thursday at our usual time. i hope you have a terrific week. let me know if you have any questions about your upcoming essays. thank you for coming out today. >> [applause] >> join us every saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. and midnight eastern as we join students in college classrooms to hear lectures on topics ranging from the american revolution to 9/11. lectures in history are available as podcasts. visit our website www.c-span.org or downloadcasts, them from itunes. >> american history tv was at the organization of american ual meeting inn new orleans, where we spoke about how george washington formed and interrupted with members of his presidential

candidate. she discusses with how the american system differed from the british equivalent. this is about 10 minutes. >> your research is on george washington's cabinet. >> the cabinet is not in the constitution. when washington entered the presidency, he created the cabinet as he went through discovering process and discovered he needed that advice. he relied on a couple things. he relied on his military experience from the revolutionary war. he brought those practices into the presidency. he also relied on the secretary's experiences at the state level and how they had formed their interactions in the cabinet. >> how was the british cabinet set up? ms. chervinsky: that is a great question. the american public was very much aware of the cabinet in

britain. the british constitution was an unwritten constitution. it is a number of parliamentary legislation acts. there are a number of decisions by the british courts, and other scholarly works. when you bring those together that makes up the british constitutional system. based on that system the king asks whatever party is in power in parliament to form a government in his name. that party nominates a number of ministers. that is what we know as the british ministry. from the british ministry, there is a smaller group known as the cabinet. that is the king's preferred advisors. he meets with them in secret. there is a little bit less transparency about that process. that was the british cabinet in the 18th century. >> what were the colonists's

opinions of the british cabinet? ms. chervinsky: many were suspicious because there was not much transparency. they knew roughly what it was, but they were not sure who was in the cabinet and who had power at the time. they were also suspicious about the fact that have been members while -- that cabinet members while serving picking still held their seat in parliament. the design was to serve as a conduit between the king and parliament. americans view that as a suspicious set up. they felt it brought corruption into the monarchy. at first americans were excited about king george the third when he came to the throne. they thought the british cabinet was to blame for the conflict afterwards. >> how did they set up something different? ms. chervinsky: in 1787, when

delegates met to form the constitutional convention, they discussed the british system in great detail. similartheir proposals to the british cabinet were rejected. instead they established two options for the president to obtain advice. requestident could written advice from the department secretary, or the senate -- or the president could get advice or consent from the senate on foreign affairs. in that way they hoped the president would have advice and support, but it would be a transparent system and everyone would have to take responsibility for their decisions. washington's relationship with his cabinet? ms. chervinsky: it changed over his presidency. initially he stuck to the

guidelines outlined in the constitution. he requested written advice. he visited with the senate. when that turned out to not be sufficient, it was hard to exchange letters back and forth. there were follow-up questions that needed to be asked. he started to call individual conferences. he asked secretaries one at a time to visit him. when that wasn't efficient, he called cabinet meetings. that happened to years into his presidency. -- two years into his presidency. it did not become a regular part of the executive branch until 1793, and secretaries were --ried about

they would call him up to five times a week. many cabinet members did washington have? ms. chervinsky: there were five members. the secretary of state, secretary of treasury, secretary of war, and the attorney general that enough having apartment -- that did not have a department at the time. secretarie the firsts meet collectively -- secretaries first meet and why? ms. chervinsky: george washington was leaving philadelphia at the time and was going on a tour of the southern states. he was planning to be gone for a couple months. possibilitye was a something might need an

immediate response and he cannot get an immediate answer because the post took a long time. he gave them the power to meet a s a group and he would ratify that decision. >> what president did washington set? ms. chervinsky: he set so many precedents. he established the title of president, how to nominate supreme court justices. in terms of the cabinet, that is one of the most important precedents. washington established that each president would have the opportunity to decide who his advisers would be. the department secretaries would always exist. but how closely they would work with the president or if they , ord be intimate advisors

if the president would work outside of the administration -- washington established that legacy. the president determines if he is going to work closely with the vice president or with department secretaries or with national security adviser's. these all trace back to washington. >> what does the constitution say about the cabinet? ms. chervinsky: the word cabinet is nowhere to be found. interestingly no additional legislation has been passed that determines the confines of the cabinet or how the president will interact with them. there is one clause that says the president can request written advice. it is up to the president's discretion. there is not a lot of public oversight as well. >> how did you get into this topic? ms. chervinsky: in graduate school i was interested in the power of individuals over politics.

in early america there was no more acute time when individuals could shape what was happening. i read about washington's administration. i was looking for a book on the subject and i could not find one. i caps on researching and there was nothing to be found. i got very excited and decided i would fill the gap. >> what sources did you use for this research? a historianky: as of early america, i am very lucky. all those that participated in the cabinet did a good job of preserving their letters. most of those have been published. things like public opinion, we look at newspaper articles and private correspondence. there are british sources we are able to use. >> thank you for speaking with

us. ms. chervinsky: thank you. >> student in american history to the? -- interested in american history tv? you are website www.c-span.org. you can see our schedule, view upcoming programs, and see tours, archival films, and more. american history tv at www.c-span.org/history. >> 2017 marks the centennial of the u.s. entry into world war i. next on american history tv's bronze"rica, "men of about soldiers of these three 69th u.s. -- the 39 infantry regiment, an all black regiment. many white americans leaders refused to serve alongside african-americans. the story is told through several intervie