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The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution by Lindsay M. Chervinsky
dustlesswalnut's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting history of the Cabinet's formative years. The tack-on at the end regarding Trump's cabinet seemed rushed and ill-thought/unnecessary. I would have rather it not be included, or be more fully fleshed out.
rickc's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Ms. Chervinsky is a rising star as an author of early american history. Her grasp of the material is informative and highly entertaining. I look forward to many more books by her.
jmadelman's review
5.0
This is a fantastic account of one of the key institutions created in the early United States. Chervinsky writes with flair, offering a compelling account of the inside-baseball politics that shaped the Washington administration in the 1790s. Even more impressive, she tells this story with detailed attention to recent scholarship in the field, reframing our understanding of presidential politics through the prisms of the use of physical space, gender and masculinity, and popular culture. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of American politics.
rhoelle's review against another edition
4.0
It's an admirable topic and I did learn some things, though not as many as hoped. It's best at getting into the details of the Washington administrations. Jefferson's treatment of his cabinet at the very end is very interesting and illuminating.
There are a lot of minor issues though:
First, if you have been reading the books about the founders you can skip the first three chapters. Apart from a couple pages on Attorney General William Bradford, you will already know everything they contain.
Disappointingly, once the book finally gets into the main topic, there are so many unnecessary diversions. Supposedly about the cabinet and its workings, it diverts into Washington's trips, outings and many other unrelated topics. There is a long diversion into the previous relationship of Washington and Pennsylvania Governor Mifflin. Althought it might be of interest to those unfamiliar with it, it is entirely off-topic and unnecessary for this book.
It also does not go deeply enough into the cabinet selection process. In fact before he asked Hamilton, Washington asked Robert Morris. Before he asked Jefferson, he asked John Jay. The text reveals none of this.
Might also have mentioned that in their early days Jefferson and Hamilton worked quite well together, for example on the problem of standardizing weights and measures. But this is not mentioned. Instead, the book suggests that they never got along, never could get along.
It's irritating that the ends of chapters tend to summarize what we have just read. Are we still in high school? And that is not all. The start of the next chapter also tends to summarize everything that has been described before!
There is a lot of material covering events outside the actual cabinet. Of course some such material is required to explain the cabinet's subsequent moves, but there is so much of it that it is really off-topic. The feeling is that not enough effort was made to really dig into the cabinet activities and discussions, but the book had to be completed against a deadline and so this material was easy to put in instead.
General Henry Lee is mentioned several times in the text, but completely missing from the index for some reason. Same goes for Richard Henry Lee. And at one point the text refers to Richard Henry Lee as Henry, which is confusing as all get out.
Events are so out of order. The text talks about Randolph's resignation and then a page later relates more events concerning his actions while in office. This happens several times. For example, on p. 318 the text has already discussed the Jefferson administration, but now jumps backwards to that of Adams.
Completely misses Hamilton's role in sabotaging the Jay Treaty. For more about this, see the book Number 7: Alexander Hamilton's Secret Attempts to Control American Foreign Policy.
Sometimes Jefferson's Republicans are called Democratic-Republicans, yet at other times just Republicans. This must be confusing for some readers.
P. 290: We suddenly get the term "arch-Federalist", which has nowhere been defined before.
The book's title is inappropriate. The Cabinet implies a history of the cabinet from beginning to the present. It really should have been The First Cabinets. Instead, it gives just a few pages to the Adams and Jefferson's administrations, gives a paragraph to Lincoln and then jumps all the way to Trump.
P. 317: Suggests that the reason there has been so much turnover in the Trump cabinet is that it lacks diversity. Really? Isn't it obvious that the actual reasons are all the problems connected with working with this quixotic person?
The book does not understand that since the FDR administration the Cabinet has ceased to exist in fact, if not in theory. They still have periodic meetings, but they're mostly for show, or team-building. There are close relationships between some presidents, such as JFK and RFK, but policy is run now as is shown in The West Wing television program: by the president and his White House advisors.
I hope that someday there can be a new edition that cleans up all these problems. I hope too that someone will write a better book that discusses the cabinet in every administration.
