Block, Siteadmin, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, delete, edit, move, nsTeam2RO, nsTeam2RW, nsTeam2_talkRO, nsTeam2_talkRW, protect, rollback, Administrators, template
292,469
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: − The '''United States Secretary of Defense''' is the head of the [[Department of Defense]]. The current Secretary of Defense is [[James Mattis]], who was nominated by [[President of the United States of America|President]] [[Donald J. Trump]] and approved by the US Senate on January 20, 2017.+ − − ==History== − From 1789 until 1947 the branch of the federal government that dealt with [[military]] matters was called the War Department which was headed by the Secretary of War, a cabinet member. The [[Department of Defense]] was created along with the position of [[Secretary of Defense]] by the National Security Act of 1947. The War Department functions were taken over by the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force.<ref>http://www.history.army.mil/books/Sw-SA/SWSA-Fm.htm</ref> − − The Secretary of Defense position was created in 1947 by President [[Harry S Truman]] along with the creation of the National Military Establishment (which became the DoD in 1949), which replaced the Secretary and [[Department of War]]. [[James Forrestal]] was appointed as the first Secretary of Defense. − − In Seotember 2025 [[President Donald Trump]] changed the name of the [[US Defense Department]] back to the [[Department of War]] − − ==Duties== − The Secretary of Defense is the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense policy and policy related to all matters of direct and primary concern to the DoD, and for the execution of approved policy. Under the direction of the President, the Secretary exercises authority, direction, and control over the Department of Defense.<ref>[http://www.defenselink.mil/odam/omp/pubs/GuideBook/DoD.htm DoD Organizational Structure]</ref> − − ==Partial list of secretaries== − {|class=wikitable − !colspan=3|Secretaries of Defense − |- − |[[Donald Rumsfeld]]||January 20, 2001|||December 18, 2006 − |- − |[[Robert Gates]]||December 18, 2006|||July 11, 2011 − |- − |[[Leon Panetta]]||July 11, 2011|||February 27, 2013 − |- − |[[Chuck Hagel]]||February 27, 2013|||February 17, 2015 − |- − |Ashton Carter||February 17, 2015|||January 20, 2017 − |- − |[[James Mattis]]||January 20, 2017|||Incumbent − |} − − ==References== − <references/> − [[Category:United States Department of Defense]] − [[Category:United States Army]]
United States Secretary of Defense (view source)
Revision as of 20:02, September 6, 2025
, 20:02, September 6, 2025Redirected page to United States Secretary of War
#REDIRECT [[United States Secretary of War]]