To get as capable men to accept the portfolios as those then holding them would have been difficult, so averse had prominent men become to putting themselves in a position to be harried by Congress, with no effective means of explaining and justifying their conduct.
Congress then had a prestige which it does not now possess, and its utterances then received consideration not now accorded.

Whenever presidential electors were voted for directly by the people, the poll was small compared with the vote for members of Congress.

Moreover, there was then a feeling that the Cabinet should be regarded as a bureaucracy, and for a long period this conception tended to give remarkable permanence to its composition.
When the personal attachments of the Cabinet chiefs are considered, it is easy to imagine the dismay and consternation produced by the dealings of Adams with Jefferson.

By the time Adams consulted the members of his Cabinet, they had become suspicious of his motives and distrustful of his character.

Before long they were writing to Washington and Hamilton for advice, and were endeavoring to manage Adams by concerted action.