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Scholars have long focused on President George Washington's dynamic and quarrelsome cabinet. Yet scholars often assume the cabinet played a static role throughout Washington's presidency. This article demonstrates how Washington gradually created the cabinet to provide advice, not fully embracing weekly meetings until faced with an international crisis in 1793. This article also examines how Washington sidelined the cabinet in the final years of his presidency, returning to individual conferences and correspondence. As a result, Washington ensured the cabinet remained institutionally weak and a tool for the president to use at will—a legacy that survives in the twenty-first century.