John Adams was inaugurated as second president on March 4, 1797. Washington had preceded him to the hall and sat on the dais with Jefferson the Vice-President-elect, as Adams spoke. When the new President finished and left, Washington motioned to Jefferson to go next. The two Virginians had known each other since 1769, when Washington had been thirty-seven years old and Jefferson only twenty-six. From long habit and lingering respect, Jefferson now held back. But Washington gestured again, in a manner not to be ignored. The younger man was now Vice-President and must go first.
Hartt, Edmund
Boston, MA — Founded in 1659, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground — Boston’s largest burial ground — was the cemetery for merchants, artisans, and crafts people who lived in the North End.
Charlestown, MA — The beautifully preserved USS Constitution, known as “Old Ironsides,” was launched in 1798 and is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world.
Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington (1996)