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