What does NSC stand for?
The White House National Security Council ( NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military matters, and foreign policy matters with senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office...
What is the history of the National Security Council?
The National Security Council was established by the National Security Act of 1947 (PL 235 – 61 Stat. 496; U.S.C. 402), amended by the National Security Act Amendments of 1949 (63 Stat.
Is the NSC a primary source of national security information for Congress?
The NSC is not a primary and regular source of national security information for Congress. National security information is for the most part provided by those departments and agencies that are represented on the NSC. The NSC, as a corporate entity, rarely testifies before or briefs
What is the difference between the HSC and NSC?
On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama merged the White House staff supporting the Homeland Security Council (HSC) and the National Security Council into one National Security Staff (NSS). The HSC and NSC each continue to exist by statute as bodies supporting the President.
Why was the Central Intelligence Agency established quizlet?
CIA was established to collect political, military, and economic information for security purposes throughout the world. Established under National Security Act to collect political, military, and economic information for security purposes throughout the world.
What is the National Security Council and why was it created quizlet?
The National Security Council (est. 1947) helps the President coordinate national security and foreign policy.
What is the purpose of the NSC?
The National Security Council is the President's principal forum for national security and foreign policy decision making with his or her senior national security advisors and cabinet officials, and the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies across federal agencies.
What was the purpose of the CIA and NSC?
Most notably, the legislation created the CIA and established the position of director of central intelligence, who was charged with managing the CIA as well as overseeing the entire intelligence community. The National Security Act also established the NSC to assist in the coordination of the nation's security assets.
What is the main purpose of the National Security Council quizlet?
What is the purpose of the National Security Council? The national security Council bring together the top military, foreign affairs, and intelligence officials in the administration to coordinate U.S. national security.
What was the purpose of the National Security Act of 1947 quizlet?
Passed in 1947 in response to perceived threats from the Soviet Union after WWII. It established the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Council.
Why do we need a National Security Council?
More specifically, the NSC was created to integrate domestic, foreign, and military policies related to national security, and to facilitate cooperation among the military services and other government departments and agencies in matters of national security.
What was established by the National Security Act of 1947?
The National Security Act of 1947 mandated a major reorganization of the foreign policy and military establishments of the U.S. Government. The act created many of the institutions that Presidents found useful when formulating and implementing foreign policy, including the National Security Council (NSC).
What did NSC-68 propose?
NSC-68 recommended that the United States embark on rapid military expansion of conventional forces and the nuclear arsenal, including the development of the new hydrogen bomb.
What three things did the National Security Act do?
An Act To promote the national security by providing for a Secretary of Defense; for a National Military Establishment; for a Department of the Army, a Department of the Navy, and a Department of the Air Force; and for the coordination of the activities of the National Military Establishment with other departments and ...
What three things did the National Security Act create?
Contents3.1 Title I – Coordination for National Security.3.2 Title II – The National Military Establishment.3.3 Title III – Miscellaneous.
When was the concept of national security invented?
The concept of national security became an official guiding principle of foreign policy in the United States when the National Security Act of 1947 was signed on July 26, 1947, by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
What did Eisenhower do with the NSC?
As a former general, Eisenhower came to the White House with an appreciation for advisory staffs and for the organized system of strategic planning that the NSC concept embodied; therefore, the Council flourished under his administration. So, too, did various study groups, headed by the Operations Coordinating Board (OCB), which included the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, DCI, and others. Eventually, there would be more than 40 interagency working groups, and critics of the Eisenhower NSC complained that it was bogged down by too many committees and excess reports.
What was the purpose of the National Security Act?
The latter was to serve as a presidential advisory board on issues of significance to the military, security, intelligence, and foreign policy. Its chairman would the president, and its members would include the secretaries of State, Defense, the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the director of the National Security Resources Board. Other Cabinet-level secretaries and officials with prominent security roles could attend occasionally. The Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ), also created by the National Security Act, was to report to the NSC in an advisory role, but the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was not an NSC member.
Who was Nixon's first national security advisor?
