Chapter 79: Chapter 76: The First Cabinet of the United States

"Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses. Your persecuted, your trampled minorities, yearning to breathe free. Whether they are in our nation, or outside of it, let them bask in the light of the beacon of liberty! And let them pursue the American Dream; the dream that any man or woman, no matter how poor or disadvantaged they are, may rise up from poverty and oppression and even rise to the highest office of our republic! And our nation, a nation found on the values of liberty, justice, and equality, will give them not only an opportunity but a helping hand!"

-President Samuel Kim, in his first public inauguration speech to the public in front of the Presidential Mansion.

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Philadelphia, the United States of America
April 20th, 1780

The first Cabinet of the United States gathered in a large meeting room in the Presidential Mansion located on Ninth Street of Philadelphia. The fifteen individuals came from nine different states, had a wide variety of occupational background, and was of various ages. President Samuel Kim, the first elected president of the United States of America, took his seat in front of the fourteen men and started the first official Cabinet meeting, "Gentlemen, first off, let me just state that I did not expect to be sitting here, ever."

Laughter rang throughout the room as Secretary of Agriculture Benjamin Harrison V interjected, "It seemed like you were the only one to not know about your chances of being elected, Mr. President."

Another round of chortles left President Kim tapping the table lightly, "Regardless, I must thank you all for accepting the nomination for your respective positions. After all, I'm sure some of you don't want to be here too much, mainly due to age or... retirement."

"Ah yes," Director of National Intelligence Washington muttered bitterly, "Retirement. It seemed like ages ago, I was promised to return back to Virginia."

"Well, you are only mainly needed for this first meeting, Director Washington," President Kim said with a reassuring smile, "Don't fret, the National Intelligence Agency will be based around your plantation back at home."

If Director Washington said anything under his breath, no one heard it. The president continued with his speech, "Now then before we officially begin the meeting, I will ask all of you to recite the Presidential Oath, which has been approved by Congress. in the Oath Administration Act."

The oath was two folds, officially, the oath was for Congressional members when they took office, as well as the Cabinet members themselves. However, there was another purpose listed towards the end of the act. It was for the president to administer a "Presidential Oath" directly, but did not acknowledge what the presidential oath was. In fact, the "Presidential Oath" was an oath to swear secrecy on President Kim's private matters, mainly in regards to time travel, and recognize that breaching the oath would be treason. That specific section was written into the Act by Congressional members that were aware of President Kim's secret and passed rushed through Congress.

All fifteen members, including President Kim, stood up with their right hands raised, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully protect and acknowledge the Presidential Secret of the United States, and will preserve and defend this secret from all enemies, both foreign and domestic, to the Best of my Ability."

"You may be seated. Now, let us go over the agenda that we have for today. Since most of your respective departments are either nonexistent or barely operational, we will discuss the Executive Orders that Congress has passed and strategize our primary focuses for each department."

"The Consent Executive Orders that were passed in Congress are as followed:

C-E Order #1: Departmental Organization Act. The act created the departments and the cabinet positions we have currently, along with the roles they will fulfill in the new government. The bill includes the nomination process for each cabinet member.
C-E Order #2: The Federal Revenue and Expenditure Act. The act will firmly designate Congress as the branch that controls the budget, with limited input from the president.
C-E Order #3: Mint and Coinage Act. The act will create a currency that is similar to the currency created in the other history. The currency, the American dollar, will use a decimal system, have no official standard for gold and silver, and have small value coins to ease the public into using money on a daily basis. The value of the coins are as followed: Five-dollar coins, one dollar coins, twenty-five cent coins (quarters), ten-cent coins (dimes), five-cent coins (nickels), one-cent coins (pennies), and half-cent coins (steels). Bills will be created at a later date and the government will actively fight against counterfeiting through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service.
C-E Order #4: The Creation of the United States Armed Forces. Through this act, the United States Military has been officially created. The branches are the United States Army, the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard. All of them will operate under the direction of the Department of Defense, with the exception of the United States Coast Guard. They will be under the direction of the Department of the Treasury, unless it is wartime.
C-E Order #6: The Capital City Act. Approved nearly unanimously, the capital city will be built near Harmer's Town (OTL's Havre De Grace) in Maryland. Several prominent surveyors and engineers, such as Andrew Ellicott and Tadeusz Kosciuszko, have been contacted and a plan will be drafted and finalized hopefully within the next year or so.

The following Consent Executive Orders are still being debated in Congress:

C-E Order#5: The Federal Education Act. The act will grant the federal government to survey and select six sites across the United States to create six new national universities. Additionally, each state will have one primary school constructed and funded by the federal government.
C-E Order #7: The Freedmen Act. The act proposes that the federal government uplifting recent freedmen with job opportunities and discounts on seized Loyalists lands. Additionally, provide refuge and asylum for any slaves seeking freedom from slavery.
C-E Order #8: Veteran Pensions Act. The act will give a yearly pension to any veterans, adjusted for inflation every year. Additionally, any medical expenses caused by injuries that veterans have suffered during active service will be fully compensated for by the government.
C-E Order #9: The Creation of Military Academies. If the act passes, then a total of three military academies (one for the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps each) and five military bases (two Army, two Navy, and one Marine Corps) will be created."

"Thankfully, Congress has achieved a quorum early on, so we were able to pass many executive orders within a short amount of time. However, we will need to wait for the Tariff and Excise Tax Act, which was proposed by a congressional member two weeks ago, to pass before we are able to move forward with the expansion of the federal government. After all, that is "officially" what will provide funding for the government. Regardless, we can plan and prepare accordingly with the finances we have at hand."

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"That was... a long list indeed," Vice President Franklin mentioned thoughtfully as the cabinet members processed the details of the Executive Orders.

