... happens. Some presidents have strived for a cabinet that would work on the foundation of collective decision making. Ultimately, the cabinet can only be as strong as the president allows it to become, this was iterated by president Abraham Lincoln when at the end of a cabinet meeting he stated 'Seven noes, one aye - the ayes have it' this shows that cabinet can be overruled at any time, some members of cabinet do not even have direct access to the president. This was shown in the Nixon era, as only John Mitchell had direct access to the president, while his colleagues could rarely get past presidential aides. Some presidents however have used cabinet much more frequently, president Ronald Reagan, in only his first term, brought his cabinet together thirty seven times, president Carter also used cabinet fairly frequently during his terms as president. Cabinet can only play a limited role, there are, ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now