George Washington - 2nd Inaugural Address

March 4, 1793
In the City of Philadelphia


President Washington's second oath of office occurred in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in the city of Philadelphia, March 4, 1793. President Washington gave the shortest inaugural address in American history to the assembled members of Congress, Cabinet officers, justices of the federal and district courts of the United States, foreign dignitaries, and a small number of prominent Philadelphians.The oath of office was administered by William Cushing who was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court




Fellow Citizens:


I AM again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united America.


Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.


George Washington