The salary bill was approved September 2, 1789, and on the same day Washington commissioned Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury,-- the first of the new appointments, although in the creative enactments the Treasury Department came last.

Next came Henry Knox, Secretary of War and of the Navy, on September 12; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; and Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General, on September 26, on which date Osgood was also appointed.

What may be said to be Washington's Cabinet was thus established, but the term itself did not come into use until 1793.

At the outset no more was decided than that the new government should have executive departments, and in superficial appearance these were much like those of the old government.

The Constitution made no distinct provision for a cabinet, and the only clause referring to the subject is the provision authorizing the President to "require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices." This provision does not contemplate a body that should be consultative by its normal character.