ABSTRACT
On July 26, 1947, Congress passed legislation that purported to "provide a comprehensive program for the future security of the United States". Unquestionably, the National Security Act of 1947 forever changed the way America organizes for and conducts national security policy. National security policy centered the Cold War after combat experience in World War II. But organizational problems within the national military establishment and foreign policy community abounded. The nation's experience in World War II had exposed gaps in how coherently America executed national security policy in support of strategic aims. The military services acted in parallel but with fierce independence; the president's intelligence support structure lacked prioritization and oversight; and executive agencies responsible for implementing the president's strategic guidance did so largely without regard to one another. The absence of American grand strategy lamented by some of their contributors is explained by others who study American political behavior and institutions.
