THE CABINET

For all those who recognize the good sense and good teaching that have gone into Communism; An American View (1964) The Congress (1963) The Presidency (1962) and The Supreme Court (1962) this book will hold no surprises. Gerald Johnson brings his expertise in politics and history to bear on the growth and development of the Cabinet in American government and he does it at a length and in a conversational, uncondescending style that assumes the intelligence of his young readers without presuming on the amount they may know. Instead of an administration-by-administration analysis, he has pinpointed the Presidents whose practices have influenced the duties and status of Cabinet members and digests the changing circumstances that led to different and increasing functions. Thus, the text moves from Washington's to Jefferson's to the Kitchen Cabinet of Jackson, showing the impact of the changes on the institution and the political implications which aroused the hostilities of Congress on more than one occasion. The added departments of today are described and so are speculations on the Cabinet of the future. What is particularly refreshing is that Mr. Johnson's forthright discussion is so far removed from the evasions of the typical civics text. He acknowledges the political character of Cabinet appointments and the Presidential need of an inner, even unofficial, group of reliable advisers. There's nothing around on the subject to match this. John Terrell's series for Duell, Sloan & Pearce is a department-by-department rundown for an older age group that would probably tell readers at this level more than they would really care to know without a total concept that they do need to have.