SEPTEMBER 2015

Deputy Secretaries of Defense

in the Truman Administration

1949-1953

Creating the Alter Ego

 Deputy Secretary of Defense Series

Special Study 1

Shannon E. Mohan

SEPTEMBER 2015
Cover Photos: Left to right: Deputy Secretaries of Defense Stephen T. Early, Robert 

A. Lovett, and William C. Foster.

Source: OSD Historical Office.

Background: Official flag of the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Cover Design: OSD Graphics, Pentagon.

Historical Office

Office of the Secretary of Defense

September 2015

Series Editor

Erin R. Mahan, Ph.D.

Chief Historian, Office of the Secretary of Defense

Deputy Secretary of Defense Series

Special Study 1

Shannon E. Mohan

Deputy Secretaries of Defense

in the Truman Administration

1949-1953

Creating the Alter Ego
This study is cleared for public release. The views expressed or implied 

within are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the 

views of the Department of Defense, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 

or any other agency of the Federal Government.

Portions of this work may be quoted or reprinted without permission, 

provided that a standard source credit line is included. The Historical 

Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense would appreciate a courtesy 

copy of reprints or reviews.

Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Organizing the National Military Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The Secretary’s Alter Ego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The First Under Secretary of Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

From Under Secretary to Deputy Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Early’s Role in the Pentagon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Breaking Free from “Shackles and Handcuffs” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

“Secretary Marshall’s Good Right Arm” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

“The Smoothest Negotiator You’ve Ever Seen” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

From Deputy to Secretary of Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

“Another Lovett” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Foster’s Foray into Foreign Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
v

Foreword

In an interview with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Historical 

Office, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell L. Gilpatric 

defined the role of the deputy secretary as “the junior partner to the 

senior partner.” One of his successors, Paul H. Nitze, claimed that 

the secretary prescribes the deputy’s function: “It depends upon the 

secretary, what kind of person he is, and what he needs in order to 

make a good team.” 

Throughout the history of the Department of Defense—through 

wars, budgetary battles, reorganizations, and a terrorist attack—the 

deputy secretaries have been vital in administering, shaping, and 

helping to carry out military and national security policy. However, 

the histories, identities, and influence of the 32 officeholders have 

received little scholarly attention. This is the first in a series of 

studies by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Historical Office 

that examine the deputies’ roles in departmental operations and the 

policymaking process. Creating the Alter Ego traces the origins of the 

position, includes biographical highlights of the first three deputies, 

and explains their responsibilities in relation to their respective 

secretaries. Future studies will cover successive deputy secretaries. 

This publication and future titles in the Deputy Secretaries of Defense 

series will be made available on the OSD Historical Office website as 

they are completed. We invite you to peruse all of our publications 

at http://history.defense.gov/.

Erin R. Mahan

Chief Historian

Office of the Secretary of Defense
vii

Executive Summary

The position of deputy secretary of defense owes its origins to the 

first secretary of defense, James V. Forrestal. As secretary of the Navy, 

Forrestal played a significant role in unifying the armed services, 

but he initially opposed a civilian secretary of defense out of fear 

he would lose his own authority over his department and his access 

to the president. In compromising with Secretary of War Robert P. 

Patterson over the components of a national military establishment, 

Forrestal acquiesced to the idea of a secretary of defense, but rejected 

the notion of a civilian second-in-command (first designated as 

under secretary) lest the service secretaries’ standing within the 

departmental hierarchy diminish. After becoming secretary of 

defense in September 1947, however, Forrestal realized he could 

not carry out the duties of his office alone. From February 1948 

to April 1949, he lobbied for an under secretary. On 2 April 1949, 

when President Harry S. Truman signed a bill creating the position 

of under secretary of defense, James Forrestal was no longer secretary. 

The stress of being secretary, among other issues, had taken its toll, 

forcing the president to replace him with Louis A. Johnson. 