"Well, I guess in the other history, I would be horrified at the fact that you have basically rammed through nearly a dozen executive orders in the first two months," Secretary of Research and Education Jefferson said, "But on the bright side, at least these executive orders need the explicit approval of Congress, and have forced Congress to move rapidly to deal with your constant barrage of proposals."

"Well, considering I only have four years, I would like to move as fast as possible," President Kim replied, "Now onto the departments themselves. I asked all of you after your nominations to compile a plan for the future of your departments. We will now go over plans and discuss them in this meeting. Secretary Adams, I believe you are first."

Each cabinet member received future information relevant to their fields in order to strategize and plan for the future accordingly. From the information they received, the cabinet members were asked to compile a "Four-Year Plan" for their departments.

Secretary Adams cleared his throat and began, "Our current status on the international stage is, to be frank, secured. This history's Revolutionary War has turned out significantly better for us in terms of reputation and presence. We have thoroughly defeated the British and seized a large amount of territory from them. As a result, our nation has been acknowledged and recognized by most European nations as of right now. However, it is evidently clear that the "shock and awe" will soon wear off and be replaced with fear and hostility. This is the conclusion I have reached due to my year-long assignment to Europe and my discussions with the Vice President. Simply put, our position and our ideals have left the European colonies in the Americas in a very uncomfortable position. Many European nations feel threatened by our republican values, our anti-slavery policy, our aggressive expansion, and our "radical" politics. If C-E Order #7 passes, then it will only reinforce their fears that our nation will undercut their slavery-based plantations in the Caribbean. As a result, we can not turn to any of them for alliances or partnerships. There are a few exceptions, such as Britain, as Lord Rockingham wants to maintain good relations with us and want to continue trading with our nation, and the Netherlands, which played a very limited role in our Revolutionary War. As such, most of Europe is "off the board" for our relations.

As per the other history, Morocco has been approached about a potential alliance of friendship, but I have yet to receive a reply from the ambassador that was assigned to Morocco. While I doubt there will be close relations between our two nations immediately, over time, I believe a partnership can be developed through trade and mutual interests."

"Another interesting point is the looming Laki Eruption, which will cause famines in parts of western Europe and Africa. There was speculation in the other history that the Eruption was one of the causes of the crop failures in France that led to the French Revolution. If the Revolution still happens, then there is a chance we can attempt to aid a moderate faction to prevent the radical republicans from seizing power and causing a "Reign of Terror." Additionally, the Eruption will cause famines in Egypt, killing one-sixth of its population. If we were to prepare a sufficient amount of grain for the looming famine in Egypt, then not only would we gain a substantial amount of goodwill from the Egyptians and the Ottomans, but also allow our merchants to make a hefty amount of profit."

The foreign policies were discussed for several minutes. The cabinet as a whole decided to accept Secretary Adams' proposed policies and remain open to friendly relations with other nations.

"Right then, Secretary Poor?"

Secretary of Defense Salem Poor was perhaps the most shocking nomination out of all the cabinet nominations. The African American man was the sole African American man in the Cabinet. However, his experiences during the Revolutionary War, along with his valor and intelligence, earned him the leadership of the nation's defense. The former Marine brigadier general nodded his head and straightened stiffly in his seat, "As proposed by you, Mr. President, I have compiled a plan to slowly build up our nation's military into an effective and disciplined machine. During the first four years, I believe that we must focus on laying the groundwork and avoiding hasty measures. I propose that we bring back some willing veterans and create the core of the military through those veterans. These veterans will be selected and examined thoroughly in order to ensure that they are both knowledgeable and capable. Overall, our goal in four years is to have half of the original "40,000 men Army, 10,000 men Marine Corps" proposed in the bill. That way, we aren't forcing the military to recruit men to fill numbers. Instead, the military can focus on "quality over quantity." I have already reached out to some Marine veterans, and dozens of former NCOs and officers are ready to re-enlist, particularly the Negros fighting in Ohio. Once we have a sufficient number of veterans returning in each the Army and the Marine Corps, we can start training new recruits "

"As for the Navy, that will be whole another matter. The quality of the crewmembers differs from each ship. Unfortunately, it will take longer to properly inspect each ship and ensure that the quality of the crew is up to par. I propose we create a schedule to rotate ships out of active service and inspect the quality of the crew over a period of four years. There are currently over thirty ships in active service, so we will need to inspect one every one and a half months. As for the ships that are being planned, the crew will consist of officers trained in the United States Naval Academy and regular crew members that will be trained in one of the proposed naval bases."

And the discussions continued on and on for hours...

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First Cabinet of the United States

President: Samuel Kim (New York)
Vice President: Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania)
Secretary of State: John Adams (Massachusetts)
Secretary of Defense: Salem Poor (Massachusetts)
Secretary of the Treasury: Alexander Hamilton (New York)
Attorney General: Robert Sherman (Connecticut)
Secretary of Federal Lands and Resources: Akiatonharónkwen (also known as Joseph Luis Cook) (Iroquois)
Secretary of Research and Education: Thomas Jefferson (Virginia)
Secretary of Commerce: Christophe Pelissier (Quebec)
Secretary of Agriculture: Benjamin Harrison V (Virginia)
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Benjamin Rush (Pennsylvania)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Abraham Clark (New Jersey)
Secretary of Internal Affairs*: James Madison (Virginia)
Secretary of Veteran Affairs: Christopher Gadsen (South Carolina)
Trade Representative: Robert Morris (Pennsylvania)
Director of National Intelligence: George Washington (Virginia)

*Department of Internal Affairs deals with government corruption, department inspections, election security, state governments, and public services.

*Secretary of Veteran Affairs is a part of the Department of Defense. The Trade Representative is a member of the Department of Commerce.

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