The National Security Council

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer points out that the National Security Council or NSC was created and established by the National Security Act of 1947. The writer notes that the NSC is the US President's principal forum for matters concerning national security and foreign policy. Further, the writer discusses that the establishment of the NSC has been the response to the need of each administration to develop and perfect a reliable set of executive institutions for managing national security policy. The writer notes that each President was guided by the deficiencies of his predecessors and wanted to set up a system that would reflect his individual or preferred management style. The writer relates that the NSC has, thus, been modified to suit the needs and preferences of each administration.

From the Paper:

"The establishment of the NSC has been the response to the need of each administration to develop and perfect a reliable set of executive institutions, which would manage its national security policy. Each President was guided by the deficiencies of his predecessors and wanted to set up a system, which would reflect his individual or preferred management style. The NSC has, thus, been modified to suit the needs and preferences of each administration. The National Security Act of July 26, 1947 created the NSC with the President as Chairman and the Secretaries of State and Defense as its key members. Its principal function is to coordinate foreign policy and defense policy and incorporate diplomatic and military requirements. It also provided for a Secretary of Defense, a National Military Establishment, a Central Intelligence Agency and a National Security Resources Board. Because the NSC was several times modified to adapt to the preferences of each President, it came to be viewed as subservient to him alone. And because its role is to establish collegiality among the departments, it also came to be viewed as a means to controlling and managing opposed departments."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Longley, Robert. Direct Advisors to the President on National Security. US Government Information and Resources: About, Inc., 2007. http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/agencies/a/nscoage.htm
• National Archives and Records Administration. National Intelligence Objectives. National Security Council Intelligence Directive 4 of 1947, RG59. Records of the Department of State: Records of the Executive Secretariat, 2007.
• -. Duties and Responsibilities. National Security Council Directive # 1, January 19, 1950
• Office of the Historian. History of the National Security Council. US Department of State, 1997. http://www.fas.org/offdocs/NSChistory.htm#Summary
• US Department of Homeland Security. Select Homeland Security Accomplishments for 2006. Fact Sheet, 2006

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