Johnson moved quickly to fill the under secretary of defense post, 

recommending Stephen T. Early, former press secretary to President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt, for the job. While the new under secretary was an 

expert in handling public relations, his military experience was limited to 

his service in the Army during World War I. He was only in office three 

months when his position was redesignated deputy secretary of defense 

by the 1949 National Security Act Amendments, a change meant to 

emphasize the deputy’s prominence in the department’s hierarchy as 

second only to the secretary of defense. Despite his standing, Early’s 

duties were undefined, and he drew on the skill he knew best: press 

relations. He handled many of the Pentagon’s media issues during his 

tenure in office.
1

Executive Summary

viii

General George C. Marshall, who informed President Truman he 

would serve as secretary for only one year, succeeded Louis Johnson 

in 1950. Marshall requested Robert A. Lovett serve as his deputy 

secretary. The pair had run the State Department as secretary and 

under secretary, respectively, from 1947 to 1949. At Defense, Lovett 

proved to be Marshall’s true alter ego, taking on many issues, including 

departmental budget preparation, with Marshall’s complete support.

After serving one year as secretary of defense, Marshall resigned. As 

expected, Lovett became the fourth secretary of defense in September 

1951. He would be the first of five deputy secretaries who would later 

become secretary of defense. Truman appointed William C. Foster, 

former administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration, 

as Lovett’s deputy. Foster functioned as an able manager of the 

Pentagon, chairing many organizational working groups. He also 

broadened the deputy secretary’s role in foreign affairs by traveling 

abroad. Like his predecessors, Foster fashioned his role according to 

his own skills and experiences; in his case, this meant emphasizing 

management.

The experiences that each of these deputies brought to their position 

helped define the scope of their responsibilities and set a precedent 

for their successors in such areas as public relations, the budget 

process, and administration.

Organizing the National Military Establishment

In the years immediately following World War II, President Harry 

Truman promised to unify the armed forces and bring a sense of 

order to national security policymaking. Two competing plans for 

consolidating the War and Navy departments threatened to derail 

his efforts. In 1945, the Army offered the president a design for an 

integrated military organization that included a civilian secretary of 

the armed forces, an under secretary, and assistant secretaries. The 

Navy’s proposal, on the other hand, preserved the service departments’ 

independence while providing them opportunities to coordinate 

military policy through a national security council. Secretary of 

the Navy James Forrestal, an outspoken critic of the Army’s plan, 

believed that a secretary of defense, “no matter how brilliant or 

competent,” would find it difficult to manage a unified department. 

Yet the president preferred the Army’s blueprint and incorporated 

provisions, including those for a secretary of defense and a secondin-command first termed “under secretary,” in his December 1945 

message to Congress outlining his ideas for a department of defense.1

In the ensuing debates over how to implement the president’s plan, 

critics such as Forrestal feared that the proposed hierarchy of civilian 

leadership would marginalize the service secretaries. In March 1946, 

in an effort to compromise on the organizational component of a 

proposed office of a secretary of defense, the position of under secretary 

of defense was labeled as “Special Assistant,” a civilian appointed by 

the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. Although 

1 Anna Kasten Nelson, “National Security I: Inventing a Process (1945–1960) in The Illusion 

of Presidential Government, ed. Hugh Heclo and Lester M. Salamon (Boulder, CO: Westview 

Press, 1981), 231; Townsend Hoopes and Douglas Brinkley, Driven Patriot: The Life and Times 

of James Forrestal (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992), 323; President Truman’s Message to 

the Congress, 19 Dec 1945 in The Department of Defense: Documents on Establishment and 

Organization, 1944–1978, ed. Alice C. Cole, Alfred Goldberg, Samuel Tucker, and Rudolph 

A. Winnacker (Washington, DC: OSD Historical Office, 1978), 7–17.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

2 3

Military Establishment (NME), which was a confederation of 

the Departments of the Army, Navy, and newly independent Air 

Force, headed by a civilian secretary of defense. Truman initially 

offered the secretary of defense post to Patterson, but when he 

declined, the president nominated Forrestal for the position. The 

act permitted the new secretary to appoint three civilian special 

assistants to “advise and assist” him in carrying out his duties. 

These men, however, could not act in the secretary’s stead. After 

five months on the job, Secretary Forrestal concluded that he 

needed more help than his three civilian assistants could provide.5

5 Report to the President from the Secretary of Defense, 28 Feb 1948, folder Forrestal’s Report 

to the President, 28 Feb 1948, box 501b, Subject Files, OSD Historical Office (hereafter OSD/

HO); National Security Act of 1947, P.L. 80–253, Section 204(a), in Cole, et al., Department 

of Defense: Documents, 41.

