National Security Act

National Security Act (1947).The conditions leading to the entry of the United States into World War II in 1941 revealed a number of deficiencies in how its national security apparatus was organized. There were inadequacies in civil‐military policy coordination, in interservice coordination, and in intelligence. During the latter part of the war, debate arose over the possibility of merging the U.S. Army (and its subordinate air force) and the U.S. Navy into a single department. The army largely favored the concept; the air force saw it as the means to its independence; the navy was opposed.

It became apparent to Navy Secretary James V. Forrestal in 1945 that, given congressional interest, outright opposition was doomed. He decided it was best to come up with an alternative that he could support. He asked his former business colleague Ferdinand Eberstadt to review the issue.

Once immersed, Eberstadt realized that military coordination and unification was far from the entire problem. Indeed, in a very logical order, Eberstadt saw that each proposed solution led to the need for further change. If there was going to be a unified military, civil‐military coordination also had to be improved. Further, improved policy coordination also required more coherent intelligence support.

The idea of improved civil‐military coordination was not new. Various types of structures had been tried since at least Woodrow Wilson's administration, all with little effect. But the combination of evident problems at the outset of World War II, coupled with the growing demands of the postwar world and nascent Cold War, created a political consensus for some kind of action hitherto lacking. Even so, the unification struggle was in a long congressional debate (1945–47) that required the intervention of President Harry S. Truman for its completion.

The National Security Act signed into law on 26 July 1947 created a number of enduring structures: a National Security Council (NSC) to coordinate policy, consisting of the president, vice president, secretary of state, and the newly created secretary of defense (which went to Forrestal); a Department of Defense (actually created in a 1949 amendment, initially called a National Military Establishment), including a statutory Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS); and a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The U.S. Air Force was recognized as an independent service from the army, but the navy retained its own aviation force and prevented the marines from being absorbed by the army.

The controversies in the prolonged congressional debate over the act centered on four main areas. The new defense structure raised concerns about the distinct roles and missions of the services, a vital issue in terms of doctrine, force structure, and budgets. It is also a continuing issue. Some in Congress worried about the role and powers of the JCS, fearing that it might become a “Prussian General Staff,” threatening the concept of civilian control. Limits were placed, therefore, on the size of the JCS's joint staff and the powers of the chairman. A disproportionate amount of time was spent on the propriety of allowing the director of Central Intelligence to be an active duty military officer. Finally, there were concerns about the CIA becoming a “Gestapo.” Therefore, provisions were included denying the CIA police or subpoena powers or any internal security role.

Of equal interest are the issues that did not arise. The NSC, which proved to be a crucial policy vehicle for successive presidents (through the unforeseen and still not statutory position of national security adviser), raised little interest. Nor did the clause tasking the CIA with “other functions and duties related to intelligence,” which became the legal basis for covert operations.

The National Security Act was a central document in U.S. Cold War policy and in the acceptance by the nation of its position as world leader. Although the act did not actually unify the armed services, it did increase the coordination of the national security establishment. This went from a very ramshackle ad hoc structure to a much more coherent and more centralized one—via the president through the NSC, the increasing power of the secretary of defense, and the role of the CIA in intelligence.

One of the most striking features of the act has been its relative stability. Although all have been strengthened, the NSC, Defense Department, and CIA continue on in basic roles not very far from those envisioned by Eberstadt. There have been necessary adjustments to the act: the 1949 amendments creating a stronger central control in the office of the secretary of defense; improved congressional oversight of the CIA; and the Goldwater‐Nichols Act (1946) increasing the JCS structure and role. But the essentials remain largely the same.
[See also Civil‐Military Relations: Civilian Control of the Military; Commander in Chief, President as.]

Mark M. Lowenthal