Originally published on July 3, 2019 (Episode 118)
Introduction
The Constitution barely sketches a “cabinet,” so George Washington had to invent one—procedure, personalities, politics and all. Lindsay M. Chervinsky walks us through how Washington experimented his way into a working inner circle, what problems it solved, and which new ones it created.
Because this book was in progress when we spoke, we also pull back the curtain on the historian’s craft: building an argument, reading against the grain, and tracing unintended consequences across letters, memos, and early executive practice. A fitting conversation for Independence Day—about inventing institutions in real time.
About the Guest
Lindsay M. Chervinsky is a historian of the early American republic. At the time of recording, she was completing a book-length study of George Washington’s cabinet and the origins of presidential governance.
For Further Investigation
Lindsay Chervinsky, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution (Harvard, 2020)
Listen & Discuss
Which decisions and personalities made Washington’s cabinet work—and where did it strain?
How do you research the creation of an institution?
What should modern readers learn from the ad-hoc beginnings of executive governance?
Know a civics buff who thinks “the Founders already had it all figured out”? Share this and watch them discover how much was invented on the fly.
