How Much Do You Know About the U.S. Cabinet?

The role of Vice President has had varying levels of importance over the years. In the early days of the nation, it was more decorative than functional — John Adams called it “the most insignificant office.” But in the 20th century, Presidents started to bring their VPs into critical meetings. Warren G. Harding, who served in office from 1921 to 1923, was the first to give his Vice President, Calvin Coolidge, a seat in the Cabinet.

As a high-ranking Cabinet member for nearly a decade under two Presidents, Henry Kissinger shaped many U.S. foreign policy decisions in the 1970s. He became well-known for his negotiations — often in secret — with global powers of the time, including the Soviet Union, China, Egypt, and Israel. Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho in 1973 for helping negotiate an end to the Vietnam War.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy put Robert C. Weaver in charge of a collection of federal departments called the Housing and Home Finance Agency, now known as Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. Kennedy’s attempts to get the agency raised to Cabinet-level were blocked by Congress, but five years later — after Kennedy’s death and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act — President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded, and kept Weaver on as department head.

During a period of tension with France that saw the U.S. build multiple warships, the War Department was in charge of military contracts. Officials soon convinced Congress that naval affairs should be handled by a dedicated department. Centuries later, in the 1940s, a bill was passed that consolidated military command under the Secretary of Defense, who replaced the Navy Secretary’s position in the Cabinet.

President Andrew Jackson entered office in 1829 as a political outsider, wary of the intrigue and infighting of big government. When his Cabinet was fractured by a scandal over one of his advisers’ wives, he instead turned to an informal group of friends, party officials, and media members for advice. Although the term was first meant as an insult, it’s since become a common presidential practice.

In Italian, “cabinetto” means a small, private room for meetings, and James Madison used it to coin the term for the President's principal advisors. Although the Cabinet is mentioned in the Constitution as a source of presidential counsel, forming one is a tradition, not a requirement. Arguably the more important role served by Cabinet members is running executive departments including the Departments of Justice, Defense, and Agriculture.

Born to Czech refugees, Madeleine Albright started her career in government as an assistant in President Jimmy Carter’s administration in 1976. Over the ensuing decades, she built a reputation as a foreign policy expert and political power player, serving first as President Bill Clinton’s ambassador to the United Nations in 1993 before becoming Secretary of State in 1997.

Hamilton was just 32 years old when he became the first Secretary of the Treasury in 1789. Since then, most Cabinet nominees have skewed older, with the notable exception of Robert F. Kennedy. When he was appointed Attorney General in 1961 by his brother, President John F. Kennedy, RFK became the second-youngest cabinet member in history, at 36 years old.

The Constitution gives the Senate the power to confirm Cabinet nominees, Supreme Court justices, and other important U.S. officials. Although approval hearings can get contentious when the Senate is controlled by the President’s opposing party, a nominee’s outright rejection is rare — it’s only happened nine times in U.S. history, in part because most questionable nominees withdraw before an official vote.

As with many presidential traditions, George Washington set the standard for the U.S. Cabinet. He chose four top advisors: Thomas Jefferson was Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Knox was Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph served as Attorney General. (Stephen Crane was a 19th-century American writer.)