Kitchen Cabinet
Encyclopedia
The Kitchen Cabinet was a term used by political opponents of President of the United States
Andrew Jackson
to describe the collection of unofficial advisers he consulted in parallel to the United States Cabinet
(the "parlor cabinet") following his purge of the cabinet at the end of the Eaton affair
and his break with Vice President John C. Calhoun
in 1831.
In an unprecedented dismissal of five of the eight Cabinet officials in the middle of his first term, Jackson dismissed Calhoun's allies Samuel D. Ingham
, John Branch
, and John M. Berrien
as well as his own supporters, Secretary of State Martin Van Buren
and Secretary of War John Eaton. However, Jackson retained Van Buren in Washington as the minister to Great Britain
.
Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet included his longtime political allies Martin Van Buren
, Francis Preston Blair
, Amos Kendall
, William B. Lewis, Andrew Jackson Donelson
, John Overton
, and his new Attorney General Roger B. Taney
. As newspapermen, Blair and Kendall were given particular notice by rival papers.
Blair was Kendall's successor as editor of the Jacksonian Argus of Western America, the prominent pro-New Court
newspaper of Kentucky. Jackson brought Blair to Washington, D.C. to counter Calhounite Duff Green
, editor of The United States Telegraph, with a new paper, the Globe. Lewis had been quartermaster under Jackson during the War of 1812
; Andrew Donelson was Jackson's adoptive son and private secretary; and Overton was Andrew Jackson's friend and business partner since the 1790s.
head Nicholas Biddle
, who wrote of the presidential advisors that "the kitchen . . . predominate[s] over the Parlor." The first appearance in publication was March 13, 1832 by Mississippi Senator George Poindexter
, in an article in the Calhounite Telegraph defending his vote against Van Buren as minister to Great Britain:
was considered a member of the kitchen cabinet for John F. Kennedy
and Lyndon B. Johnson
before he was appointed Secretary of Defense. Robert Kennedy was uniquely considered to be a kitchen cabinet member as well as a Cabinet member while he was his brother's Attorney General
.
Ronald Reagan
had a kitchen cabinet of allies and friends from California
who advised him during his terms. This group of ten to twelve rich businessmen were all strong proponents of the free enterprise system. His wealthy, conservative California backers included: Alfred Bloomingdale, Earl Brian
, Justin Whitlock Dart
, William French Smith
, Charles Wick
, auto dealer Holmes Tuttle
, beer baron Joseph Coors
, steel magnate and philanthropist Earle Jorgensen, and about four to six others. Coors was the major funder and most active participant. He also funded many think tank
s and policy institutes at about this time, including the Heritage Foundation
.
's inner circle during his terms of office (1964-1970 and 1974-1976); prior to Tony Blair
, Wilson was the longest ever serving Labour Party
Prime Minister. Members included Marcia Williams
, George Wigg
, Joe Haines, and Bernard Donoughue. The term has been used subsequently, especially under Tony Blair, for the sidelining of traditional democratic cabinet
structures to rely far more on a close group of non-elected advisors and allies. Examples of this practice include Blair's reliance on advisor Andrew Adonis before his appointment to the cabinet. Traditionally, the role of creation of education policy would have rested on the Secretary of State for Education and Skills
when formulating policy.
's reliance on a Kitchen Cabinet (Treasurer Wayne Swan
, Rudd's successor Julia Gillard
and Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner
) was a factor in his removal as PM.
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
to describe the collection of unofficial advisers he consulted in parallel to the United States Cabinet
United States Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
(the "parlor cabinet") following his purge of the cabinet at the end of the Eaton affair
Petticoat Affair
The Petticoat affair was an 1830–1831 U.S. scandal involving members of President Andrew Jackson's Cabinet and their wives. Although it started over a private matter, it affected the political careers of several men and resulted in the informal "Kitchen Cabinet"...
and his break with Vice President John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
in 1831.
In an unprecedented dismissal of five of the eight Cabinet officials in the middle of his first term, Jackson dismissed Calhoun's allies Samuel D. Ingham
Samuel D. Ingham
Samuel Delucenna Ingham was a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Andrew Jackson.-Early life and education:...
