Fifth Auditor, March 3, 1817; Sixth Auditor, July 2, 1836; Treasurer, First Comptroller, Register, September 2, 1789; Second Comptroller, March 3, 1817; Commissioner of Internal Revenue, July 1, 1862; Office of Supervising Architect; Commissioner of Navigation; Collectors of Customs; Naval Office and Surveyors; Revenue Marine Corps; Bureau of the Mint and Coinage, Weights and Measures; Supervising and Surgeon-General of Marine Hospital; Supervising Inspecting General of Steam Vessels; Engraving and Printing; Secret Service and the Division of Captured and Abandoned Property, Lands, etc.; Special Agents Division; National Board of Health, March 3, 1789. WAR. Department of War, by Act of Congress, August 7, 1789; principal officer, Secretary of War. 1776, the Board of War and Ordnance created, under a Committee of Congress; 1777, a Board of War not composed of members of Congress; 1781, a Secretary of War provided for; the First Congress established the War Department, August 7, 1789. Prior to April 30, 1798, the Secretary of War had charge of matters relating to both the land and naval forces. DUTIES. Secretary to execute all matters enjoined or intrusted to him by the President relative to military commissions, the military forces, the warlike stores of the United States, and other matters respecting military affairs, and to conduct under the direction of the President the business of the War Department. Required to provide for taking of meteorological observations at various places; arrange the course of studies at the Military Academy; supervision of the national cemeteries; pier and crib construction on Mississippi River; management of Louisville and Portland Canal; remove vessels obstructing navigation. DEPARTMENTS. Military Secretary, Inspector-General's, QuartermasterGeneral's, Commissary-General's, Surgeon-General's, Paymaster-General's, Chief of Engineers of the Army, Chief of Ordnance, Bureau Military Justice, Signal Office. In charge of officers of the regular army. JUSTICE. Department of Justice organized by Act of Congress, June 22, 1870; principal officer, Attorney-General. The law officers of the several departments transferred to this department, thereafter to exercise their functions under the supervision and control of the Attorney-General, whose appointment was originally provided for by the Act of September 24, 1789. DUTIES. The Attorney-General to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law, when required by the President, and also when required by the head of any Executive Department, as to the questions of law arising upon the administration of his department. Conduct and argue suits and writs of error and appeals in the Supreme Court, and suits in the Court of Claims in which the United States Government is interested, and also in any of the United States courts when deemed necessary. Exercise general superintendence over United States Attorneys and Marshals in all judicial districts in the States and Territories. BUREAUS. Solicitor-General; five Assistant Attorneys-General; Solicitor of Internal Revenue; Solicitor of the Treasury; Assistant Solicitor of the Treasury; Examiner of Claims for the Department of State. POSTOFFICE. Act of Congress, September 22, 1789, entitled "An Act for the temporary establishment of the Postoffice," created the department; subsequently, May 8, 1794, established at the seat of government a General Postoffice, and provided for a Postmaster-General, etc. The present organization owes its existence to the Act of June 8, 1872, "An Act to revise, consolidate, and amend the Statutes relating to the Postoffice Department." Principal officer, Postmaster-General. The Postmaster-General was a sub-officer of the Treasury Department, and was not considered a Cabinet officer until invited by President Jackson to Cabinet meetings in 1829. DUTIES. The Postmaster-General to establish and discontinue postoffices, to superintend generally the business of the department, and execute all laws relating to the postal service. He appoints all postmasters, not exceeding $1000 per annum in salary, the President appointing all others. BUREAUS. Four Assistant Postmasters-General; Superintendents of Foreign Mails; Money Order System; Railway Service; Dead Letter Office; Free Delivery System and City Delivery System. NAVY. Navy Department by Act of Congress, April 30, 1798 (practical operation in June, 1798; its duties previously controlled by the War Department); principal officer, Secretary of the Navy. DUTIES. The Secretary to provide naval stores and materials for the construction, manning, armament, equipment, and employment of vessels of war, and all other matters connected with the naval establishment. The heads of bureaus are chosen from naval officers above the rank of captain. BUREAUS. Navigation; Equipment and Recruiting; Ordnance; Medicine and Surgery; Supplies and Accounts; Steam Engineering; Construction and Repairs; Yards and Docks; Justice; Marine Corps. INTERIOR. Department of the Interior, established by Act of Congress, March 3, 1849; principal officer, Secretary of the Interior. Originally known as the "Home Department," its functions being distributed among the departments of State, Treasury, War, and Navy. DUTIES. The Secretary