The oath of office was first administered by Robert R. Livingston. The open Bible on which the President laid his hand was held on a rich crimson velvet cushion by Samuel Otis, Secretary of the Senate. With them were John Adams, who had been elected Vice President; George Clinton, first Governor of New York; Philip Schuyler, John Jay, Maj. Gen. Henry Knox, Jacob Morton (Master of St. John's Lodge, who had retrieved the Lodge Bible when they discovered none had been provided), and other distinguished guests.