, John Branch
John Branch
John Branch, Jr. served as U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, the 19th Governor of the state of North Carolina, and was the sixth and last territorial governor of Florida....
, and John M. Berrien
John M. Berrien
John Macpherson Berrien of Georgia was a United States Senator and Andrew Jackson's Attorney General.Born at Rocky Hill, New Jersey, to a family of Huguenot ancestry, Berrien moved with his parents to Savannah, Georgia, in 1782; was graduated from Princeton College in 1796; studied law in...
as well as his own supporters, Secretary of State Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
and Secretary of War John Eaton. However, Jackson retained Van Buren in Washington as the minister to Great Britain
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
.
Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet included his longtime political allies Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
, Francis Preston Blair
Francis Preston Blair
Francis Preston Blair, Sr. was an American journalist and politician.-Biography:Blair was born at Abingdon, Virginia. He moved to Kentucky, graduated from Transylvania University in 1811, took to journalism, and was a contributor to Amos Kendall's paper, the Argus, at Frankfort...
, Amos Kendall
Amos Kendall
Amos Kendall was an American politician who served as U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Many historians regard Kendall as the intellectual force behind Andrew Jackson's presidential administration, and an influential figure in the transformation of America from an...
, William B. Lewis, Andrew Jackson Donelson
Andrew Jackson Donelson
Andrew Jackson Donelson was an American diplomat and a candidate for Vice President of the United States.-Biography:...
, John Overton
John Overton (judge)
John Overton was an advisor of Andrew Jackson, a judge at the Superior Court of Tennessee, a banker and political leader.Overton was born in Louisa County, Virginia...
, and his new Attorney General Roger B. Taney
Roger B. Taney
Roger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office or sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also the eleventh United States Attorney General. He is most...
. As newspapermen, Blair and Kendall were given particular notice by rival papers.
Blair was Kendall's successor as editor of the Jacksonian Argus of Western America, the prominent pro-New Court
Old Court-New Court controversy
The Old Court – New Court controversy was a 19th century political controversy in the U.S. state of Kentucky in which the Kentucky General Assembly abolished the Kentucky Court of Appeals and replaced it with a new court...
newspaper of Kentucky. Jackson brought Blair to Washington, D.C. to counter Calhounite Duff Green
Duff Green
Duff Green , American politician and journalist, was born in Woodford County, Kentucky.He was a school teacher in his native state, served during the War of 1812 in the Kentucky militia, and then settled in Missouri, where he worked as a schoolmaster and practiced law...
, editor of The United States Telegraph, with a new paper, the Globe. Lewis had been quartermaster under Jackson during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
; Andrew Donelson was Jackson's adoptive son and private secretary; and Overton was Andrew Jackson's friend and business partner since the 1790s.
Coinage
The first known appearance of the term is in December 1831 correspondence by Bank of the United StatesSecond Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, five years after the First Bank of the United States lost its own charter. The Second Bank of the United States was initially headquartered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the same as the First Bank, and had branches throughout the...
head Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle (banker)
Nicholas Biddle was an American financier who served as the president of the Second Bank of the United States.-Ancestry and early life:...
, who wrote of the presidential advisors that "the kitchen . . . predominate[s] over the Parlor." The first appearance in publication was March 13, 1832 by Mississippi Senator George Poindexter
George Poindexter
George Poindexter was an American politician, lawyer and judge from Mississippi.-Background:Poindexter was born in Louisa County, Virginia and was of Huguenot ancestry. He was orphaned early in life and had a sporadic education growing up...
, in an article in the Calhounite Telegraph defending his vote against Van Buren as minister to Great Britain:
The President's press, edited under his own eye, by a 'pair of deserters from the Clay party' [Kendall and Blair] and a few others, familiarly known by the appellation of the 'Kitchen Cabinet,' is made the common reservoir of all the petty slanders which find a place in the most degraded prints of the Union.
