The President’s Cabinet
● Developed over the years as an informal group of advisors from each executive department
● Article II, Section II, Clause I… “he may require the Opinion, in writing of the principal Officer in
each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective
Offices…”
● George Washington created the 1st Cabinet with: Secretaries of State, Treasury, War and an
Attorney General
Cabinets Through History
● Washington’s top two advisors, Hamilton and Jefferson, disagreed so bitterly that political parties
formed around these two men.
● Andrew Jackson preferred a group of informal advisors known as the “Kitchen Cabinet.”
● Abraham Lincoln once took a vote in which his entire cabinet unanimously opposed him. He said,
“Seven nays, one aye, the ayes have it.”
● John F. Kennedy paid more attention to the advice of his brother, Robert, who served as Attorney
General, than his formal Cabinet.
The Cabinet Today
● There are now 15 Cabinet Departments
● Each of these Departments have many subunits.
● The smallest is the State, with 25,000 employees
● The largest is the DOD with over 2 million employees.
The Cabinet Today
State Dept. Dept. of Defense
Treasury Dept.
● Handles America’s foreign ● Named the War
● Serves as the financial
policy Department until 1949
division of the government
● Negotiates treaties & staffs ● Ensures America’s security
● Collects taxes & manages
embassies
debt ● Oversees the armed forces
● Speaks for the US at the through the Joint Chiefs of
● Mints coins and currency
United Nations (UN). Staff
● Developed over the years as an informal group of advisors from each executive department
● Article II, Section II, Clause I… “he may require the Opinion, in writing of the principal Officer in
each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective
Offices…”
● George Washington created the 1st Cabinet with: Secretaries of State, Treasury, War and an
Attorney General
Cabinets Through History
● Washington’s top two advisors, Hamilton and Jefferson, disagreed so bitterly that political parties
formed around these two men.
● Andrew Jackson preferred a group of informal advisors known as the “Kitchen Cabinet.”
● Abraham Lincoln once took a vote in which his entire cabinet unanimously opposed him. He said,
“Seven nays, one aye, the ayes have it.”
● John F. Kennedy paid more attention to the advice of his brother, Robert, who served as Attorney
General, than his formal Cabinet.
The Cabinet Today
● There are now 15 Cabinet Departments
● Each of these Departments have many subunits.
● The smallest is the State, with 25,000 employees
● The largest is the DOD with over 2 million employees.
The Cabinet Today
State Dept. Dept. of Defense
Treasury Dept.
● Handles America’s foreign ● Named the War
● Serves as the financial
policy Department until 1949
division of the government
● Negotiates treaties & staffs ● Ensures America’s security
● Collects taxes & manages
embassies
debt ● Oversees the armed forces
● Speaks for the US at the through the Joint Chiefs of
● Mints coins and currency
United Nations (UN). Staff
