Show no law forbidding the holding of two offices it would not be illegal or tut lonal ional for a person to fill two posts in the presidents cabinet at the same time says pathfinder magazine in fact during the early days of the republic it was not uncommon for a cabinet officer to act temporarily as head of an exec executive autive department other than his own for instance james monroe served for a time in Fres president ident MadI madison sons s cabinet as both secretary of war and secretary of state john mar shall was chief justice of the supreme court and secretary of state at the same time he was secretary of state under president adams when he was appointed chief justice and the dent authorized him to continue his duties as secretary of state until jef ferson s inauguration a month later that Is the only time that the two highest appointive offices of the tad fed era eral government have been filled by one man at the same time legally marshall could have drawn salaries for both positions but he refused to accept more than one and his salary as secretary of state remained unpaid |