ORGANIZATION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 1947

30 September 1947

THE NATIONAL MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT

Secretary of Defense

President of the United States

Joint

Staff

Joint Chiefs

of Staff

National Security

Council

National Security

Resources Board

Central Intelligence

Agency

War Council

USN Aide Wilfred J.

McNeil Marx Leva John Ohly

SPECIAL ASSISTANTS

Munitions Board Research and

Development Board

Department of the

Navy

Department of the

Army

Department of the

Air Force

The 1947 National Security Act permitted the secretary of defense to appoint three 

civilian special assistants, but they were not empowered with any authority of their 

own. Secretary of Defense Forrestal lacked the requisite shared duties that the future 

deputy secretary of defense provided. 

the description and duties of the special assistant foreshadowed those 

of the under secretary, and later, the deputy secretary of defense, the 

special assistant would not have the authority to interject himself 

between the secretary of defense and the service secretaries.2

By mid-1946, Forrestal and Secretary of War Robert Patterson, the 

chief proponent of the Army’s plan, had found they could not agree 

over the components of military unification. The impasse between the 

two men continued until Truman intervened and ordered them to 

conclude an agreement acceptable to them both. By the end of the year, 

they finally reached an accord that met with the president’s approval, 

which became the basis for the 1947 National Security Act. Their 

compromise included a civilian secretary of defense as the head of a 

defense organization consisting of separately administered departments 

of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as a council of national defense.3

The legislation, however, omitted a civilian under secretary of defense. 

As Forrestal explained in a letter to Senator Chandler Gurney (R–SD), 

chairman of the newly created Armed Services Committee, he preferred 

that the secretary “rely upon capable secretaries at the head of the individual 

military departments for the information and data upon which his policy 

is to be based. . . . It is obvious that the position of an under secretary 

above them in the line of succession would be anomalous, and would 

directly serve to reduce their stature and authority.”4

The 1947 National Security Act incorporated elements of the 

Patterson-Forrestal agreement by establishing the National Security 

Council (NSC), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National 

Security Resources Board (NSRB). It also created the National 

2 “Suggested Duties and Powers of the Secretary of Common Defense,” 20 Mar 1946, folder 

1946 Armed Services Unification re: Compromise Discussion, box 4, Ferdinand Eberstadt 

Papers (hereafter FEP), Seeley G. Mudd Library (hereafter Mudd Library).

3 Steven L. Rearden, The Formative Years, 1947–1950, vol. 1 of Secretaries of Defense 

Historical Series (Washington, DC: OSD Historical Office, 1984), 22.

4 “Suggested Duties and Powers of the Secretary of Common Defense,” 20 Mar 1946; ltr, 

James V. Forrestal to Senator Chandler Gurney, 29 Mar 1947, reprinted in Senate Committee 

on Armed Services, National Defense Establishment (Unification of the Armed Services), 80th 

Cong., 1st sess., 1947, 640.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

4 5

The Secretary’s Alter Ego

Despite acknowledging that he could not easily discharge the 

duties of his office alone, Forrestal initially still seemed conflicted about 

adding a deputy.6 As he relayed to his friend Ferdinand Eberstadt, 

the former Wall Street investment banker who collaborated with 

him throughout the military unification process, having a second-incommand meant that issues needing attention would not languish in 

his absence, but the presence of an intermediary between himself and 

his three special assistants—Marx Leva, John H. Ohly, and Wilfred 

J. McNeil—might inhibit them from carrying out their duties. These 

assistants handled, respectively, legal and legislative issues, interactions 

with the NSC and NSRB, and management of the department 

budget. While they reported directly to Forrestal, they were not 

political appointees, and they lacked authority to act on their own.7

6 The use of the term “deputy” here denotes a lieutenant. “Deputy,” as in the Pentagon’s 

second civilian in command, did not become part of official terminology until passage of the 

1949 National Security Act Amendments.

7 Ltr, Forrestal to Ferdinand Eberstadt, 13 Feb 1948, folder 36, box 15, James V. Forrestal 

Papers, Mudd Library; Rearden, The Formative Years, 60.

