ADVANCED AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS
“the true test of a good government is its aptitude and tendency to produce a good administration.”—Alexander Hamilton (Federalist #76)
Much of the work in government is done by 15 cabinet-level executive departments
Original (1789): State, War, Treasury
As the workload grew, more departments were created
CHIEF OFFICERS AND STAFF
Each department is headed by a SECRETARY except Justice whose leader is the
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Each department has an under secretary and assistant secretaries to aid the
Secretary
SUBUNITS
Each department is divided up into subunits and those subunits are divided up further
Example: Veterans Health Administration is a part of the Department of Veterans
Affairs
This organization provides medical care to eligible veterans at over 150 medical centers and over 800 outpatient clinics
THE DEPARTMENTS TODAY
Department of State is the oldest and smallest department with about 25,000 employees
The Department of Defense is the largest with 670,000 civilian employees and 1.4 million people in uniform
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the largest budget (about
¼ of all federal spending)
The Department of Homeland Security is the newest, having been created in 2002.
(Chart p. 426-427)
THE CABINET
CABINET—informal advisory body brought together by the President to serve his needs.
Not created by the Constitution or Congress
1789—Four top-level executive posts
Secretary of State—Thomas Jefferson
Secretary of the Treasury—Alexander Hamilton
Secretary of War—Henry Knox
Attorney General—Edmund Randolph
By tradition, the heads of the 15 executive departments form the Cabinet
Additional Cabinet members—OMB Director, Chief Domestic
Policy Advisor
Also attending: Vice President, White House Counselor, WH
Chief of Staff, US Trade Representative, National Drug Policy
Director, EPA administrator
CHOOSING CABINET MEMBERS
President appoints people and the Senate must approve the appointments
Appointments have been made based on a person’s role in a president campaign
Usually a person’s qualifications to do a particular job are taken into account as well
Gender, race, management abilities and experience are also considered
WOMEN AND MINORITIES
First women—Frances T. (“Ma”) Perkins—Labor—1933-1945 (appointed by FDR)
First African American—Robert C. Weaver—HUD—1966-1969
(appointed by LBJ)
First Hispanic—Lauro F. Cavazos—Education—1988 (appointed by
Reagan)
More women and minorities have been chosen for the cabinet since the 1980’s
THE CABINET’S ROLE
Two major roles for the Cabinet members:
1) Individually—administrative head of their department
2) Together—advisors to the President
The amount of influence the Cabinet has depends on the President
President Lincoln once made a proposal to his seven-member Cabinet and all members opposed it
The President then replied, “Seven nays, one aye: the ayes have it.”
President William Howard Taft suggested that if the president desired to eliminate the Cabinet he could do so.
No President has suggested eliminating the Cabinet
Presidents have in the past relied more heavily on a more informal group of advisors instead of the Cabinet
THE END