Steve Corbin is emeritus professor of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa and a contributing columnist to 246 newspapers and 48 social media platforms in 45 states, who receives no remuneration, funding, or endorsement from any for-profit business, nonprofit organization, political action committee, or political party.
I commend columnists who publish research-based and value-added (versus “my opinion”) op-eds on a daily or frequent basis. Submitting an occasional essay gives me time to ponder contemporary issues and research the latest hot topic.
Since August 6, Perplexity and Google have guided me to examine more than 30 documents to determine the best and worst U.S. presidential cabinets. Based upon expert analysis, here are the results.
Judging presidential cabinet strengths and weaknesses
While determining cabinet strengths and weaknesses can be subjective, historical investigation and political science scholarship support a broad consensus about how to judge the quality of a presidential cabinet. Some key components include: expertise, competence, experience, operational effectiveness, ethical standards, scandals, internal White House diversity and the ability for cabinet members to challenge the president without repercussions.
Several other dimensions to assess cabinet performance across U.S. presidencies include: turnover rates, vacancy rates, delays in appointments, effectiveness of cabinet members’ actions, and ability to maintain stability and implement policy.
Five independent research studies summarized that U.S. presidential cabinets can be compared, contrasted, and evaluated as follows: 1) stable, low-turnover and well-staffed cabinets are generally seen as higher performing, 2) high-turnover and high-vacancy cabinets are associated with decreased effectiveness, and 3) appointment of experts and diverse talent correlates with improved policy outcomes and cabinet success.
Best presidential cabinets
The following presidential cabinets are widely regarded as among the best in U.S. history:
1. Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president who served from 1861 to 1865, had a cabinet known as the Team of Rivals. Featuring people like William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edwin Stanton, this cabinet challenged yet complemented Lincoln, helping with the Union’s victory and abolition of slavery.
2. President George Washington, who belonged to no political party during his tenure from 1789 to 1797, formed a cabinet including Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox and Edmund Randolph. Lindsay Chervinsky and other historians have identified Washington’s cabinet as a foundational model for effective executive leadership.
3. Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s cabinet (1933-1945) included Frances Perkins (first female cabinet secretary) and Henry Morgenthau, Jr., who helped shape and implement the New Deal policies and guide America through World War II.
Worst presidential cabinets
Historical surveys cite the following presidential cabinets among the worst in U.S. history, predominantly due to issues of incompetence, corruption and scandal:
1. Republican President Warren G. Harding’s cabinet (1921-1923) is widely regarded as the worst of the worst due to the infamous Teapot Dome scandal, widespread corruption among cabinet members, and for exemplifying poor cabinet selection due to cronyism and misconduct.
2. Republican President Ulysses S. Grant’s cabinet (869-1877) was plagued by corruption, the Whiskey Ring scandal, the Credit Mobilier scandal and unethical governance.
3. Both of Republican President Donald J. Trump’s cabinets (2017-2021 and 2025) have been widely criticized for their lack of qualifications, record-setting high turnover rates, appointments based on loyalty over capability, conflicts of interest, stark public dissatisfaction, and poorly vetted appointees. Nevertheless, Republican senators confirmed all of those cabinet members.
Turnover as a proxy for performance and stability
Research is replete that turnover rates of presidential appointments are an indicator of presidential performance and a concrete indicator of stability. High cabinet turnover has significant negative consequences for governance and leadership effectiveness, such as loss of institutional memory, loss of expertise, lack of cohesion and stalled initiatives.
Frequent cabinet turnover has serious consequences. It disrupts policy formation, diminishes efficiency, harms morale, undermines public trust, and weakens agency autonomy and long-term strategic capabilities.
Trump’s first presidency saw a record turnover: 20 of his 24 cabinet picks either quitt or were fired. Furthermore, 92 percent of the 65 people who were on Trump’s 2017-2021 “A Team” left their appointed office.
During the first 220 days of Trump’s current administration, he’s already had turnover in at least fourteen key positions, notably Charles Borges, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Cameron Hamilton, Dr. Carla Hayden, Dr. Debra Houry, Dr. Daniel Jernigan, Dr. Peter Marks, Dr. Susan Monarez, Elon Musk, Shira Perlmutter, Dr. Vinay Prasad, Vivek Ramaswamy, Dr. Drew Snyder and Mike Waltz. Many of those happened this past week, with the mass exodus from the Centers for Disease Control. Furthermore, at least 148,000 federal employees have left the workforce since Trump returned to the White House.
Comparing the Trump cabinets
On this metric, Trump’s two attempts at being president are near the bottom of 47 presidencies. Rigorous historical research suggests this does not bode well that the 2025-2029 time period will be successful.
Trump and his many executive actions have brought chaos, uncertainty, dictatorial behavior, flip-flopping to the table since January 20, and his cabinet members continue to stoke controversy. The proverb “Hope springs eternal” may guide Americans inclined toward optimism. A second proverb—“You reap what you sow”—is a better fit for the president and the GOP senators who approved his cabinet nominations.
Let’s face reality. A cabinet that ranks historically low with respect to competence, ethical standards, experience and other research-based competency criteria makes the U.S. vulnerable to a multitude of operational inefficiencies, policy blunders, ethical mishaps, scandals, conflicts of interest, conspiracies, and even foreign intervention.
Editor’s note: The Facebook post containing the official White House photo featured above included the comment, “The Greatest Cabinet of All Time,” followed by the U.S. flag emoji.