Two names from the Nixon era epitomize the emphasis he placed on the role of the National Security Advisor: Henry Kissinger and William Rogers. Kissinger was Nixon's National Security Advisor, while Rogers served as Nixon's first Secretary of State. Nixon went into office intending to direct foreign policy from the White House with the aid of a highly effective National Security Advisor. Therefore, to avoid conflicts with the State Department, he appointed a virtual unknown and inexperienced diplomat to its top position.
Why did Reagan call for a decrease in the power of the National Security Advisor?
Seeing Carter's failure to resolve the rivalry between NSC and the State Department, as a presidential candidate, Ronald Reagan called for a decrease in the power of the National Security Advisor. On the day of Reagan's inauguration, his Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, drafted a presidential directive placing all foreign-policy planning under his own department. It seemed that the problem had been resolved, but in fact a new one had been created, because other members of the Reagan administration feared that the new direction of foreign policy took too much power away from the president.
What is the NSC?
The NSC provides the White House with a useful foreign policy-making instrument that is independent of the State Department. In the late 1980s, covert illegal activities by members of the NSC caused the scandal known as the Iran-Contra Affair. National security advisers are listed in the table.
What is the National Security Council?
National Security Council (NSC), U.S. agency within the Executive Office of the President, established by the National Security Act in 1947 to advise the president on domestic, foreign, and military policies related to national security. The president of the United States is chairman of the NSC; other members include ...
Why Was the National Security Council Created?
President Lyndon Johnson (fourth from right) meets with the National Security Council and other top government officials, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the White House, prior to a scheduled nationwide television report on the Vietnam War in 1968. Bettman/Getty Images
The Evolution of the National Security Council
In the years since the National Security Council was created, presidents have reorganized it to suit their own style of decision-making. President Lyndon Johnson set up a regular Tuesday working lunch that brought together the secretaries of state and defense, the CIA director and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Who's a Member of the National Security Council?
As you may have figured out already, the National Security Council has multiple layers. At the top, there's the principals committee, composed of some of the national security leaders in the U.S. government.
Controversies and the National Security Council
Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North leaves his home early on Dec. 18, 1986, in suburban McLean, Virginia. North, the fired National Security Council member, was under fire for his reported role in the Iran arms-Contra aid controversy. Bettmann/Getty Images
Why Do Presidents Take Action Without the NSC's Advice?
While the National Security Council was created by Congress to make sure that presidents get the full benefit of advisers' wisdom, they sometimes find its bureaucracy too confining. Instead of working with the full policy machinery, 'presidents sometimes turn to a few key NSC staffers to move ahead on an issue.
What is the NSC?
The NSC was the mechanism through which the Department of State could exert consistent influence on national security policy. Used properly, it had the potential to deploy the vast array of American power—diplomatic, political, economic, psychological, and military—to reach common goals.
Who wrote the NSC papers?
The State Department’s Policy Planning Staff wrote most of the NSC’s papers, which after discussion by the Council and approval by Truman, were then disseminated to the bureaucracy in summary form as NSC actions.
What was the purpose of the National Security Act of 1947?
Proponents of reform wanted to coordinate foreign, defense, and domestic policy by establishing the National Security Council (NSC) under the chairmanship of the President and composed of only six permanent members: ...
Did Truman bypass the National Security Council?
Both Secretary Marshall and Secretary Acheson did, and Truman tended to bypass the slower-moving National Security Council. Truman was always anxious to complete action on important questions, and he wanted to make his decision as soon as he had a sound basis to do so.
Did the NSC displace the Secretary of State?
Under Truman, the NSC did not displace the Secretary of State as the President's senior adviser on international questions; it simply required all agencies to contribute to the decision-making process. With the proliferation of new issues and new U.S. agencies active overseas, the State Department could not on its own control everything. ...
Did Truman attend the NSC meetings?
Truman did not take well to the idea that his foreign policy advisers would be mandated by Congressional legislation, and he rarely attended the initial meetings of the National Security Council. The Secretary of State was named as the ranking member in his absence, and the Department of State controlled the NSC and its operations.
When did the NSC start?
Beginning in 1953 the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs directed this staff. Each President has accorded the NSC with different degrees of importance and has given the NSC staff varying levels of autonomy and influence over other agencies such as the Departments of State and Defense.
Who was the head of the NSC?
