Presidential Cabinet and Fed. Judiciary Act 1789

• George Washington was selected - unanimously - by the electoral college to be our first president

• He dressed plainly for the inauguration that celebrated the start of his presidency and did not want fancy titles - "Mr. President" would be fine

• Congress set up departments to help the president; Washington chose the heads of the departments

• These department heads were called "secretaries" and formed the "Cabinet"

​The first Cabinet had these Cabinet positions:

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• Secretary of War to handle the nation's defense

• Secretary of Treasury to manage the country's money)

• Secretary of State to work with other countries

• ​Also an Attorney General (not head of a dept.)

The Constitution set up the Supreme Court, but what would that look like? What about other courts?

• Set up the size of Supreme Court (currently 1 Chief Justice and 8 associate justices)

• Set up the world's first dual-court system, with responsibilities split between state and federal courts

• Federal courts - interstate and international cases, disputes regarding the U.S. Constitution, and civil & criminal cases relating to federal laws. 

• State courts - cases involving state laws and civil disputes within states.