BRAINLIEST FOR WHOEVERS CORRECT Imagine if George Washington knew all about the rest of the presidents. What precedent do you believe George Washington would go back to his time and set

Institution.

On the afternoon of April 30, 1789, George Washington stepped out onto the balcony of Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan to take the oath as the first President of the United States. When Samuel Otis, the Secretary of the Senate, held out a Bible before Washington, he placed his right hand upon it.

Robert Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, using the words prescribed in Article II of the Constitution, asked Washington if he would solemnly swear to execute the office of President of the United States, and to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Washington answered that he would, reciting the oath back to the chancellor.1

Washington was well aware that he had been given the power to shape the American presidency. "I walk on untrodden ground," was a frequent comment he made in the days leading up to his first inauguration.2 He clearly understood that he needed to bring the executive branch to life in the republic he helped to found with no historic models to follow. Washington believed that the precedents he set must make the presidency powerful enough to function effectively in the national government, but at the same time these practices could not show any tendency toward monarchy or dictatorship.