On November 26, 1791, George Washington convened his department secretaries―Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph―for the first cabinet meeting. Why did he wait two and a half years into his presidency to call his cabinet? Because the US Constitution did not create or provide for such a body.

Faced with diplomatic crises, domestic insurrections, and constitutional challenges―and finding congressional help distinctly lacking―Washington decided he needed to pull together a group of advisors he could turn to for guidance. Authoritative and compulsively readable, The Cabinet reveals the far-reaching consequences of that choice. The tensions in the cabinet between Hamilton and Jefferson sharpened partisan divides, contributing to the development of the first party system. And as Washington faced an increasingly recalcitrant Congress, he came to treat the cabinet as a private advisory body, greatly expanding the role of the president and executive branch.