Throughout 1948, Forrestal’s ambivalence waned. He explained to 

President Truman in February 1948 that “the demands on my own 

time are such that I cannot provide the detailed coordination required.”8

Forrestal also conveyed his thoughts about having an under secretary of 

defense to the Hoover Commission’s National Security Organization 

Task Force. Chaired by Eberstadt, the task force convened to 

recommend improvements in defense organizations and operations. 

Eberstadt’s participation meant that Forrestal communicated his ideas 

for enhancing the NME directly to the task force. The task force 

included his suggestion for an under secretary in their February 1949 

report to the president, urging that the “secretary be provided with an 

under secretary of defense, who shall be his full deputy and act for him 

in his absence.”9

In December 1948, Forrestal sent a memo to Truman recommending 

that the president find a congressional ally to submit a bill to Congress 

for an under secretary of defense. In February 1949, Forrestal phoned 

8 Report to the President from the Secretary of Defense, 28 Feb 1948, folder Forrestal’s 

Report to the President, Feb. 28, 1948, box 501b, Subject Files, OSD/HO.

9 Ronald C. Moe, The Hoover Commission Revisited (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1982), 29, 

39; Summary Reports of the Hoover Commission, folder Hoover Commission, 1949–1954, 

box 512, Subject Files, OSD/HO.

THE HOOVER COMMISSION 

The 1947 Lodge-Brown Act established the authority for the Commission 

on the Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, more 

commonly known as the Hoover Commission after its chairman and former 

president, Herbert Hoover. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (R–MA) and 

Representative Clarence J. Brown (R–OH), concerned with the increasing 

size of the federal government and the executive branch in particular, 

sponsored legislation to create a commission comprising congressional 

members, political appointees, and private sector personnel to examine the 

executive branch and recommend organizational changes. The 12-member 

commission directed the work of 24 task forces, including the National 

Security Organization Task Force. Ferdinand Eberstadt chaired this 

particular task force. See Moe, The Hoover Commission Revisited, 23, 25, 29.

Secretary of Defense James Forrestal (seated) with his three special assistants, Marx 

Leva (left), John Ohly (center), and Wilfred McNeil (right). (OSD Historical Office)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

6 7

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Millard Tydings 

(D–MD) to inquire how quickly such legislation might pass Congress. 

Within a few days of Forrestal’s query, Representative Dewey Short 

(R–MO) introduced H.R. 2216, a bill to amend the National Security 

Act to provide for an under secretary of defense. In the ensuing weeks, 

Forrestal testified before two congressional committees in support of 

the bill’s passage. He described the proposed under secretary as “the 

secretary’s alter ego” and “the person who becomes Acting Secretary 

of Defense in the absence of the Secretary.” When asked where he 

thought the under secretary should rank in relation to the service 

secretaries, Forrestal reversed his earlier opinion and recommended that 

the position should “outrank the secretaries of the three departments.” 

Choosing his words carefully, he added that in meetings, the under 

secretary “would also have the power—I will not say the power—but 

he would have to have the precedence to preside where the secretaries of 

the departments were involved.” Forrestal and Congress now concluded 

that managing the National Military Establishment necessitated a 

civilian second-in-command who ranked above the service secretaries in 

the departmental hierarchy. In March, Congress passed the legislation 

creating the position of under secretary of defense.10

On 2 April 1949, Truman amended the National Security Act by 

signing the under secretary of defense bill into law. The president 

appointed the under secretary of defense from civilian life, with the 

advice and consent of the Senate, provided the nominee was not 

within 10 years after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer 

in the armed forces. His authority lay in those duties prescribed by 

10 Forrestal, Forrestal Diaries, 539; House Committee on Armed Services, Full Committee 

Hearing on H.R. 2216, to Amend the National Security Act of 1947 to Provide for an Undersecretary 

of Defense, 81st Cong., 1st sess., 1949, 406, 408, 410; Under Secretary of Defense, H.R. 2216, 

81st Cong., 1st sess., Cong. Rec. 95, daily ed. (7 Mar 1949): H 1937; Senate Committee on Armed 

Services, Report of Proceedings: Hearings Held before Committee on Armed Services, Nominations 

under Reference Nos. “W,” 176, 177, 181, 184, 186, 187, 188, H.R. 2485, S. 277, and H.R. 2216, 

