The Eisenhower National Security Structure

This chapter discusses the U.S. defense policy under the Eisenhower administration. President Eisenhower's belief in the importance of organization and the planning process led to major changes in the way in which the new administration handled its business. The dramatic reinvigoration of the National Security Council and the White House staff brought immediate benefits in how information on national security policy (and other vital issues) was analyzed and processed within the executive branch. The initiation of Reorganization Plan No. 6 brought the country's senior military leadership more closely under the control of the Secretary of Defense and strengthened the position of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the expense of the Joint Chiefs as a corporate body.