Note 134 — Chapter XV · THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET

President Lincoln, for example, did not consult the cabinet in the framing of the Emancipation Proclamation; he merely read it to the cabinet after it was finished. General Grant treated his cabinet as though it was merely his general staff with the function of carrying out orders rather than giving advice. President Roosevelt usually had his own mind made up on matters of policy, and the members of his cabinet, although they differed from him in temperament, did not often differ from him in opinion. President Wilson, in choosing his cabinet, made it a point to get men whose minds ran along with his own. On the other hand, President Hayes, President Harrison, and President McKinley were considerably guided by the advice of their cabinets and consulted them freely.