St. Wapniacl

St. Wapniacl is a Mnemonic which was used for decades to help remember the offices of the President of the United States' Cabinet, in their order of creation and importance.

The Mnemonic

Those cabinet offices were: State, Treasury, War, Attorney-General, Postmaster-General, Navy, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor.

Obsolescence

This mnemonic has been obsolete since 1947 when the Departments of War and the Navy were combined into the Department of Defense by the National Security Act of 1947.

The usefulness of this mnemonic has been further eroded by the following changes to the US cabinet since 1947:

• In 1953 the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was created.
• In 1965 the Department of Housing and Urban Development was formed.
• In 1966 the US Department of Transportation was created.
• In 1971 this old mnemonic was further undercut when the United States Postmaster General ceased being a cabinet level position.
• In 1977 the Department of Energy was formed.
• In 1979 the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was reorganized into the United States Department of Education and United States Department of Health and Human Services.
• In 1988 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs was created.
• In 2003 United States Department of Homeland Security

Modern Usage

Although obsolete for nearly sixty years, St. Wapniacl can still be found to be referenced on occasion. For instance on this webpage it can be found in a hypothetical question: "Is it true that St. Wapniacl is the patron saint of gov doc librarians and for what reason?"

Suggestions for replacement

A 1988 editorial in the New York Times first suggested a new mnemonic which has later been revised to become: See The Dog Jump In A Circle; Leave Her House To Entertain Educated Veterans' Homes.

References

• When four letters are more than enough, why not try the X-word
• Hart, Kenneth D., Visualized Problems of American Democracy, New York: Oxford Book Company, 1936.