There are a lot of minor issues though:
First, if you have been reading the books about the founders you can skip the first three chapters. Apart from a couple pages on Attorney General William Bradford, you will already know everything they contain.
Disappointingly, once the book finally gets into the main topic, there are so many unnecessary diversions. Supposedly about the cabinet and its workings, it diverts into Washington's trips, outings and many other unrelated topics. There is a long diversion into the previous relationship of Washington and Pennsylvania Governor Mifflin. Althought it might be of interest to those unfamiliar with it, it is entirely off-topic and unnecessary for this book.
It also does not go deeply enough into the cabinet selection process. In fact before he asked Hamilton, Washington asked Robert Morris. Before he asked Jefferson, he asked John Jay. The text reveals none of this.
Might also have mentioned that in their early days Jefferson and Hamilton worked quite well together, for example on the problem of standardizing weights and measures. But this is not mentioned. Instead, the book suggests that they never got along, never could get along.
It's irritating that the ends of chapters tend to summarize what we have just read. Are we still in high school? And that is not all. The start of the next chapter also tends to summarize everything that has been described before!
There is a lot of material covering events outside the actual cabinet. Of course some such material is required to explain the cabinet's subsequent moves, but there is so much of it that it is really off-topic. The feeling is that not enough effort was made to really dig into the cabinet activities and discussions, but the book had to be completed against a deadline and so this material was easy to put in instead.
General Henry Lee is mentioned several times in the text, but completely missing from the index for some reason. Same goes for Richard Henry Lee. And at one point the text refers to Richard Henry Lee as Henry, which is confusing as all get out.
Events are so out of order. The text talks about Randolph's resignation and then a page later relates more events concerning his actions while in office. This happens several times. For example, on p. 318 the text has already discussed the Jefferson administration, but now jumps backwards to that of Adams.
Completely misses Hamilton's role in sabotaging the Jay Treaty. For more about this, see the book Number 7: Alexander Hamilton's Secret Attempts to Control American Foreign Policy.
Sometimes Jefferson's Republicans are called Democratic-Republicans, yet at other times just Republicans. This must be confusing for some readers.
P. 290: We suddenly get the term "arch-Federalist", which has nowhere been defined before.
The book's title is inappropriate. The Cabinet implies a history of the cabinet from beginning to the present. It really should have been The First Cabinets. Instead, it gives just a few pages to the Adams and Jefferson's administrations, gives a paragraph to Lincoln and then jumps all the way to Trump.
P. 317: Suggests that the reason there has been so much turnover in the Trump cabinet is that it lacks diversity. Really? Isn't it obvious that the actual reasons are all the problems connected with working with this quixotic person?
The book does not understand that since the FDR administration the Cabinet has ceased to exist in fact, if not in theory. They still have periodic meetings, but they're mostly for show, or team-building. There are close relationships between some presidents, such as JFK and RFK, but policy is run now as is shown in The West Wing television program: by the president and his White House advisors.
I hope that someday there can be a new edition that cleans up all these problems. I hope too that someone will write a better book that discusses the cabinet in every administration.
xavierbonilla's review against another edition
5.0
Ever finish a book and wish it didn’t end? That’s how I felt with this book. Superb writing and great composition of thought about Washington’s genius in creating the cabinet. Excellent book!
jenniferwelch's review against another edition
5.0
What a delightful book. I very much enjoyed reading it. It is clearly deeply researched, and brings a clear explanation of events that I had never quite understood before. Yet it is told in a clear and entertaining manner - I was able to use it right away in my own high school classes and in graduate classes at the same time!
harius_b's review against another edition
5.0
The Cabinet is a pleasurable breeze of a read. Chervinsky has accomplished a remarkable account without losing focus or leaving the reader lost in the details. The account she weaves of Washington's creation of the cabinet, the rationales behind it, the personalities involved, and the drama which both plagued but strengthened the executive and which only served to cement the cabinet's continuation in American governance. There is nothing to complain about this book – unless one wishes to nit-pick. For my first book on American history, it was a truly fortuitous read. I recommend this to anyone with a desire to learn a bit more about the US and its beginnings through the point of view of the Cabinet.