War Cabinet
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A War Cabinet is committee formed by a government in time of war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers. It is also quite common for a War Cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members.
During World War I, David Lloyd George formed a war cabinet when he became prime minister in December 1916. Members, in addition to Lloyd George were
- Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount, without Portfolio
- George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquis, Lord President of the Council
- Arthur Henderson without Portfolio
- Andrew Bonar Law, Chancellor of the Exchequer
added in 1917
When he became Prime Minister during World War II, Winston Churchill formed a War Cabinet, initially consisting of the following:
- Winston Churchill - Conservative Party
- Neville Chamberlain - Conservative Party
- Clement Attlee - Labour Party
- Lord Halifax - Conservative Party
- Arthur Greenwood - Labour Party
It would undergo many changes in composition over the next five years.
In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, United States President George W. Bush created a War Cabinet. They met at Camp David the weekend of September 15 to shape what became the War on Terrorism.
The Cabinet comprised Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, George Tenet, Hugh Shelton, John Ashcroft, Paul O'Neill, Karen Hughes, Ari Fleischer, Robert Mueller, Paul Wolfowitz, and Andy Card. Some of their spouses were also on this retreat.