3. Establishing the President’s Advisory Cabinet (George Washington)
George Washington created the cabinet of executive advisors—an innovation that set the pattern for future presidents to draw on counsel from department heads on policy. This group included Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Washington’s cabinet became a consulting and advisory body, not mandated by the Constitution. (whitehousehistory.org)
