Primary Purpose Of The National Security Council (NSC)

Created as a part of the 1947 National Security Act, the National Security Council (NSC) was established to serve as a means to collectively coordinate foreign, domestic, and military policy between the various departments of government while seeking approval and guidance from the President on courses of action and implementation. Written in 1949, Sydney Souers’ “Policy Formulation For National Security,” explained that because national security relied upon effective foreign policy, the NSC’s role was to act as a coordinating function to ensure that policy recommendations were consistent with military capabilities and domestic resources. The primary purpose of the National Security Council has always been grounded in providing sound advice …show more content…
Always focused on the effectiveness of an organization, President Eisenhower created the position of special assistant to the president for national security affairs, known today as the National Security Advisory, to manage the National Security Council. As the first to serve in this position, Robert Cutler, developed a complex interagency process, with the support of the President, that required the NSC to meet weekly, review policy papers, and receive guidance or decisions from Eisenhower. Replacing Cutler, Gordon Gray, expanded the role of the special assistant to the president for national security affairs when he convinced President Eisenhower to allow him to hold meetings and assign and enforce deadlines for crisis related work. While credited for creating what is known today as the National Security Advisor in 1953 , the Eisenhower NSC staff process evolved into a system overwhelmed by bureaucracy, as supported by the results of the Jackson Subcommittee in 1959, concluding that the NSC system was …show more content…
Daalder and I.M. Destler in In the Shadow of the Oval Office: Profiles of the National Security Advisers and the President They Served; From JFK to George W. Bush, suggested that the modern NSC exists because of what occurred during the Eisenhower-Kennedy transition: the preference of a loyal NSC staff to support the White House over the organizational efficiency emphasized by Eisenhower’s administration. Furthermore, they highlight enduring changes still incorporated today to include the NSA’s handling of the President’s day-to-day agenda, utilizing the NSC staff as an action arm within the White House and monitoring real time information from the situation room. While acknowledging that each subsequent President has developed or modified practices and incorporated these changes within their NSC staffs, the general concepts of Kennedy’s administration are still present