The President...may require the Opinion, in writing, of the
principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any
Subject relating to the Duties of their respective
Offices....Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 The Opinion Clause
arose out of the debates at the Constitutional Convention
regarding whether the American President would exercise
executive authority singly or in concert with other officials or
privy councilors. A brief review of English custom illuminates
the choices made by the Framers. Formally, parliamentary
"ministers" were ministers to the king. In addition, all British
citizens were "subjects" of the king, and the king could require
any nobleman, judge, or Member of Parliament to serve in his
Privy Council and provide him with personal or official advice.
By the end of the eighteenth century, however, the ministerial
offices had assumed such practical and administrative power that
it diminished the king's responsibility for actions taken by the
government. The king was expected to de