Popular use
In colloquial use, "kitchen cabinet" refers to any group of trusted friends and associates, particularly in reference to a President's or presidential candidate's closest unofficial advisers. Clark CliffordClark Clifford
Clark McAdams Clifford was an American lawyer who served United States Presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter, serving as United States Secretary of Defense for Johnson....
was considered a member of the kitchen cabinet for John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
before he was appointed Secretary of Defense. Robert Kennedy was uniquely considered to be a kitchen cabinet member as well as a Cabinet member while he was his brother's Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
had a kitchen cabinet of allies and friends from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
who advised him during his terms. This group of ten to twelve rich businessmen were all strong proponents of the free enterprise system. His wealthy, conservative California backers included: Alfred Bloomingdale, Earl Brian
Earl Brian
Dr. Earl Winfrey Brian, Jr. was a decorated combat surgeon with an aerial support unit for the United States Central Intelligence Agency's Vietnam War-era Phoenix Program...
, Justin Whitlock Dart
Justin Whitlock Dart
Justin Whitlock Dart, Sr. was considered the "boy wonder" of the drug store industry. In college Dart had played football for Northwestern University....
, William French Smith
William French Smith
William French Smith was an American lawyer and the 74th Attorney General of the United States.-Biography:...
, Charles Wick
Charles Z. Wick
Charles Z. Wick was director of the United States Information Agency under President Ronald Reagan...
, auto dealer Holmes Tuttle
Holmes Tuttle
Holmes Tuttle was a successful California businessman and autodealer, and headed President Ronald Reagan's unofficial "Kitchen Cabinet".-Early life and career:...
, beer baron Joseph Coors
Joseph Coors
Joseph Coors, Sr. , was the grandson of Adolph Coors and president of Coors Brewing Company. -Birth and education:...
, steel magnate and philanthropist Earle Jorgensen, and about four to six others. Coors was the major funder and most active participant. He also funded many think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
s and policy institutes at about this time, including the Heritage Foundation
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...
.
In Britain
The term was introduced to British policies to describe British Prime Minister Harold WilsonHarold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
's inner circle during his terms of office (1964-1970 and 1974-1976); prior to Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, Wilson was the longest ever serving Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Prime Minister. Members included Marcia Williams
Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender
Marcia Matilda Falkender, Baroness Falkender CBE , formerly Marcia Williams , is a British Labour politician, being first the private secretary for, and then the political secretary and head of political office to, Harold Wilson.-Background and early career:Born Marcia Field, Falkender was educated...
, George Wigg
George Wigg
George Edward Cecil Wigg, Baron Wigg PC was a British politician who only served in relatively junior offices but had a great deal of influence behind the scenes, especially with Harold Wilson. Wigg served in the British Army for almost all his career up to his election as Member of Parliament...
, Joe Haines, and Bernard Donoughue. The term has been used subsequently, especially under Tony Blair, for the sidelining of traditional democratic cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
structures to rely far more on a close group of non-elected advisors and allies. Examples of this practice include Blair's reliance on advisor Andrew Adonis before his appointment to the cabinet. Traditionally, the role of creation of education policy would have rested on the Secretary of State for Education and Skills
Secretary of State for Education and Skills
The Secretary of State for Education is the chief minister of the Department for Education in the United Kingdom government. The position was re-established on 12 May 2010, held by Michael Gove....
when formulating policy.
In Australia
Former Prime Minister Kevin RuddKevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
's reliance on a Kitchen Cabinet (Treasurer Wayne Swan
Wayne Swan
Wayne Maxwell Swan is the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1993 to 1996, and then re elected in 1998 till today , representing the Division of Lilley, QLD...
, Rudd's successor Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
and Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner
Lindsay Tanner
Lindsay James Tanner is a former Australian member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Melbourne, Victoria, for the Australian Labor Party, having first won the seat at the 1993 federal election. He was a member of the Australian Government from 3 December 2007, serving as...
) was a factor in his removal as PM.
Further reading
- Latner, Richard B. "The Kitchen Cabinet and Andrew Jackson's Advisory System". The Journal of American History, Vol. 65, No. 2 (Sep., 1978), pp. 367-388
- Longaker, Richard P. "Was Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet a Cabinet?" The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Jun., 1957), pp. 94-108