While a Post-Office
Department was established in 1794, the Postmaster-General was not made
a member of the Cabinet until 1829. In 1849, the Interior Department was
created by grouping under it certain duties which had belonged to other
departments. The Department of Agriculture was made a Cabinet position
in 1889. In 1903 the Department of Commerce and Labor was authorized by
an Act of Congress, and in 1913 the Department of Labor was created.
Members of the Cabinet receive an annual salary of $12,000.
The President and His Cabinet.--One of the first official acts of
a President is to send to the Senate, for its approval, the names of the
men whom he desires shall constitute his Cabinet. This is now a mere
formality. The President is himself the one most interested in the
success of his administration and is of right given complete freedom in
selecting his immediate advisers. While the views of the members of the
Cabinet usually have weight with the President, he is not obliged to
take their advice.
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