Washington's Reluctant Journey to the Inauguration — Nathaniel Philbrick — Philbrick discusses the beginning of George Washington's presidency, focusing on his journey from Mount Vernon to New York in April 1789. Despite massive public adulation and ceremonial parades greeting him throughout his transit, Washington experienced profound internal psychological turmoil. Washington felt he had reached the end of his productive life at age 57 and viewed his election not as triumph but as "torture" due to the immense pressure of converting the Declaration of Independence's revolutionary aspirations into a functioning constitutional government. As he crossed New York Harbor , Washington felt the "unbearable weight of the future" pressing upon his shoulders with devastating psychological force. 1789
