Editing Cabinet of the United States (section)

==History==
[[File:State-dining-room-polk-cabinet.jpg|thumb|[[James K. Polk]] and his Cabinet in 1846: the first Cabinet to be photographed]]
The tradition of the Cabinet arose out of the debates at the 1787 [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] regarding whether the president would exercise executive authority solely or collaboratively with a [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet of ministers]] or a [[privy council]]. As a result of the debates, the Constitution (Article{{spaces}}II, Section{{spaces}}1, Clause{{spaces}}1) vests "the executive power" in the president singly, and authorizes—but does not compel—the president (Article{{spaces}}II, Section{{spaces}}2, Clause{{spaces}}1) to "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".<ref>{{cite web| last=Prakash| first=Sai| title=Essays on Article II:Executive Vesting Clause| url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/76/executive-vesting-clause| work=The Heritage Guide to The Constitution| publisher=The Heritage Foundation| access-date=July 3, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701142803/https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/76/executive-vesting-clause| archive-date=July 1, 2018| url-status=unfit| df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=A2EssayGaziano>{{cite web| last=Gaziano| first=Todd| title=Essays on Article II: Opinion Clause| url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/88/opinion-clause| work=The Heritage Guide to The Constitution| publisher=The Heritage Foundation| access-date=July 3, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701142803/https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/88/opinion-clause| archive-date=July 1, 2018| url-status=unfit| df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Constitution does not specify what the executive departments will be, how many there will be, or what their duties will be.

[[George Washington]], the first president of the United States, organized his principal officers into a Cabinet, and it has been part of the executive branch structure ever since. Washington's Cabinet consisted of five members: himself, [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Henry Knox]] and [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Edmund Randolph]]. Vice President [[John Adams]] was not included in Washington's Cabinet because the position was initially regarded as a legislative officer (president of the Senate).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/john-adams/ |title=John Adams · George Washington's Mount Vernon |access-date=May 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153631/http://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/john-adams/ |archive-date=May 17, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Furthermore, until there was a vacancy in the presidency (which did not occur until the death of [[William Henry Harrison]] in 1841) it was not certain that a vice president [[Tyler precedent|would be allowed to serve as president for the duration of the original term]] as opposed to merely acting as president until new elections could be held. It was not until the 20th century that vice presidents were regularly included as members of the Cabinet and came to be regarded primarily as a member of the executive branch.

Presidents have used Cabinet meetings of selected principal officers but to widely differing extents and for different purposes. During President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s administration, Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] advocated the use of a parliamentary-style Cabinet government. However, Lincoln rebuffed Seward. While [[Woodrow Wilson]] was a professor he also advocated a parliamentary-style Cabinet but after becoming president he did not implement it in his administration. In recent administrations, Cabinets have grown to include key White House staff in addition to department and various agency heads. President [[Ronald Reagan]] formed seven sub-cabinet councils to review many policy issues, and subsequent presidents have followed that practice.<ref name=A2EssayGaziano/>