Washington’s Cabinet - Josh

Usually people try to surround themselves with viewpoints similar to their own. Though you may be able to achieve general agreement, you cannot have an exchange of varying ideas. George Washington filled his presidential cabinet with men who did not always agree with him. In fact some of them despised him, but he listened to their input. By surrounding himself with men like Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Knox, Washington was able to give himself a variety of opinions to consider and act on.

Alexander Hamilton had similar views to George Washington, and was instrumental in the policy making for early America. Washington appointed Hamilton as his Secretary of the Treasury. Being Treasury Secretary did not stop Hamilton from influencing a myriad of policy decisions. Coming from a federalist mindset, Hamilton believed in a centralized government, a national bank, and increased taxes. Many of these policies were enacted with varying results. Some of Hamilton’s policies were enacted by Washington and some were not, but his input was vital to our new nation.

Henry Knox constructed military infrastructure of the fledgling United States. Being a new country, America needed to establish it’s military. By creating a standing navy and a national militia as Secretary of War, Knox was able to secure America. Know however thought that Indian tribes should be treated as their own sovereign nation. Washington disagreed, and continued to press the Indians farther and farther off their land. Even though Knox and Washington disagreed on some issues, Henry Knox was and invaluable resource to Washington.

Thomas Jefferson differed greatly from Washington’s, but his presence in the cabinet helped give perspective on policy decisions. Many of the disagreements Jefferson had were with Alexander Hamilton. Conflicts arose because Hamilton was a Federalist, and Jefferson was a Democratic- Republican. Hamilton’s ideas of large government reminded Jefferson to much of the tyrannical governmental system in England. This caused the two to butt heads on several occasions. Even though Washington usually sided with Hamilton, having a representative of the opposition party helped Washington see both sides of an issue.

Though each had differing views Alexander Hamilton, Henry Know, and Thomas Jefferson were all important parts of George Washington’s cabinet. Washington knew that having differing views in his cabinet would allow him to see a wider spectrum of ideas. He also knew that it would better represent the people by have varying viewpoints shown during his presidency. If we want to better understand an issue we should look at it from all sides instead of simply sticking dogmatically to one viewpoint.

-- Josh (grade 10)