Under President Richard M. Nixon, the NSC staff, then headed by Henry A. Kissinger, was transformed from a coordinating body into an organization that actively engaged in negotiations with foreign leaders and implementing the President’s decisions.
What was the National Security Act of 1947?
1947. The National Security Act of 1947 mandated a major reorganization of the foreign policy and military establishments of the U.S. Government.
Who signed the National Security Act?
President signing the National Security Act into Law. The Council itself included the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and other members (such as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency), who met at the White House to discuss both long-term problems and more immediate national security crises.
What was the CIA?
The CIA served as the primary civilian intelligence-gathering organization in the government. Later, the Defense Intelligence Agency became the main military intelligence body. The 1947 law also caused far-reaching changes in the military establishment. The War Department and Navy Department merged into a single Department ...
The Roots of The Nsc
- Among its many provisions, which collectively reformed the U.S. defense, intelligence, and security apparatus, the National Security Act of July 26, 1947, created the NSC. The latter was to serve as a presidential advisory board on issues of significance to the military, security, intelligence, and foreign policy. Its chairman would the president, ...
The Eisenhower Years
- As a former general, Eisenhower came to the White House with an appreciation for advisory staffs and for the organized system of strategic planning that the NSC concept embodied; therefore, the Council flourished under his administration. So, too, did various study groups, headed by the Operations Coordinating Board (OCB), which included the Undersecretary of State for Political Af…
Kennedy and Johnson
- The report of Jackson's subcommittee had a strong effect on Kennedy, who, upon assuming leadership in 1961, immediately cut NSC staff from 74 to 49. He also reduced the number of substantive members, and the frequency of their meetings. Therefore, it is ironic that Kennedy would ultimately strengthen the NSC by establishing the position of National Security Advisor, a…
Nixon, Ford, and The Kissinger Era
- Two names from the Nixon era epitomize the emphasis he placed on the role of the National Security Advisor: Henry Kissingerand William Rogers. Kissinger was Nixon's National Security Advisor, while Rogers served as Nixon's first Secretary of State. Nixon went into office intending to direct foreign policy from the White House with the aid of a highly effective National Security Ad…
The Carter Interregnum
- James E. Carter acceded to the presidency in January 1977 with a promise to reform many of the excesses that had darkened Washington. Among these was the virtually unprecedented accumulation of power by Kissinger, which he sought to counteract by returning the NSC to a role of policy coordination and research. Once again, the NSC staff was cut, this time reduced by half…
Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
- Seeing Carter's failure to resolve the rivalry between NSC and the State Department, as a presidential candidate, Ronald Reagan called for a decrease in the power of the National Security Advisor. On the day of Reagan's inauguration, his Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, drafted a presidential directive placing all foreign-policy planning under his own department. It seemed th…
The Clinton Era
- As had been the practice from Carter's time, William J. Clinton initiated his presidency with a presidential directive. Also like Carter and all presidents since, he created new names for his directives—Clinton's were called Presidential Decision Directives (PDD), for instance, in contrast to the National Security Directives of his predecessor—as well as for other aspects of NSC operatio…
George W. Bush and The Post September 11, 2001, World
- When George W. Bush assumed the presidency, he appointed Dr. Condoleeza Rice, most recently the provost of Stanford University, as his National Security Advisor. He also scaled back the roster of NSC members to the statutory core, with others invited to participate as needed. Eight months later, Bush's administrative agenda changed, along with the entire fabric of American life, in the …
█ Further Reading
- BOOKS:
Best, Richard A. The National Security Council: An Organizational Assessment.Huntington, NY: Novinka Books, 2001. Kissinger, Henry, and Clare Boothe Luce. White House Years.Boston: Little, Brown, 1979. Menges, Constantine Christopher. Inside the National Security Council: The True S… - PERIODICALS:
Newman, William W. "Reorganizing for National Security and Homeland Security." Public Administration Review 62 (September 2002): 126–137.
See Also
- Bush Administration (1989–1993), United States National Security Policy Bush Administration (2001–), United States National Security Policy Carter Adminstration (1977–1981), United States National Security Policy Clinton Administration (1993–2001), United States National Security Policy Department of State, United States Eisenhower Administration (1953–1961), United State…