arrangements. The salary bill was approved September 2, 1789, and on the
same day Washington commissioned Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury,--
the first of the new appointments, although in the creative enactments the
Treasury Department came last. Next came Henry Knox, Secretary of War and
of the Navy, on September 12; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; and
Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General, on September 26, on which date Osgood
was also appointed. What may be said to be Washington's Cabinet was thus
established, but the term itself did not come into use until 1793. At the
outset no more was decided than that the new government should have
executive departments, and in superficial appearance these were much like
those of the old government. The Constitution made no distinct provision
for a cabinet, and the only clause referring to the subject is the
provision authorizing the President to "require the opinion, in writing,
of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices." This
provision does not contemplate a body that should be consultative by its
normal character. The prevailing opinion at the time the Constitution was
framed was that the consultative function would be exercised by the
Senate, which together with the President would form the Administration.
Upon this ground, Mason of Virginia refused to sign the report of the
constitutional convention. 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.]