For most of America’s early history, we didn’t have a “Department of Defense.” We had a Department of War. After World War II, in the anxious first years of the Cold War, Washington reorganized the military and rebranded the whole enterprise. Today, that name—Defense—is in the news again, with a push from the White House to bring back the Department of War. What did “War” mean then? Why did we switch to “Defense”? And what would it mean to switch back now?

Host: Alan
Research: Elena, the Roots of Today Archivist

Music by: Andrii Poradovskyi (lNPLUSMUSIC – Pixabay)

Further Reading:

• Cray, Ed. General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990.
• Fautua, David T. “The ‘Long Pull’ Army: NSC-68, the Korean War, and the Creation of the Cold War U.S. Army.” Journal of Military History 61, no. 1 (1997): 93–120.
• Hogan, Michael J. A Cross of Iron: Harry S. Truman and the Origins of the National Security State, 1945–1954. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
• Lederman, Gordon. Reorganizing the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
• Millis, Walter. Arms and Men: A Study of American Military History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1981 [orig. 1956].
• Rearden, Steven L. History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Vol. 1, The Formative Years, 1947–1950. Washington, D.C.: Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1984.
• Watson, Mark Skinner. Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and Preparations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1950.

Even Further Reading:

• Cray, Ed. General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990.
  A highly readable biography that gives insight into Marshall’s role in shaping the modern U.S. military.
• Hogan, Michael J. A Cross of Iron: Harry S. Truman and the Origins of the National Security State, 1945–1954. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
  Clear narrative style that explains how the Defense Department emerged in the Cold War context.
• Millis, Walter. Arms and Men: A Study of American Military History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1981 [orig. 1956].