Posted on 03/23/2025 12:53:27 PM PDT by Signalman
President George Washington’s original cabinet contained just four departments and department heads: Department of State, which was led by inaugural Secretary Thomas Jefferson, Department of the Treasury, which was conceived and headed up by Alexander Hamilton, Attorney General Edmund Randolph, and the Department of War, which was first led by distinguished Continental Army General Henry Knox.
The War Department existed until 1947, when it was initially split into the Department of the Army, the Department of the Air Force, and the Department of the Navy. Congress had previously established a Department of the Navy in 1798, which was under the War Department’s purview.
President Harry Truman proposed a unified department of national defense in order to better coordinate U.S. Military affairs after the Second World War. In July of 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which established the National Military Establishment (NME) and created several individual departments, including the National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. Air Force.
woke bishop All of these entities were placed under the control of the National Military Establishment, while the U.S. Senate confirmed James Forrestal as the first NME director a day after the department was established. In 1949, the NME was official renamed to the Department of Defense.
It is unclear whether the Trump Administration is seriously pursuing a name change at this time. Hegseth has yet to provide any follow-up details on the poll, while the DoD has yet to provide any formal press releases on the matter.
President Trump recently referred to the department as the Department of War in a Truth Social post, however, suggesting that a formal name change may indeed be pursued.
DOPOOT
Department Of Putting Ordnance On Target
There used to be a Leftist gag that they wanted a Department of Peace with the full billions of budget and make the Defense Department sell baked goods and T shirts on tables at fundraising concerts.
Department of FAFO
Whoops. Beat me to it
I like Department of Defense better.
Ministry of Tough Love
Maybe the Department of International Comity and Kindness. No, wait, bad acronym, never mind.
If we got rid of all manned fighter aircraft and replaced them with drones, we could reduce the Navy to 100 submarines and a few carriers that could each carry 1,000 drones. No need for destroyers or any other surface ships.
(ex-submariner here)
Department of Peace
Many years ago, I was with my my mother who was a liberal and involved in peace activities at a gathering of her friends and colleagues. The subject of creating a separate Department of Peace came up. It is an idea that has been discussed forever among peace activist.
I told the person that we already had a Department of Peace and laid out my arguments for why it was the proper vehicle for what they wanted.
I still believe we should rename it the Department of Peace, except I agree with an earlier comment we do not need to spend the money renaming it anything.
Granddad used to call my grandma the War Department...true story.
There is a military base near us that had a sign that said “peace is our profession” facing outward at the main gate. The flip side facing inward said “total annihilation is our job”.
CC
I agree.
Department of Offense.
He sounds like the likable ol cuss in a movie.
We could modernize it to “The department of Police actions that we eventually lose interest in as administrations change and original goals are forgotten”
Didn’t the DOD used to be called the Dept. Of War?
It would be nice to see a euphemism go away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_War
The War Department existed from August 7, 1789 until September 18, 1947,[1] when it split into the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force later joined the Department of the Navy under the United States Department of Defense in 1949.
It would be fitting to return the name back to the Dept of War.
1. Department of War
2. Department of FAFO
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