secretary of defense

The United States Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) is the head of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and military matters. The role of the Secretary of Defense is to be the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense policy and policy related to all matters of direct and primary concern to the DoD, and for the execution of approved policy[1]. The Secretary is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate, and is a member of the Cabinet. By statute the secretary must be a civilian who has not served in the active component of the armed forces for at least 10 years (10 USC Sec. 113 - Note that Congress had passed a law to allow George Marshall to be appointed in 1950 despite having only been a civilian since 1945). The Secretary of Defense is sixth in the presidential line of succession.

History

The position was created in 1947 when the Navy, Army, and newly created Air Force were merged into the new National Military Establishment. In the same massive reorganization, the Secretary of War was replaced by the Secretary of the Army and, along with the Secretary of the Navy and the new Secretary of the Air Force, became a non-Cabinet position placed under the Secretary of Defense. In 1949, the National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense, which remains the current name of the department.

Organization

Within the U.S. Armed Forces, the Secretary of Defense is often referred to as SecDef.

The SecDef and the President together constitute the National Command Authority (NCA), which has sole authority to launch strategic nuclear weapons. All nuclear weapons are governed by the two-man rule, even at the highest levels in government. Both individuals must concur before a strategic nuclear strike may be ordered.

The SecDef, as the head of the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense, is assisted by a Deputy Secretary and five Under Secretaries in the fields of Acquisition, Technology & Logistics; Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer; Intelligence; Personnel & Readiness; and arguably the most important, Policy. All of these positions require Senate confirmation.

The Secretary of Defense also supervises the six members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of the ten Combatant Commands.

Along with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense is generally regarded as one of the "Big Four" important cabinet officials.

List of Secretaries of Defense

#	Picture	Name	Term of Office		President(s) served under
			Start	End
1		James Forrestal	September 17, 1947	March 28, 1949	Harry S. Truman
2		Louis A. Johnson	March 28, 1949	September 19, 1950	Harry S. Truman
3		George C. Marshall	September 21, 1950	September 12, 1951	Harry S. Truman
4		Robert A. Lovett	September 17, 1951	January 20, 1953	Harry S. Truman
5		Charles E. Wilson	January 28, 1953	October 8, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
6		Neil H. McElroy	October 9, 1957	December 1, 1959	Dwight D. Eisenhower
7		Thomas S. Gates	December 2, 1959	January 20, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
8		Robert S. McNamara	January 21, 1961	February 29, 1968	John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson
9		Clark M. Clifford	March 1, 1968	January 20, 1969	Lyndon Johnson
10		Melvin R. Laird	January 22, 1969	January 29, 1973	Richard Nixon
11		Elliot L. Richardson	January 30, 1973	May 24, 1973	Richard Nixon
12		James R. Schlesinger	July 2, 1973	November 19, 1975	Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford
13		Donald H. Rumsfeld	November 20, 1975	January 20, 1977	Gerald Ford
14		Harold Brown	January 21, 1977	January 20, 1981	Jimmy Carter
15		Caspar W. Weinberger	January 21, 1981	November 23, 1987	Ronald Reagan
16		Frank C. Carlucci	November 23, 1987	January 20, 1989	Ronald Reagan
17		Richard B. Cheney	March 21, 1989	January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
18		Les Aspin	January 21, 1993	February 3, 1994	Bill Clinton
19		William J. Perry	February 3, 1994	January 24, 1997	Bill Clinton
20		William S. Cohen	January 24, 1997	January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
21		Donald H. Rumsfeld	January 20, 2001	December 18, 2006	George W. Bush
22		Robert M. Gates	December 18, 2006	Incumbent	George W. Bush

Line of succession

In an Executive Order of December 22, 2005, President George W. Bush modified the line of succession regarding who would act as Secretary of Defense in the event of a vacancy or incapacitation as follows:

1. Deputy Secretary of Defense
2. Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
3. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
4. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
5. Secretary of the Army
6. Secretary of the Air Force
7. Secretary of the Navy
8. Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
9. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and Deputy

References

• Histories of the Secretaries of Defense. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved on September 3, 2002.
• Executive Order: Providing An Order of Succession Within the Department of Defense. Office of the Press Secretary. Retrieved on December 22, 2005.
• The Department of Defense Organizational Structure. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved on November 13, 2006.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

United States Secretary of Defense

• Top Civilian and Military Leaders. Retrieved on October 13, 2007. – Includes the Secretary of Defense
• More information on each position and biographies of the current Deputy Secretary (DepSecDef) and Under Secretaries (USDs)

United States Secretaries of Defense
Forrestal • Johnson • Marshall • Lovett • Wilson • McElroy • T Gates • McNamara • Clifford • Laird • Richardson • Schlesinger • Rumsfeld • Brown • Weinberger • Carlucci • Cheney • Aspin • Perry • Cohen • Rumsfeld • R Gates

Agencies under the United States Department of Defense

Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense Office of the Secretary of Defense • Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee • Office of Net Assessment • Pentagon Force Protection Agency • Defense Legal Services Agency • Defense Criminal Investigative Service Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency • Missile Defense Agency • Defense Contract Management Agency • Defense Logistics Agency • Defense Threat Reduction Agency • Office of Economic Adjustment • Defense Acquisition University • Business Transformation Agency Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Defense Security Cooperation Agency • Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller Defense Contract Audit Agency • Defense Finance and Accounting Service Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Defense Commissary Agency • Department of Defense Education Activity • Department of Defense Dependents Schools • Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools • DoD Human Resources Activity • TRICARE Management Activity • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences • Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute • Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Counterintelligence Field Activity • Defense Intelligence Agency • Defense Security Service • Defense Information Systems Agency • National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency • National Reconnaissance Office • National Security Agency Military Departments Secretary of the Army • Secretary of the Navy • Secretary of the Air Force United States Army • United States Navy • United States Air Force • United States Marine Corps Joint Chiefs of Staff Unified Combatant Command

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