View source for Cabinet of the Confederate States of America

{{short description|Advisory body to the president of the Confederate States}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox government agency
| name                 = Cabinet of the Confederate States
| native_name          = Cabinet of Jefferson Davis
| seal                 = Seal of the Confederate States.svg
| seal_width           = 160px
| seal_caption         = [[Seal of the Confederate States]]<!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not add the words "Great" or "of America" as it would be historically inaccurate. Those words were not in the 1863 law passed by the C.S. Congress establishing the Seal. Thank you. -->
| image                = Story of the Confederate States; or, History of the war for southern independence, embracing a brief but comprehensive sketch of the early settlement of the country, trouble with the Indians, the (14739859956).jpg{{!}}border
| image_caption        = Last meeting of the Confederate cabinet
| type                 = Cabinet
| formed               = {{start date|1861|02|18}}
| dissolved            = {{End date|1865|05|10}}
| agency_type          = Advisory body
| employees            = 7 members:
* 1 Vice-president
* 6 Principal officers
| chief1_name          = [[Jefferson Davis]]
| chief1_position      = [[President of the Confederate States of America|president of the Confederate States]] (chairman)
| chief2_name          = [[Alexander H. Stephens]]
| chief2_position      = [[Vice President of the Confederate States of America|vice-president of the Confederate States]]
}}
The '''Cabinet of the [[Confederate States of America]]''', commonly called the '''Confederate cabinet''' or '''Cabinet of [[Jefferson Davis]]''', was part of the executive branch of the federal government of the Confederate States that existed between 1861 and 1865. The members of the Cabinet were the [[Vice President of the Confederate States of America|vice president]] and heads of the federal executive departments.
==History==
[[File:ConfederateCabinet.jpg|thumb|left|President Davis' first cabinet (1861)]]
The cabinet was largely modeled on the [[Cabinet of the United States]], with its members overseeing a State Department, Treasury Department, War Department, and Post Office Department. However, unlike the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]], the Confederacy lacked a [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]], and created a Justice Department (the position of [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]] existed, but the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]] was only created in 1870, after the end of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]).<ref name="Reference">''The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference'' (eds. Margaret E. Wagner, [[Gary W. Gallagher]] & [[Paul Finkelman]]: Simon & Schuster, 2012), p. 161.</ref>
The Confederate cabinet was ineffective. Like the [[Confederate Congress]], its membership was undistinguished, in contrast with [[Presidency of Abraham Lincoln#Cabinet|Lincoln's Cabinet]], which included highly talented men.<ref name="Olsen">Christopher J. Olsen, ''The American Civil War: A Hands-on History'' (Hill & Wang, 2006), p. 213: "[Davis] did not get much help from an ineffective Confederate Congress and a mediocre Cabinet. (Lincoln, on the other hand, enjoyed ... a Cabinet distinguished by some truly brilliant members.)."</ref> [[President of the Confederate States of America|Confederate President]] [[Jefferson Davis]] made many of his initial selections to the Cabinet on the basis of political considerations; his choices "Were dictated by the need to assure the various states that their interests were being represented in the government."<ref name="Guelzo">Allen C. Guelzo, ''Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction'' (Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 361.</ref> Moreover, much Confederate talent went into the military rather than the Cabinet, and the cabinet suffered from frequent turnover and reshuffling. Sixteen different men served in the six Cabinet posts during the four years of the Confederacy's existence.<ref name="Exploring">''Exploring American History: From Colonial Times to 1877'' (Vol. 3: eds. Tom Lansford & Thomas E. Woods: Marshall Cavendish, 2008), p. 241.</ref> The most talented&mdash;but also the most unpopular&mdash;member of the Cabinet was [[Judah P. Benjamin]].<ref name="Guelzo"/><ref>Dennis L. Peterson, ''Confederate Cabinet Departments and Secretaries'' (MacFarland, 2016), pp. 141-42.</ref><ref>Bell Irvin Wiley, ''Embattled Confederates: An Illustrated History of Southerners at War'' (Harper & Row, 1964), p. 19.</ref> Among the weakest cabinet secretaries was Treasury Secretary [[Christopher Memminger]], who had little experience with fiscal policy; Memminger was placed at the Treasury by Davis due to the influence of [[South Carolina|South Carolinians]], because Memminger had been an influential supporter of that state's [[Secession in the United States|secession]].<ref name="Guelzo"/> Civil War historian [[Allen C. Guelzo]] describes the first Confederate secretaries of war and state, [[LeRoy Pope Walker]] of [[Alabama]] and [[Robert Toombs]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], respectively&mdash;as "brainless political appointees."<ref name="Guelzo"/>
The cabinet's performance suffered due to Davis's inability to delegate and propensity to [[Micromanagement|micromanage]] his Cabinet officers.<ref>Peterson, pp. 12, 18, 24, 91, 127, 150.</ref> Davis consulted with the Cabinet frequently&mdash;meeting with individual cabinet secretaries almost every day and convening meetings of the full Cabinet two or three times a week&mdash;but these meetings, which could stretch to five hours or more, "rarely saw anything accomplished."<ref>Peterson, p. 18.</ref> Secretary of the Navy [[Stephen Mallory]] lamented that "From [Davis's] uncontrollable tendency to digression," cabinet meetings "consumed four or five hours without determining anything."<ref>Geoffrey C. Ward & Kenneth Burns, ''The Civil War: The Complete Text of the Bestselling Narrative History of the Civil War--Based on the Celebrated PBS Television Series'' (Vintage Books, 1990),p. 162.</ref> Many of the cabinet members became frustrated, especially the secretaries of war; after concluding "that they could not get along with Davis's constant interference and micromanagement," many resigned.<ref>Peterson, p. 24.</ref> Nine of the eleven Confederate states "had representation in the Cabinet at some point during the life of Confederacy"; only Tennessee and Arkansas never had a Confederate cabinet secretary.<ref>Peterson, p. 13.</ref>
