TheUSAPresidents.com TheUSAPresidents.com The Cabinet consists of the leaders of the many government organizations in the United States. During the early stages of the country, the cabinet consisted of just five people: The President, Vice President and the Secretaries of State, Treasury and War.
The cabinet is the group of leaders of all the different parts of the government. In 1789, it consisted of just five members. Today, that number is much larger. The members of the cabinet today include:
A common misconception about the President is that the president is the one who makes all the policies on things like economics, foreign policy and national security solely from themselves. However, while the president is the one who makes the final call, members of the cabinet will advise the president of possible suggestions on what to do. The cabinet is also important because it is a major part of the line of succession to the Presidency. If the president and vice president were to die, the Speaker of the House would become president. If he were to die, though, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate would become president. After that, the line of succession is the full list above (excluding the vice president, of course). The Members of the cabinet technically don't have term limits (of course excluding the President and Vice President), but they are usually replaced when an opposing president takes office. For example, the Cabinet under Democratic President Obama was replaced by Republican President Trump, which was replaced by Democratic President Biden, who let some of Obama's cabinet members return. The Cabinet's invention was quite important when the new government was created. The Founding Fathers knew that no man was perfect, which was something that was exemplified through the acts of King George III. Because of this, the Cabinet was created to ensure that the president was well informed and that he could have detail on everything.