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
Hard to imagine we could be a country without washingtons battlefield heroics. If you want to understand military history, look at washingtons campaign in new jersey and the hudson river, et cetera, its quite remarkable. Washington journal continues. From the ground of George Washingtons historic mt. Vernon, were joined now at the education and Museum Center there by doug bradburn, the president and ceo of George Washingtons mt. Vernon on this president s day. First, sir, explain the significance of that moment thats portrayed over your shoulder there, the swearingin of George Washington. Well, good morning, welcome to mt. Vernon. Behind me you see George Washington, 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 . Well, they werent defined at all. The presidency was a brand ne
In of George Washington. Guest good morning, welcome to mount vernon. Behind me you see George Washington, the first president , being sworn in at federal hall in new york city in 1789 in were thet how well duties and powers of the office that he was about to step into, how well were they defined at that moment when he was sworn in . Guest they were not defined at all. The presidency was a brandnew institution. There had not been anything like it certainly in america and really in the world. It was a new experiment of an elected magistrate who at one point would be the head of state, like a king, but at the same time be the chief executioner of the laws, the chief executive, the chief policymaker. It was not clear where the powers of the legislature and where the powers of the president would be defined. Washington really created that office, and many of the precedents, many of the things we come to think of as president ial, come down from his example in the office host 59 when he89,
President ial candidates plans on education. We continue our series looking at the issues shaping these election. Ifill all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your financial futuren and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Prcoyo woodruff for the president today, a moment on the worldda stage at the United Nations, one last time. His message an urgent plea to make a better world. At this moment, we all face a choice. Woodruff it was his final address to the u. N. General assembly, and president obamaa used it to issue a challenge. We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration, or we can retreat into a worldwe sharply divided and ultimatelyul in conflict along ageold lines of n