The Executive Branch:U.S. Cabinet

The Men behind the ManThe Team behind the President

Photos from Archive.gov

How do you get this job?• Selection by the President

• Confirmation by the Senate

• Qualifications: − None − You cannot be a current member of Congress − You cannot be a family member of the President

Important Roles of Cabinet Members• Presidential Advising

− Lincoln, Jackson, and Reagan’s views

− Decline of influence

• Line of succession

• Head of Department

Head of Executive Department

The Revolving Cabinet

Why all the resignations? •President can demand resignation/terminate •Stress/Full time job

Directions: You are White House Chief of Staff of the Bush administration. There are thousands of résumés coming in of Presidential Cabinet hopefuls and it is your job to see which set of credentials on the résumés would best fit each cabinet position. Match the job applicant with the best cabinet position that would best suit him/her.

Job applicant #1Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff

Education Harvard College/Harvard Law

School

Former occupations Supreme Court Justice clerk, Assistant Attorney General, Federal Prosecutor, Federal

Appeals Judge

Prior government/political service: Appointed by President

George H.W. Bush as United States Attorney; was asked to

stay by the Clinton administration

Job Applicant #2: Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman

Education: BS Cornell University; Doctorate of

Science degree at MIT

Former occupations President of an investment

company

Prior government/political service: Served as Deputy Secretary of

the Treasury and Deputy Secretary of Commerce under the current Bush Administration

before being promoted to the Presidential Cabinet.

Job applicant #3: Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings

Education: B.S. in Political Science from the

University of Texas

Former occupations: Texas Education Reform

Commission

Prior government/political service: Campaign organizer and senior

advisor of (then) Gov. George W. Bush; principal author of No Child

Left Behind Act legislation

Job applicant #4: Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao

Education: BA in Economics from Mount Holyoke; MBA Harvest Business; Recipient of 29 honorary doctoral

degrees

Former occupations: Vice President of Bank of America

Capital Markets Group; President of United Way of America

Prior government/political service: White House Fellow in Department of Policy

Development; Deputy Secretary of Transportation

Job applicant #5: Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters

Education Bachelor Degree in

Management from University of Arizona

Former occupations Employee at meat processing

plant, day care, and tax preparation service

Prior government/political service

Arizona Department of Transportation; Federal

Highway Administration; has expressed interest in running

for governor.

Job applicant #6: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Education: B.A. political science from University

of Denver; Masters in political science from Notre Dame; PhD at Denver’s Graduate School of

International relations

Former occupations: Chevron public policy advisor,

director at Charles Schwab, professor at Harvard University.

Prior government/political service: National Security Advisor; before

switching her political party, employee at State Department under President Jimmy Carter

Job applicant #7: Attorney General Michael Mukassey

Education: Columbia University; Yale Law

Former occupations: Assistant U.S. Attorney; Professor

at Columbia Law;18 years as a U.S. District Judge in Southern

New York

Prior government/political service: None (although he is best friends

with Rudolf Giuliani)

Job applicant #8: Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne

Education: B.S. in political science from

University of Idaho

Former occupations: Campaign manager; public affairs

representative for chemical company

Prior government/political service: Mayor of Boise, Idaho;

Governor of Idaho; and U.S. Senator

Job applicant #9: Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez

Education: Attended elementary school in Cuba;

Monterrey Institute of Technology (Mexico)

Former occupations: CEO of Kellogg’s

Prior government/political service: None

Job applicant #10: Secretary of Agriculture Charles F. Connor

Education: Degree in Agriculture Economics at

Purdue University

Former occupations: President of Corn Refiner’s

Association;

Prior government/political service: United States Senate Committee

on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Agriculture Legislative Assistant to Sen. Richard Luger

Job applicant 11: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Education: B.A. in European History at the College of William & Mary; M.D. in history at Indiana University; PhD at Georgetown University

Former occupations: Air Force veteran; Intelligence analyst

with CIA; National Security Council; Deputy Director of Central Intelligence;

Dean at Texas A&M

Prior government/political service: Member of the Council of Foreign

Relations

Job applicant 12: Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson

Education: BA in English Literature at Dartmouth College; Master of Business Administration from

Harvard Business

Former occupations: International Monetary Fund board;

President of Investment Banking Group (Fun fact: His net worth is

estimated to be over $700 million)

Prior government/political service: Assistant Secretary of Defense

Job applicant 13: Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt

Education: B.S. in Economics and Business at

Southern Utah University

Former occupations: Environmental Protection Agency

Administrator

Prior government/political service: Governor of Utah

Job applicant #14: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson

Education: BS in political science/educational

administration Truman State University/JD law degree from

Washington University

Former occupations: Director of St. Louis Housing Authority; professor; Director of the Department of Public and

Assisted Housing in Washington, DC

Prior government/political service: Deputy Secretary of HUD

Job applicant #15: Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake

Education: U.S. Military Academy (West Point);

United States Army War College; MD from Cornell Medical.

Former occupations: Physician; Chief medical director at

QTC Management

Prior government/political service: Lieutenant general in the United States Army; Veterans Affairs

Assistant Legislative Secretary