Before DOD was established, did we have standing armies in peace time? I know this is a pretty basic question, but I’m trying to wrap my head around how significantly the NSA changed US domestic politics and foreign politics.
What influence did the military have in politics before the NSA? Did the president always have military advisers, for example?
I’m sure I’ll think of more questions as this moves along.
There was a War Department more or less in continuous existence between the Washington and Truman Administrations that advised the President regarding military matters and did many of the tasks we now associate with the DOD. I think there was a seperate Navy Dept as well for managing the standing Navy. There was a standing army throughout most of this period as well, though it was pretty small by todays standards and even in comparison to other western nations at the time.
Obviously the scale, importance and political power of the military ballooned during and after WWII.
According to thisthe U.S. Army had about 93,000 officers and enlisted personnel at the start of World War I, and that was below its authorized size.
Of course, one of the objections to a standing army was that it might be used against American citizens, as with the forced breakup of the Bonus Marchers in 1931. But Hoover only called the troops in after the local police were unable to handle the situation on their own. The justification was that Washington, DC was under federal jurisdiction.
Similarly, Eisenhower only ordered federal troops to enforce the court-ordered desegration of the schools in Little Rock after the Arkansas governor ordered the state National Guard to block the students from being admitted. The justification then was that the state government had moved to block a federal court order.
There were separate cabinet positions, the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy. We never had a time where we literally had no army.