1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
Congress set Jan. 7, 1789, as the date by which states were required to choose electors for the country’s first-ever presidential election. A month later, on Feb. 4, George Washington was elected president by state electors and sworn into office on April 30 that year. As in 1789, the U.S. still uses the Electoral College system, established by the Constitution, which today gives all American citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote for electors, who in turn vote for the president. The president and vice president are the only elected federal officials chosen by the Electoral College instead of by direct popular vote. Today political parties usually nominate their slate of electors at their state conventions or by a vote of the party’s central state committee, with party loyalists often being picked for the job. Members of Congress, though, can’t be electors. Each state is allowed to choose as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress.
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