10 Mar 1949, 81st Cong., 1st sess., 1949, 44, 46. In 1947, when the committee was debating 

the National Security Act, committee members appeared unconcerned with the lack of an under 

secretary of defense. Like Forrestal, they feared undermining the service secretaries’ stature, but 

deferred designating one of them as the officer in charge in the secretary’s absence. Chairman 

Tydings noted in 1949 that such a role would have been “too much of a responsibility and too 

heavy a load in respect to one at the expense of the other two.” See ibid.

the secretary, but he was empowered to “act for, and exercise the 

powers of, the secretary of defense during his absence or disability.”11

Despite Forrestal’s hard work in securing an under secretary, he would not 

benefit from it. He had labored tirelessly since becoming secretary of defense, 

keeping “intolerable hours,” and was often plagued by anxieties, which were 

increasingly affecting his behavior. Forrestal’s affliction, coupled with policy 

differences with the president over Pentagon management and foreign policy, 

prompted the president to replace him with Louis Johnson after the close 

1948 reelection. Johnson, a major campaign fundraiser for Truman, had 

previously served in the War Department. On 28 March 1949, only days 

before Truman’s signature authorized the under secretary of defense, Johnson, 

with Forrestal present, took the oath of office as the second secretary of 

defense. The task of finding an under secretary began.12

The First Under Secretary of Defense

Admiral Robert L. Dennison, Truman’s naval aide, recommended Stephen 

Tyree Early to Secretary of Defense Johnson. Press reports speculated 

that Johnson had endorsed Early’s nomination because the president 

disapproved of the two other potential nominees Johnson suggested—

World Bank President John J. McCloy and United Steamship Lines CEO 

John Franklin—because of their ties to his political nemesis, Thomas 

Dewey. Dennison judged Early, a Democrat, as a “good executive” for the 

Pentagon. On 6 April, Johnson sent a memo to the president advocating 

Early for the position, a nomination Truman endorsed. Early became the 

first under secretary of defense on 2 May 1949.13

11 P.L. 81–36 (2 Apr 1949) in Cole, et al., Department of Defense: Documents, 81.

12 Report to the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government by the 

Committee on National Security Organization, vol. 2, 15 Nov 1948, folder Eberstadt Task Force, 

box 527A, Subject Files, OSD/HO; Keith D. McFarland and David L. Roll, Louis Johnson and 

the Arming of America: The Roosevelt and Truman Years (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana 

University Press, 2005), 147, 149.

13 Admiral Robert L. Dennison, interview by Jerry N. Hess, 10 Sep 1971, 18–20, Harry 

S. Truman Library (hereafter HSTL); McFarland and Roll, Louis Johnson and the Arming of 

America, 160; Drew Pearson, “Steve Early and Louis Johnson,” 13 Apr 1949, Merry-GoRound, Bell Syndicate, Inc.; Memorandum to the President, 6 Apr 1949, folder OF1285, box 

1760, Papers of Harry S. Truman, Official File (hereafter HSTOF), HSTL.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

8 9

Johnson and Truman were already well acquainted with Early. 

Johnson and Early, a Crozet, Virginia native, had served with the 

Army’s 80th “Blue Ridge” Division during World War I. The pair also 

knew each other from the Roosevelt administration when Johnson 

was the assistant secretary of war and Early was press secretary. Early 

briefly worked as Truman’s press secretary after Roosevelt’s death in 

April 1945, a gesture the new president appreciated. “During these 

recent difficult weeks,” Truman wrote Early shortly after assuming the 

presidency, “you have been such a help to me in getting acclimated 

to my new duties and responsibilities.”14

In May 1945, Early resigned as Truman’s press secretary after 

accepting the job of vice president of Pullman Inc. His relatively quick 

14 Linda Lotridge Levin, The Making of FDR: The Story of Stephen T. Early, America’s First 

Modern Press Secretary (Amherst, MA: Prometheus Books, 2008), 17–19, 32; McFarland and 

Roll, Louis Johnson and the Arming of America, 36, 160; ltr, Harry S. Truman to Stephen Early, 

