ABSTRACT
The National Security Council (NSC) system which existed during the Nixon-Ford Administration was designed in 1969 by Henry Kissinger, then serving as the Presidential Assistant for National Security Affairs. Since the creation of the NSC in 1947, each President has designed an NSC system to suit his own decision-making style and to overcome the perceived inadequacies of the system used by his immediate predecessor. The present NSC system has overcome some of the structural weaknesses of the Kissinger years. During the initial days of the Jimmy Carter administration, it appeared that the NSC would be used in much the same way as in the Kissinger period. The NSC system is certainly compatible with the President's decision-making style and has demonstrated that it is capable of handling a wide variety of issues in a timely manner. Within Carter first year in office the President was able to make some very significant decisions through NSC process.