to have supervision of public business relating to patents for inventions; pensions and bounty lands; the public lands and surveys; the Indians; education; railroads; the Geological Survey; the Hot Springs Reservation, Arkansas; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; and the Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant parks, California; forest reservations; distribution of appropriations for agricultural and mechanical colleges in the States and Territories; the custody and distribution of certain public documents; and supervision of certain hospitals and eleemosynary institutions in the District of Columbia. Also certain powers and duties in relation to the Territories of the United States. BUREAUS. General Land Office, created April 25, 1812, in the Treasury Department; Patent Office; Indian Office, July 9, 1832; U.S. Pension Office, established in the War Department, March 12, 1833, transferred March 3, 1849; Bureau of Education, March 2, 1867; Auditor of Railroad Accounts, June 19, 1878; Architect of the Capitol; Geological Survey, March 3, 1879; Entomological Commission, March 3, 1877; Officers of the District of Columbia; Interstate Commerce Commission, February 4, 1887. AGRICULTURE. Department of Agriculture founded May 15, 1862, established as separate department by Act of Congress, February 9, 1889; principal officer, Secretary of Agriculture. DUTIES. The Secretary to collect and diffuse useful information on subjects connected with agriculture; acquire and preserve all informa tion by means of books and correspondence, by practical and scientific experiments; collection of statistics; collect new and valuable seeds and plants; cultivate and propagate such as may require a test, or be worthy of propagation, and distribute among agriculturists. BUREAUS. Weather Bureau (from "War" in 1891); Animal Industry; Chemistry; Statistics; Section of Foreign Markets; Accounts and Disbursements; Experiment Stations; Entomology; Biological Survey; Forestry; Botany; Plant Industry; Vegetable Physiology and Pathology; Agrostology; Pomology; Experimental Gardens and Grounds; Seed and Planting Introduction; Soils; Public Roads; Seeds. COMMERCE AND LABOR. Department of Commerce and Labor established by Act of Congress February 14, 1903. Principal officer, Secretary of Commerce and Labor. DUTIES. The Secretary to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce; the mining, manufacturing, shipping, and fishery industries, the labor interests, the transportation facilities; the insurance business, and complete statistics. BUREAUS. Light-house Board; Light-house Establishment; Standards; Coast and Geodetic Survey, organized February 10, 1807; Immigration Service; Navigation (transferred from the Treasury); Census Office (transferred from the Interior); Bureau of Statistics (a consolidation of Bureau of Foreign Commerce (State) and Statistics (Treasury); Labor (created Bureau of Labor, June 27, 1884; Department of Labor, June 13, 1888); Fish and Fisheries; Manufacturers and Corporations (two new departments). The Bureau of Manufacturers to foster, promote, and develop the manufacturing industries at home and abroad, through statistics, local and consular reports. The Bureau of Corporations to investigate into the organization, conduct, and management of corporations, joint stock companies or corporation combinations engaged in commerce in the several states and with foreign nations"; excepting common carriers subject to "An Act to Regulate Commerce, approved February 4, 1887" (the InterState Commerce Act); and report to the President," and the information so obtained and as much thereof as the President may direct shall be made public." This latter clause, known as the Nelson Amendment (Knute Nelson, Republican, Minnesota), establishes the principle that the Federal Government shall exercise constitutional powers to control and restrain combinations in trade that are to the prejudice of public policy and individual rights. VICE-PRESIDENTS. The only duty assigned the Vice-President by the Constitution is to serve as President of the Senate [except in case of impeachment of the President], and unless the Senate be equally divided he has no vote. It is known as a complimentary nomination." 4 3 Thomas Jefferson 1796 Va. 4 Aaron Burr 1800 N. Y. 5-6 George Clinton 21804 N.Y. 7 Elbridge Gerry 21812 Mass. 8-9 D. D. Tompkins 1816 N. Y. 10-11 John C. Calhoun 31824 S.C. 12 Martin Van Buren1 1832 N. Y. 13 Rich. M. Johnson 1836 Ky. 14 John Tyler 1840 Va. 15 George M. Dallas 1844 Penn. 16 Millard Fillmore 41848 N. Y. 17 Wm. Rufus King 2 1852 Ala. 18 J. C. Breckenridge 1856 Ky. 19 Hannibal Hamlin 1860 Me. 20 Andrew Johnson 41864 Tenn. 21 Schuyler Colfax 22 Henry Wilson 23 Wm. A. Wheeler 24 Chester A. Arthur 25 T. A. Hendricks 26 Levi P. Morton 27 A. E. Stevenson 53 1743 Shadwell 44 1756 Newark Date Va. 1826 Monticello Va. 83 N. Y. 80 D.C. 73 D.C. 70 N.Y. 51 D.C. 68 N.Y. 80 Ky. 70 Va. 1862 Richmond Va. 72 Pa. 1864 Philadelphia 51 1809 Paris Me. 1891 Bangor 57 1835 Christian Co. Ky. 52 1844 Long Branch, N.J. 1899 Paterson 52 1852 Unionville Cen., O. Minn. 62 D.C. 63 N. Y. 68 N.Y. 56 Ind. 66 N.J. 55 1 Later elected President. Died in office. 3 Resigned. Succeeded to Presidency. |