So glad you asked…What’s a “kitchen cabinet”?

By CJP | May 28, 2008

After helpfully telling you about Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman’s roles in John McCain’s kitchen cabinet, a Jane asks the obvious question, “What is the kitchen cabinet?” So glad you asked…

The “kitchen cabinet” of a politician or leader is the group of informal advisers that surround him, often old friends, former colleagues or high-profile experts in a certain policy area. Less official than paid staff, closer and more important than volunteers, the kitchen cabinet acts as a sounding board, external eyes and ears and surrogate for the campaign, and once the politicians gets elected, they act as a shadow cabinet to the Secretaries of Defense, Labor, State, etc…

The term comes from the time when people had cabinets for their formal china, known as the “parlor cabinet,” and a second one for the informal, every day stuff….the kitchen cabinet.

Topics: Glossary

One Response to “So glad you asked…What’s a “kitchen cabinet”?”

1. SusieQ Says:
   May 31st, 2008 at 4:53 pm

   It’s nice to see top women CEOs (with Meg’s stepping down, I think we only have 12 women CEOs across the Fortune 100) being recognized for their accomplishments. I wish women in politics were recognized in the same way.

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