On This Day in 1791 — The First Cabinet Meeting in United States History
Two hundred and twenty-nine years ago, on November 26, 1791, George Washington convened the first cabinet meeting. By organizing the first of ninety-nine meetings, Washington formed an institution that serves at the center of the executive branch to this day. But the cabinet isn’t in the Constitution and no additional legislation created it. Washington’s creation also set another precedent with critical ramifications over two centuries later — the presidency is largely governed by norm and custom, rather than written rules or laws.
Washington spent the first two years of his administration trying to govern with the advisory options provided to him in Article II of the Constitution — consult with the Senate on foreign affairs and request written advice from the department secretaries. Just a few months after his inauguration, he met with the Senate to plan an upcoming peace commission with representatives from North Carolina, South Carolina, and the Creek and Cherokee nations. Washington delivered an address and then provided a series of questions that he expected the senators to answer and debate. Instead, the Senate elected to refer the issue to committee for private deliberation and requested Washington return the following week for its recommendation. As a result, Washington concluded the Senate was too inefficient to provide the timely, immediate feedback that diplomacy required and he vowed never to return to seek the senators’ advice. He kept his word.
Around the same time, Congress created the executive departments and Washington nominated his candidates to fill the positions. After dismissing the Senate as a useful advisory council, he turned his attention to the department secretaries. He initially tried to limit his interactions with the secretaries to written advice as Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution requires. But he quickly discovered that written correspondence was too cumbersome and slow to address the complex issues facing the new nation. Washington needed to be able to ask follow up questions and discuss policy ramifications with the secretaries, so he started inviting them to attended one-on-one consultations after the initial exchange of letters.
Despite Washington’s best intentions, sometimes issues are too big to discuss with just one advisor, especially when they touch on events or policies that affect multiple departments. So he created the cabinet to provide advice and support when faced with domestic rebellions, international crises, and constitutional questions.
Why should we care about the first cabinet meeting all these years later? The cabinet’s persistent survival demonstrates that the presidency continued to develop and evolve long after it was drafted in Article II of the Constitution. The cabinet also reveals just how much of the executive branch is governed by norms and customs. Every president since Washington has worked with a cabinet, but they’ve all tweaked the institution and shaped their interactions with the secretaries to suit their preferences and governing needs. The Senate confirms the president’s nominees, but after the confirmation process, Congress exercises little oversight over the secretaries. Nor does the public.
Over the last five years, and especially since November 3, 2020, we’ve seen just how easy it is for presidents to disregard the norms and customs when there isn’t a powerful oversight mechanism in place. On February 11, 1801, Congress opened the ballots and discovered that Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr had tied with seventy-three votes, with John Adams coming in third with sixty-five votes. From February 11 to February 17, 1801, the House of Representatives cast a series of ballots in a contingent election. On the thirty-sixth ballot, they finally selected Jefferson. While the House determined the next president, Adams stayed above the fray, respected the outcome of the election, and then conceded to Jefferson.
No president has ever disregarded the outcome of an election and refused to concede. Presidents are not legally obligated to concede and the concession has no impact on the outcome of the election. But an incumbent’s concession makes the transition much smoother, defends the legitimacy of the republic, and gives citizens confidence in the elections and government institutions. That’s why every president has followed the custom and norm first established by Adams in February 1801.
For better or for worse, we cannot understand our current political environment without understanding where it started. The creation of the cabinet fundamentally and irrevocably altered the future of the presidency.
Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Ph.D. is a presidential historian and Scholar in Residence at the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies at Iona College. She is also the author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and can be followed on Twitter @lmchervinsky.