The First Congress

Published February 23, 2016 at 5:00 AM EST

Illustration of George Washington during his swearing-in ceremony took place on the balcony of the Public House, later called Federal Hall.

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Federal Hall in New York City is where the first Congress met and also the site of George Washington being sworn in as president.

Gryffindor / Wikimedia Commons

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Federal Hall in New York City is where the first Congress met and also the site of George Washington being sworn in as president.

Gryffindor / Wikimedia Commons

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Federal Hall in New York site is across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street and is know home to Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site with a statue of George Washington out front.

krispdk / Flickr Creative Commons

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Federal Hall in New York site is across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street and is know home to Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site with a statue of George Washington out front.

krispdk / Flickr Creative Commons

The first Congress used the Constitution of the United States to try and piece together how to actually make the government they had envisioned work. It took the minds of men like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and more to make the ideals of the Constitution a reality. Today, what the first Congress did accomplish, how it did so and what its impact is on American politics is today.

Guest:

Fergus Bordewich, Author, The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government

This show originally aired on February 23, 2016 at 10 a.m.