing Wall, arched walkways, and columns along the face. Here was to be the seat of the new government, close on Broad Street and appropriately very much of the city, not far from the busy port, and surrounded by the hurly-burly of citizens, visitors, and other denizens of the early republic. Like the city and its people, the government itself was on the move, and its first home would not last long: within a few years, the capital would decamp to Philadelphia, and before the War of 1812 was over, the proud structure was no more. For the time being, however, it served to house Congress and host the nation’s first presidential inauguration. Preparations for the big day had come down to the wire, of course; construction schedules are thus fated. But here, finally, was “a superb edifice, in every way convenient for the grand purposes for which it was designed, and is a rich, and we hope a lasting ornament to the city.”21

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