It was owing to practical experience and not to
the language of the Constitution that the President was soon repelled from
using the Senate as his privy council and was thrown back upon the aid of
the heads of the executive departments, who were thus drawn close to him
as his Cabinet.[Footnote: In this formative process the Postmaster-General
was left outside in Washington's time, since his functions were purely of
a business nature, not directly affected by the issues on which Washington
desired advice. The Postmaster-General did not become a member of the
Cabinet until 1829.]
The inchoate character of the Cabinet for a considerable period explains
what might otherwise seem to be an anomaly,--the delay of Jefferson in
occupying his post. He did not arrive until March 21, 1790, when
Washington had been in office nearly a year. But this situation occasioned
no remark. The notion that the heads of the departments formed a cabinet,
taking office with the President and reflecting his personal choice as his
advisers, was not developed until long after Washington's administration,
although the Cabinet itself, as a distinct feature of the system of
government, dates from his first term.
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