"The Executive Power Shall Be Vested in a President."
U.S. Constitution, Article II
Lecture
Seminar
A quest to comprehend the process of national security logically begins with the President, who serves as Chief Executive, Commander-in-Chief, and manager of the national security policymaking community. He is the only member of the federal government with a national electorate and a mandate to propose initiatives for implementation or disposition by others.
The President's authority comes from many sources: the Constitution, selected statutes, historical precedent, public expectations, and the fact that the national security machinery reports to him. When he is executing matters of national security, the President is generally able to initiate the decision process, though he may often encounter opposition from Congress and even resistance within the Executive Branch. Illustrative of the U.S. system, no one, including the President, is in charge all the time on every issue.
An attempt by Congress to bring structure and coherence to the national security community after World War II resulted in passage of the National Security Act of 1947. That Act created the National Security Council to:
- . . . advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to national security so as to enable the military services and other departments and agencies of government to cooperate more effectively in matters involving national security.
The National Security Council consists of four statutory members: the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense; and two statutory advisors: the Chairman of the JCS, and the Director of Central Intelligence. The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs is a participant at the President's direction as are many other senior advisors.
Since 1947, each President has organized the National Security Council staff (also created by the Act) according to his own needs and priorities. Through common usage, the term "NSC" now refers to that (Executive Office of the President based) staff which directly supports the President and has thereby become a major force at the highest level of the interagency process in national security policymaking. The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs is in the powerful position of directing the NSC staff in its support of the President and in its interagency role. Since the creation of the National Security Council, each President has designed an interagency system or hierarchy of meetings, with representatives of all relevant national security agencies, to provide advice on matters of policy formulation and implementation.
Topic Objectives
- To understand the role of the President as Chief Executive, Commander-in-Chief, and manager of the national security policymaking community.
- To understand presidential responsibilities to facilitate national security decision-making.
- To understand the roles of the National Security Council and the NSC staff in the policy process.
- To understand the NSC staff's role at the apex of the interagency process.
Questions for Consideration
- Presidents come into office advocating cabinet government and consensus seeking, especially in the foreign affairs arena. They intend for the Secretary of State to run foreign policy and the Secretary of Defense to run defense policy, while the National Security Advisor performs the role of an honest broker. However, most administrations subsequently move to a President-centric model, in which the National Security Advisor begins to overshadow the presence and access of the Department Secretaries. Why does this occur?
- As the only elected official with a national constituency, is the President the sole member of the federal government looking out for the national interest?
- What can Presidents do to maximize their influence in the national security arena?
- What does Commander-in-Chief mean? Is the role different for presidents with no military experience?
- One important function of the National Security Advisor is to ensure that the departments and agencies implement decisions that the President has made. Why is this necessary? Under what circumstances would it not be legitimate to follow the President's directives?
- Is there redundancy or competition between the NSC and other national security departments?
Required Readings.
* George C. Edwards III and Stephen J. Wayne, Presidential Leadership (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), chs 6, 7, and 9, pp. 175-236, 269-304, 448-473. (Reprint)
* Christopher C. Shoemaker, The NSC Staff: Counseling the Council (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991), pp. 21-48. (Reprint)
* Lincoln P. Bloomfield, "The National Security Process," John Norton Moore, Frederick S. Tipson and Robert F. Turner, eds., in National Security Law, (Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 1990), pp. 893-912. (Reprint)
* National Security Act of 1947. (Reprint)
* Presidential Decision Directives 1 & 2. (Reprint)
* The Federalist Papers, Numbers 67-77. (Student Issue)
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