The final meeting of the Confederate cabinet took place in [[Fort Mill, South Carolina]], amid the collapse of the Confederacy.<ref>Clint Johnson, ''Touring the Carolinas' Civil War Sites'', 2nd ed. (John F. Blair, Publisher: 2011), p. 109.</ref> Fort Mill was the only place where the full Confederate cabinet met after the [[Richmond in the American Civil War|fall of Richmond]].<ref>James E. Walmsley, The Last Meeting of the Confederate Cabinet'' (The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 1919).</ref>
==Cabinet==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Office
! Image
! colspan=2 | Name
! Home state
! Dates
|-
| [[Vice President of the Confederate States of America|Vice President]]
| [[File:Alexander Hamilton Stephens.jpg|123x123px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Alexander H. Stephens]]
| [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
| February 18, 1861 – May 11, 1865
|-
| rowspan=4|[[Confederate States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]
| [[File:Robert Toombs - Brady-Handy.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Robert Toombs]]
| Georgia
| February 25, 1861 – July 25, 1861
|-
| [[File:R.M.T. Hunter CSA LOC cwpb.05605 (3x4a).jpg|133x133px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Robert M. T. Hunter]]
| [[Virginia]]
| July 25, 1861 – February 18, 1862
|-
| [[File:Browne, William Montague 2.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[William M. Browne]]
| Georgia
| February 18, 1862 – March 18, 1862
|-
| [[File:Judah P Benjamin crop.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Judah P. Benjamin]]
| [[Louisiana]]
| March 18, 1862 – May 10, 1865
|-
| rowspan=3|[[Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]]
| [[File:Christopher Memminger (1803-1888), Secretary of Treasury Confederate States of America.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Christopher Memminger]]
| [[South Carolina]]
| February 25, 1861 – July 18, 1864
|-
| [[File:GATrenholm.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[George Trenholm]]
| South Carolina
| July 18, 1864 – April 27, 1865
|-
| [[File:JHRegan.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[John H. Reagan]]
| [[Texas]]
| April 27, 1865 – May 10, 1865
|-
| rowspan=5|[[Confederate States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]]
| [[File:Walker, Leroy Pope 1.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[LeRoy Pope Walker]]
| [[Alabama]]
| February 25, 1861 – September 16, 1861
|-
| [[File:Judah P Benjamin crop.jpg|124x124px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| Judah P. Benjamin
| Louisiana
| September 17, 1861 – March 24, 1862
|-
| [[File:Bust portrait of George Wythe Randolph, Secretary of War.jpg|126x126px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[George W. Randolph]]
| Virginia
| March 24, 1862 – November 15, 1862
|-
| [[File:James Alexander Seddon 1.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[James Seddon]]
| Virginia
| November 21, 1862 – February 5, 1865
|-
| <!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not remove Breckinridge's image in uniform and major-general rank as it would be historically inaccurate. He was appointed Secretary of War under the condition he would remain on active service with the Confederate States Army. Thank you. --> [[File:Abraham Lincoln and the battles of the Civil War (1886) (14739822666).jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| Major-General <br>[[John C. Breckinridge]]
| [[Kentucky]]
| February 6, 1865 – May 10, 1865
|-
| [[Confederate States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]]
| [[File:Portrait of Stephen Russell Mallory.jpg|134x134px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Stephen Mallory]]
| [[Florida]]
| March 4, 1861 – May 2, 1865
|-
| [[Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States#Confederate Post Office|Postmaster-General]]
| [[File:JHRegan.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| John H. Reagan
| Texas
| March 6, 1861 – May 10, 1865
|-
| rowspan=6|[[Confederate States Attorney General|Attorney-General]]
| [[File:Judah P Benjamin crop.jpg|124x124px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| Judah P. Benjamin
| Louisiana
| February 25, 1861 – September 17, 1861
|-
| [[File:Blank.gif|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Wade Keyes]]
| Alabama
| September 17, 1861 – November 21, 1861
|-
| [[File:Thomas Bragg 1.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Thomas Bragg]]
| [[North Carolina]]
| November 21, 1861 – March 18, 1862
|-
| [[File:Thomas Hill Watts 1860s.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Thomas H. Watts]]
| Alabama
| March 18, 1862 – October 1, 1863
|-
| [[File:Blank.gif|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| Wade Keyes
| Alabama
| October 1, 1863 – January 2, 1864
|-
| [[File:George Davis.jpg|100px]]
| style="background: {{party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[George Davis (American politician)|George Davis]]
| North Carolina
| January 2, 1864 – April 24, 1865
|-
|}
==See also==
{{Portal|Politics}}
* [[Rufus Randolph Rhodes]] the only head of the Confederate Patent Office
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{CSCabinet}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabinet Of The Confederate States}}
[[Category:Government of the Confederate States of America| ]]
[[Category:1861 establishments in the Confederate States of America]]
[[Category:1865 disestablishments in the Confederate States of America]]
[[Category:John C. Breckinridge]]