The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution

The US Constitution did not create or provide for the presidential cabinet. When George Washington called for the first convening of his department secretaries two and a half years into his presidency, he drew on his military experience to seek counsel on the wide array of challenges facing the new nation. Presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky dissects the reasons behind the cabinet’s creation, and the far-reaching consequences that resulted, from the development of the party system to th...