By
Lindsay M. Chervinsky (Guest Blogger)
Most
historians are inspired to write a book when they come across a
question and don’t know the answer or can’t find it in an
existing book. I’m no different!
I
wanted to understand more about the origins of the president’s
cabinet in the early years of the United States and I couldn’t find
anything that answered my question. I read all of the books I could
find about President George Washington, Secretary of State Thomas
Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of
War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. All of the
books mentioned the cabinet and referred to the secretaries’
interactions, but no one explained where it came from, how it got
started, or why.
So
I decided to tell that story. From the very beginning, I was
convinced that this tale was an important one to tell. The cabinet
isn’t in the Constitution, yet we can all see that it still exists
and wields an enormous amount of power. But as I completed my
research and started to write, I discovered that the cabinet was even
more central than even I had imagined. No legislation or
constitutional amendment was ever passed to create the cabinet and
there is very little public or congressional oversight over the
president’s interactions with the department secretaries. As a
result, Washington’s precedent governed his successors and
continues to guide modern presidents.
I
hope readers will take away a few lessons or concepts from reading
The Cabinet. First, I want them to see the first cabinet as a
group of intensely flawed, interesting humans. These guys weren’t
marble busts! They had big personalities, opinions, passions, and
quirks. That’s a much more interesting story than captured in your
high school textbook.
Second,
I hope readers will come away with a sense of the anxiety and
intensity of the 1790s. In 2020, we know that the republic experiment
worked, but they didn’t at the time. They were terrified that one
misstep would lead to the downfall of the nation and they didn’t
want to responsible for that fate. Similarly, there wasn’t a road
map for Washington and the cabinet to follow; they were kind of
making it up as they went along. They did their best and should be
remembered as such, but they didn’t have all the answers.
Lastly,
I hope readers will get a sense of just how much of our current
political system is built on custom and norms. Most of what governs
the daily activities of office holders isn’t written down, but
instead is a bunch of commonly-accepted best practices established by
previous politicians. That’s both an opportunity to advocate for
change citizens don’t approve, but also doesn’t provide much
legal protection against bad behavior. I hope that The Cabinet
will provide some context for our current moment and offer some food
for thought about what might be possible in the future.
Blurb
The
US Constitution never established a presidential cabinet―the
delegates to the Constitutional Convention explicitly rejected the
idea. So how did George Washington create one of the most powerful
bodies in the federal government?
On November 26, 1791, George Washington convened his department secretaries―Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph―for the first cabinet meeting. Why did he wait two and a half years into his presidency to call his cabinet? Because the US Constitution did not create or provide for such a body. Washington was on his own.
Faced with diplomatic crises, domestic insurrections, and constitutional challenges―and finding congressional help lacking―Washington decided he needed a group of advisors he could turn to. He modeled his new cabinet on the councils of war he had led as commander of the Continental Army. In the early days, the cabinet served at the president’s pleasure. Washington tinkered with its structure throughout his administration, at times calling regular meetings, at other times preferring written advice and individual discussions.
Lindsay M. Chervinsky reveals the far-reaching consequences of Washington’s choice. The tensions in the cabinet between Hamilton and Jefferson heightened partisanship and contributed to the development of the first party system. And as Washington faced an increasingly recalcitrant Congress, he came to treat the cabinet as a private advisory body to summon as needed, greatly expanding the role of the president and the executive branch.
On November 26, 1791, George Washington convened his department secretaries―Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph―for the first cabinet meeting. Why did he wait two and a half years into his presidency to call his cabinet? Because the US Constitution did not create or provide for such a body. Washington was on his own.
Faced with diplomatic crises, domestic insurrections, and constitutional challenges―and finding congressional help lacking―Washington decided he needed a group of advisors he could turn to. He modeled his new cabinet on the councils of war he had led as commander of the Continental Army. In the early days, the cabinet served at the president’s pleasure. Washington tinkered with its structure throughout his administration, at times calling regular meetings, at other times preferring written advice and individual discussions.
Lindsay M. Chervinsky reveals the far-reaching consequences of Washington’s choice. The tensions in the cabinet between Hamilton and Jefferson heightened partisanship and contributed to the development of the first party system. And as Washington faced an increasingly recalcitrant Congress, he came to treat the cabinet as a private advisory body to summon as needed, greatly expanding the role of the president and the executive branch.
Excerpt
At
eleven thirty in the morning on August 22, 1789, a large
cream-colored coach pulled up to the front door of Federal Hall at 26
Wall Street in New York City. Six matching, perfectly groomed horses
pulled the elegant carriage with sparkling gold trim. The coachman,
outfitted in crisp white- and red-trimmed livery, jumped down from
the back of the carriage and opened the door. An elegantly dressed
man with powdered hair stepped down with a portfolio of papers under
his arm. He towered over his companion, Henry Knox, the acting
secretary of war, and his slaves tending to his horses. His ornate
coach and his imposing presence drew curious stares from strangers
passing by on the street. He walked up to the front door of Federal
Hall and was immediately announced to the Senate. George Washington,
the first president of the United States, had arrived for his first
visit to the United States Senate.
This
was no ordinary meeting. Two years earlier, the delegates at the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia had agreed that the Senate
would “advise and consent” on treaties and other questions of
foreign policy. But in practice, how the president and the Senate
would interact remained for the first officeholders to work out….
About
the Author
Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Ph.D. a historian of Early America, the presidency, and the government – especially the president’s cabinet. She shares her research by writing everything from op-eds to books, speaking on podcasts and other media, and teaching every kind of audience. She is Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies and Senior Fellow at the International Center for Jefferson Studies. Previously, she worked as a historian at the White House Historical Association. She received her B.A. in history and political science from the George Washington University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. She has been featured in the Law and History Review, the Journal of the Early Republic, TIME, and the Washington Post. Her new book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution, was published by the Belknap Imprint of Harvard University Press on April 7, 2020.
The
New Criterion recently said of her book, “Fantastic…Unlike
many works of popular history, The Cabinet never feels like
hagiography. It lacks the reverence of works like Joseph J. Ellis’
Founder Brothers or the revisionist obsequiousness that now
greets Alexander Hamilton’s name on stage…Chervinsky exemplifies
the public-history ethos in her new book. The writing is clear and
concise…She takes what could have been a dry institutional and
political history of the Early Republic and transforms it into a
compelling story of people and places.”
When
she isn’t writing, researching, or talking about history, she can
be found hiking with her husband and American Foxhound, John Quincy
Dog Adams (Quincy for short).
Readers
can request a personalized book plate here:
https://www.lindsaychervinsky.com/book-plate
Author
Links
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/lmchervinsky
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/lchervinsky/
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/lmchervinsky
Website:
http://www.lindsaychervinsky.com/
Lindsay
M. Chervinsky will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to
a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
