how did the first president to choose federal officials
Presidency of George Washington The new Constitution empowered the president to appoint executive department heads with the consent of the Senate. Three departments had existed under the Articles of Confederation: the Department of War, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Finance Office. The Department of War was retained, while the latter two departments became the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury, respectively. The leaders of these three departments constituted the initial positions in Washington's cabinet. In September 1789, Congress established the position of Attorney General to serve as the chief legal adviser to the president. Though the Attorney General did not oversee a department (the United States Department of Justice would be established in 1870), the position nonetheless became a part of the cabinet. Edmund Randolph became the first Attorney General, while Henry Knox retained his position as head of the Department of War and Thomas Jefferson served as the first Secretary of State. For the key post of Secretary of the Treasury, which would oversee economic policy, Washington chose Alexander Hamilton, after his first choice, Robert Morris, declined. Morris had recommended Hamilton instead, writing "But, my dear general, you will be no loser by my declining the secrataryship of the Treasury, for I can recommend a far cleverer fellow than I am for your minister of finance in the person of your aide-de-camp, Colonel Hamilton."[27] Washington's initial cabinet consisted of one individual from New England (Knox), one individual from the mid-Atlantic (Hamilton), and two Southerners (Jefferson and Randolph).[28]