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. AND
completely submerged by Admiral King on every issue of strategy and
utilization of Marine Forces. The views of the Commandant of the
Coast Guard also were never known to the Secretaries of War or Navy
or to the President because, since Admiral King had "operational
control" of the Coast Guard, whatever views the Coast Guard had were
presented to Admiral King who shaped them to meet his own wishes.
Unless there is an organization like the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in
which the heads of the various component parts of a single depart-
ment have voices of equality, I believe that one or more of these
components would suffer grieviously if there is a Chief of Staff of
National Defense as proposed in this draft.
There is no reference to a Chief of Staff to the President.
The draft states that the Chief of Staff of National Defense will be
the principal military advisor to the President. Admiral Leahy per-
formed services invaluable to the President and to the nation in
the recent war. He was not burdened with administrative problems,
Congressional hearings, political pressure groups, American Legion
speaking engagements and all of the multitudinous other headaches
which plagued Admiral King and General Marshall and which will
certainly occupy the time of a Chief of Staff of National Defense
in peacetime. Admiral Leahy devoted his full time to problems of
the Services, as objectively and impartially as was possible for
one man to do.
The President should have, or at least provision should be
made, for a Chief of Staff to give the President the benefit of
unbiased, impartial and mature judgment on matters of military policy.
Until such time as there is a National Security Council or its equiva-
lent, the President must have an advisor who can study and coordinate
problems of military and foreign policy. A Chief of Staff of National
Defense will not be able to do this. For some years, he will be
burdened with the problems of ironing out the merger of the War and
Navy Departments. He will be in no position to view the overall
problems of politics, diplomacy and military affairs. He will be
unable to advise the President on anything other than departmental
matters. It will be far more important in the years ahead to insure
that our foreign and military policies are coordinated than it will
be to see that minor problems of duplication are eliminated in the
single department. The latter will be the job of the Chief of Staff
of National Defense, the former must be done by the President's Chief
of Staff or preferably some form of security council. If and when a
council is established, then the question of the President's Chief
of Staff can be reviewed.
The President must also have a Chief of Staff in order to
coordinate the findings of the Central Intelligence Agency and the
Central Research Agency. He cannot coordinate the findings of those
- -3-
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"ocrText": ". AND\ncompletely submerged by Admiral King on every issue of strategy and\nutilization of Marine Forces. The views of the Commandant of the\nCoast Guard also were never known to the Secretaries of War or Navy\nor to the President because, since Admiral King had \"operational\ncontrol\" of the Coast Guard, whatever views the Coast Guard had were\npresented to Admiral King who shaped them to meet his own wishes.\nUnless there is an organization like the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in\nwhich the heads of the various component parts of a single depart-\nment have voices of equality, I believe that one or more of these\ncomponents would suffer grieviously if there is a Chief of Staff of\nNational Defense as proposed in this draft.\nThere is no reference to a Chief of Staff to the President.\nThe draft states that the Chief of Staff of National Defense will be\nthe principal military advisor to the President. Admiral Leahy per-\nformed services invaluable to the President and to the nation in\nthe recent war. He was not burdened with administrative problems,\nCongressional hearings, political pressure groups, American Legion\nspeaking engagements and all of the multitudinous other headaches\nwhich plagued Admiral King and General Marshall and which will\ncertainly occupy the time of a Chief of Staff of National Defense\nin peacetime. Admiral Leahy devoted his full time to problems of\nthe Services, as objectively and impartially as was possible for\none man to do.\nThe President should have, or at least provision should be\nmade, for a Chief of Staff to give the President the benefit of\nunbiased, impartial and mature judgment on matters of military policy.\nUntil such time as there is a National Security Council or its equiva-\nlent, the President must have an advisor who can study and coordinate\nproblems of military and foreign policy. A Chief of Staff of National\nDefense will not be able to do this. For some years, he will be\nburdened with the problems of ironing out the merger of the War and\nNavy Departments. He will be in no position to view the overall\nproblems of politics, diplomacy and military affairs. He will be\nunable to advise the President on anything other than departmental\nmatters. It will be far more important in the years ahead to insure\nthat our foreign and military policies are coordinated than it will\nbe to see that minor problems of duplication are eliminated in the\nsingle department. The latter will be the job of the Chief of Staff\nof National Defense, the former must be done by the President's Chief\nof Staff or preferably some form of security council. If and when a\ncouncil is established, then the question of the President's Chief\nof Staff can be reviewed.\nThe President must also have a Chief of Staff in order to\ncoordinate the findings of the Central Intelligence Agency and the\nCentral Research Agency. He cannot coordinate the findings of those\n- -3-"
}