Spot of Parchment, July 2020 - Thomas Jefferson’s Cabinet
217 years ago, President Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph, announcing the arrival of the Louisiana Purchase treaty: “The arrival of the treaty of cession of Louisiana last night...—the price of Louisiana 11,250,000. D. and from 2. to 4. millions more to be paid to our merchants.”
The next day, Jefferson gathered his cabinet to discuss what to do. Jefferson shared a series of questions about the administration’s next steps. The cabinet agreed unanimously to convene the upcoming session of Congress a few weeks early to give the Senate time to consider the treaty before the offer expired. Next, they agreed to share the substance of the treaty with the American public, but not the treaty itself. The administration also outlined communications with the American consul in New Orleans and the governor of the Mississippi Territory, in the event that they need to move quickly to take control of the Louisiana Territory.
Curiously absent from this conversation was any talk of a constitutional amendment. As soon as Jefferson had received word of the pending treaty, he began drafting a potential amendment. He believed that the Constitution, as written, did not permit the president to unilaterally add territory to the nation. Sometime in the first week of July, he drafted an amendment and circulated it to the department secretaries for their consideration. Secretary of State James Madison provided a few edits, but the others proved to be less enthusiastic. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin wrote, “The amendment to the Constitution is intended, I presume, for deliberation & reflection, but not for immediate decision,” which was a pretty clever way of telling Jefferson to pump the brakes. Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith was more direct: “I am greatly pleased with the ideas suggested in the proposed amendment of the Constitution and I sincerely hope that they will be adopted by the legislature of the Union. But I am rather inclined to think that they ought not all to be ingrafted upon the Constitution.”
While they all agreed that some sort of amendment or legislation should probably be passed, the secretaries voiced a series of concerns in their letters. Some thought that any talk of amendment would threaten the ratification of the treaty. Others, like Smith, thought that legislation to create new states was the more appropriate route. But they all agreed that Jefferson should let Congress initiate any effort to amend the Constitution. If Congress didn’t care, then best to let the issue remain dormant for political expediency.
Peter Waddell for the White House Historical Association
When Jefferson gathered with the secretaries on July 16, he said nothing about the subject. He hadn’t changed his mind; in fact he continued to tweak and edit his proposed amendment for the next several weeks. He even sent several drafts of the amendment to the secretaries for their ongoing consideration. But he never brought it up in a cabinet meeting. Eventually, Jefferson explained that he let the matter lapse because his friends disagreed, and he was happy to “acquiesce with satisfaction.”
This episode obviously had pretty extraordinary ramifications for the history of the United States—overnight the country essentially doubled in size and the new territories forced the country to consider the expansion of slavery, which was a path that would eventually lead to Civil War. But it also reveals so much about Jefferson’s presidential leadership and his cabinet style.
Jefferson drew on his time as secretary of state to guide his cabinet interactions. Like Washington, he frequently asked for his secretaries’ advice and he wasn’t afraid to take it—even when he initially disagreed. Perhaps more importantly though, Jefferson abhorred conflict. He had despised debating issues with Alexander Hamilton in the cabinet. While Washington felt that the exchange of ideas helped him see the big picture, Jefferson was convinced that the conflict undermined the administration. As a result, when he was president, Jefferson went out of his way to facilitate friendly and cordial relationships between the secretaries. He only convened cabinet meetings when he was convinced that the outcome would be productive. If he thought the secretaries might disagree, he consulted them individually or simply avoided the subject like he did on July 16.
Finally, Jefferson ensured that he was the only one with all of the information. He never instructed the secretaries to meet without him (which Washington had done regularly), and insisted that all official correspondence cross his desk.
While this method of cabinet management didn’t work for all presidents, it proved remarkably successful for Jefferson. His administration enjoyed the least turnover of all presidential administrations and the cabinet served as an incredibly effective tool for public outreach, congressional liaison, coalition building, and more.
As the election looms and the country faces a cabinet transition (whether it be small or large), I thought it would be interesting to share some cabinet stories and styles of presidential leadership—both good and very, very bad. Let me know if there is a particular administration that captures your fancy or you’d like to learn more about!