In an effort to inspire confidence in the currency of the colonial government, George Washington accepted payment for his personal business dealings during the revolution in the paper money issued under the Articles of the Confederation. Washington found himself in dire financial straits when the paper money he accepted proved to be almost completely worthless. When, in April of 1789, Washington finally left Mt. Vernon for the nation's temporary capital in New York, he did so without completely squaring his financial affairs. So poor was Washington's financial state that he had to borrow a hundred pounds to cover his traveling expenses from Virginia to New York, where he was inaugurated as the first President of the United States on April 30, 1789.
