This week author and White House historian Lindsay M. Chervinsky discusses her new book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution. The US Constitution never established a presidential cabinet—the delegates to the Constitutional Convention explicitly rejected the idea. The book explores why George Washington created one.
Author Jon Meacham calls the book an “important and illuminating study,” one that “has given us an original angle of vision on the foundations and development of something we all take for granted: the president’s Cabinet.”
Further Reading
Lindsay M. Chervinsky: The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution
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We speak with President Thomas Jefferson this week about his cabinet, particularly about his Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin. President Jefferson, as portrayed by humanities scholar Clay S. Jenkinson, gives credit to Mr. Gallatin for retiring the national debt during his administration, for running the federal government while Jefferson and Madison were away, and for keeping government spending in check.
In the What Would Jefferson Do segment, Jefferson recommends reading: Thomas Paine, Common Sense; Tacitus, The Histories; Montesquieu, Spirit of the Laws; The letters and orations of Cicero; John Locke, Second Treatise on Government; and The Federalist Papers.
President Thomas Jefferson joins us this week to discuss the formation of his first cabinet. He had a great deal of experience having attended nearly 60 cabinet meetings serving as Secretary of State during the Washington administration. Jefferson chose his cabinet carefully, wanting to avoid the conflict he experienced in the Washington administration.
This week author and White House historian Lindsay M. Chervinsky discusses her new book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution. The US Constitution never established a presidential cabinet—the delegates to the Constitutional Convention explicitly rejected the idea. The book explores why George Washington created one.
Author Jon Meacham calls the book an “important and illuminating study,” one that “has given us an original angle of vision on the foundations and development of something we all take for granted: the president’s Cabinet.”
"We need second and other voices, including voices of dissent."
— Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson