CABINET SECRETARIES FROM TRUMAN TO JOHNSON: AN EXAMINATION OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS FOR CABINET STUDIES (EISENHOWER, KENNEDY

This study identifies and assesses existing ways of thinking about cabinet secretaries by examining the secretaries from the inherited cabinet of the Truman administration to the final cabinet of the Johnson administration. Previously suggested patterns and relationships are built upon by adding empirical evidence to test the traditionally descriptive studies and commentaries on the President's cabinet.;The six frameworks examined in this study are Thomas Cronin's inner/outer cabinet distinction; the idea of a "balanced" cabinet; an over-idealized set of initial role expectations for the secretaries which I have termed the "naive" view of the cabinet; a partisan factor whereby changes in party control of the White House affect the cabinet; midterm versus initial appointments; and finally, Hugh Heclo's concept of an issues network.;The emphasis of this study is on cabinet secretaries rather than the cabinet as a collectivity. The three analytical chapters of this study reflect this emphasis. They examine the recruitment and background characteristics of cabinet secretaries; the initial role perception of the cabinet secretaries; and the initial goals the secretary envisions for his or her respective department.;Role perception and department goal orientation are studied by coding and analyzing statements made by cabinet secretaries during Senate confirmation hearings, in press conferences, in letters and memos, and in intradepartmental communications.;The findings of this study strongly support the inner/outer cabinet distinction, both in terms of recruitment patterns as well as in role perception. There also are differences between the first cabinet a President selects and replacements to the cabinet. Partisan differences do not appear to be as important a factor in explaining cabinet recruitment or secretary role perception as do the frameworks of the inner and outer cabinet, midterm versus initial appointments, and issues networks. The findings of this study support Heclo's concept of an issues network in that it is those individuals who are moving across estates that have the greatest interest in policy and best understanding of the need for sharing information across sectors and with Congress.;Finally, the concept of a "balanced" cabinet, described by journalists and textbook writers, has little meaning from the secretary's perspective.