Key Takeaways

• The president nominates 15 individuals to head the 15 executive departments, and this is the advisory body that makes up the Cabinet, including the vice president. When the president names a Cabinet member, the nomination is presented to the Senate in writing, referred to the committee that has dominion over the position for hearings, followed by Senate floor considerations of the nomination. The final approval/rejection has to come from the Senate through a simple majority vote.
• To be eligible, one cannot be a Congress member, and cannot serve in the legislative and executive branches concurrently (cannot hold another elected office).
• Qualified potential Cabinet ministers have experienced roles such as university and college presidency and being government officials. As administrators, they have more responsibility than authority and know how to handle ambiguity and competing constituencies. Those that have worked in public institutions have dealt with legislative bodies. 

Introduction

A High-Level Description of the Process

• The president nominates 15 individuals to head the 15 executive departments, and this is the advisory body that makes up the Cabinet, including the Vice President.
• When the president names a Cabinet member, the nomination is presented to the Senate in writing, referred to the committee that has dominion over the position for hearings, followed by Senate floor considerations of the nomination.

• The final approval/rejection has to come from the Senate through a simple majority vote.

Official Requirements/Restrictions for Potential Cabinet Members

• One cannot be a Congress member and cannot be a member of the president's family. Furthermore, no one can serve in the legislative and executive branches concurrently (cannot hold another elected office like the governor's office).
• Additionally, each candidate has to pass a thorough FBI check.
• The only other obstacle is the mandatory Senate confirmation. However, it is usually a formality, as the president's choices are rarely questioned.
• It is worth noting that there are no restrictions related to age or birthplace. However, members born outside the U.S. or younger than 35 are removed from the presidential line of succession.

Qualifications and Traits that are Considered when Choosing the Cabinet

• Qualified potential Cabinet ministers have worked in roles such as university and college presidency and being government officials.
• As administrators, they have more responsibility than authority and know how to handle ambiguity and differing parties.
• Those who have worked in public institutions and have dealt with legislative bodies.  
• Business experience is also at times used as a qualifying factor, whereby executives who have had substantial community participation, such as by being a school chair or have led a company with government regulation, are seen as good potential candidates.
• People that have already been good Cabinet officials in the past are also seen as potential members since they have the required skills for running large government departments.  
• When choosing Cabinet members, presidents also consider diversity and political criteria. For instance, they need to make a decision if they want to consider candidates from the opposition party.

Other Relevant Information

• Among the countries with the highest GDP, the U.S. is among the slowest to confirm Cabinet members.
• The length of the confirmation process has varied in the past years. For President Biden's Cabinet, the Senate took 61 days to confirm the members.

 

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• For Donald Trump and Barack Obama, all the Cabinet secretaries were confirmed in 97 and 98 days respectively.
• George Bush's Cabinet was confirmed in 12 days, while Bill Clinton's was confirmed in 50 days.
• Filling the Cabinet is usually top on the agenda of a president-elect since it is crucial for the new administration to start running. This avoids national security gaps, which makes personnel decisions and policy implementation lag behind.
• Most Cabinet nominations have been quickly confirmed by the Senate with little to no debate. However, partisan and political conflicts between the senators and presidents have, in some instances, led to fights over the nominees, leading to their rejection. Specifically, nine nominations have been rejected by the Senate to date.
• It is more common for approached potential candidates to decline. According to Brookings, "Almost everyone you ask to serve is making a lot more money than the $191,300 salary a cabinet officer gets. Yet you will usually get the people you want for the “inner cabinet”—State, Treasury, Defense, and Justice. Beyond that, it can be difficult: President Reagan was turned down by six of his first choices—five for “outer cabinet” jobs."

Research Strategy

Key Takeaways

• Martha Washington shaped the formal position of the president's wife with a focus on hosting official events and organizing social functions, setting the initial expectations for the first lady.
• Even though Abigail Adams maintained these ceremonial responsibilities that were established by Martha Washington, she started acting as a political adviser to her husband and due to her influence on the president, she was labeled Mrs. President.  
• In the twentieth century, first ladies started breaching the expectations imposed on them and went beyond their conventional social duties when women like Lou Hoover and Helen Taft exploited their standing to fight for groups like women and immigrants. However, in 1922, Eleanor Roosevelt completely revolutionized the role by changing its focus to “communication, social activism, and political partnership.”

Introduction

The Initial Expectations Toward the President’s Wife

• Martha Washington shaped the formal position of the president's wife with a focus on hosting official events and organizing social functions, setting the initial expectations for the first lady.
• In her lifetime, she was known as Lady Washington and hosted social functions in Philadelphia and New York City, which were the temporary capitals.
• After the White House was completed in 1800, many of the 19th-century presidents' wives took the same hostess role. The spouses also took charge of domestic life in the White House while remaining separate from the public.

First Ladies That were the First to Act as Political Advisers

• Even though Abigail Adams maintained these ceremonial responsibilities that were established by Martha Washington, she started acting as a political adviser to her husband and due to her influence on the president, she was labeled Mrs. President.  
• Apart from being an adviser, Abigail Adams was also a confidant to her husband and when he was elected as president, he wrote to her saying, “I never wanted your advice and assistance more in my life."
• Abigail Adams' opinions were sought on political and other issues. 

 

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•  Edith Wilson also actively advised her husband, and unlike the common American homemaker, she impacted the war effort by giving advice to the President on dealings with Congress.

The Turning Point for the Role

• In the twentieth century, the first ladies started breaching the expectations imposed on them and went beyond their conventional social duties when women like Lou Hoover and Helen Taft exploited their standing to fight for groups like women and immigrants.
• However, in 1922, Eleanor Roosevelt completely revolutionized the role by changing its focus to "communication, social activism, and political partnership." 
• Being a visionary and independent woman, Mrs. Roosevelt focused on ambitious campaigns that were geared toward the expansion of basic human rights globally.
• Mrs. Roosevelt spoke instead of her husband at the Democratic National Convention and traveled the globe like a presidential ambassador, and was appointed to the government as the director of the Office of Civil Defense. 
• She hired a personal secretary to organize her activities in the White House and beyond Washington.
• She held women-only conferences, promoted the president's New Deal policies, and wrote newspaper columns on civil rights, education reform, and social inequalities.

 

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• Her actions advanced opportunities for women and supported African American organizations while setting a new benchmark for the succeeding first ladies.

Key Developments in the Role that Followed

Campaigns and Causes

• Mrs. Clinton advocated for universal health care, women's rights, and children's issues worldwide.

• Mrs. Obama also advocated for several critical issues, such as support for veterans and the adoption of healthy lifestyles.  
• 20th century first ladies supported national and global causes like volunteerism, environmentalism, literacy, and women's rights.
• 21st century first ladies usually fight for specific causes during their tenures.

Hilary Clinton as Mrs/Madame President

• Mrs. Clinton's first lady tenure led to the realization and belief that a woman can one day be called Madame President.  
• During the last year of her husband's presidency, she ran for Senator of New York and won. She then ran a strong race for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.
• Mrs. Clinton, a former first lady, was the first woman to hold a credible campaign and win in a presidential primary.

Research Strategy