31 May 1945, folder Early, Stephen T., box 1665, HSTOF, HSTL.

summons back to Washington in April 1949 “came . . . as a surprise.”15

Rumors circulated in the aftermath of his nomination that rather 

than have a military expert as under secretary, the image-conscious 

Johnson preferred to have his own press agent in order to prepare 

for a possible presidential campaign in 1952. Early certainly fit the 

bill since he had been a reporter for the United Press from 1908 

to 1912 and the Associated Press between 1913 and 1917. After 

World War I ended, he served in the American Expeditionary 

Forces’ General Headquarters and became the assistant officer in 

charge of the Stars and Stripes, the Army’s newspaper that General 

Pershing had published for American armed forces in France 

from February 1918 through June 1919. He enhanced his public 

relations credentials during his tenure as FDR’s press secretary. In 

the April 1949 under secretary of defense confirmation hearing, 

the Senate overlooked Early’s limited military expertise. As Senate 

Armed Services Committee Chairman Tydings noted, Early was 

not “a stranger and we know his record in the government.” The 

Senate easily confirmed him and Johnson swore him in on 2 May.16

Early and Johnson enjoyed a cordial relationship despite Johnson’s 

reputation for arrogance. Johnson’s demeanor did not faze Early, 

and he often spoke candidly to his boss without fear of retribution. 

While Early reportedly had a bad temper, he served as a “moderating 

influence” on the “impulsive actions” of the secretary of defense. He 

proved to be a loyal subordinate, quickly settling a dispute between 

15 “Nomination A Surprise, Says Early,” New York Times, 9 Apr 1949.

16 Levin, The Making of FDR, 22, 24, 36–37, 43, 437; McFarland and Roll, Louis Johnson 

and the Arming of America, 160; Senate Committee on Armed Services, Report of Proceedings, 

Hearings Held before the Committee on Armed Services, Nomination of Stephen T. Early of Virginia 

to Be Under Secretary of Defense, 13 Apr 1949, 81st Cong., 1st sess., 2–4; Library of Congress, 

“American Memory: The Stars and Stripes: The American Solders’ Newspaper of World War I, 

1918–1919, <http://www.memory.loc.gov/ammem/sgphtml/sashtml/sashome.html>; Senate 

Armed Services Committee, Nomination of Stephen T. Early of Virginia to Be Under Secretary of 

Defense, 1. 

According to Levin, Early and FDR revolutionized White House press relations by making 

use of press conferences. Each of them held their own press conferences several times a week, 

and the pair also instituted Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats. Levin labeled him the first modern press 

secretary because of his astute handling of news from the White House. See Levin, The Making 

of FDR, 12, 14. 

Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson swears in Under Secretary of Defense Stephen 

Early, 2 May 1949. (National Archives)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

10 11

1949 sent a message to Congress delineating a plan to improve 

the act. The resulting amendments, which he signed into law on 

10 August 1949, elevated the National Military Establishment 

into a cabinet-level Department of Defense and demoted 

the three military departments to a subordinated status.18

The title and structure of Early’s position also changed. Senate 

Armed Services Committee Chairman Tydings “considered [it] 

necessary” to rename the number two civilian position from under 

secretary of defense to deputy secretary of defense to enhance 

the officeholder’s authority. Tydings surmised that the service 

secretaries would be more inclined to take orders from a deputy 

rather than an under secretary. The specifications for the duties 

of the deputy were similar to those for the under secretary, with 

18 Cole et al., Department of Defense: Documents: 79; Truman quote also found in Douglas 

T. Stuart, Creating the National Security State: A History of the Law That Transformed America

(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008), 196.

Johnson and Senator Elmer 

Thomas (D–OK) over the 

use of government aircraft, 

when Johnson caused a stir 

on Capitol Hill by suggesting that congressmen use 

commercial flights rather 

than procure military aircraft 

for unofficial travel. Early 

intervened and brokered a 

compromise amenable to 

both Johnson and Senator 

Thomas; henceforth, military 

planes could only be used for 

official government business. 

Early “did the job so neatly,”

according to journalist Hanson

Baldwin, and the quarrel dissipated before the newspapers could 

exploit the rift.17

From Under Secretary to Deputy Secretary

In February 1948, Secretary of Defense Forrestal had expressed 

his dissatisfaction with the 1947 National Security Act’s limits 

on his authority. Truman concurred with the need to update 

the act, conceding that “we have now had sufficient experience 

under the Act to be able to identify and correct weaknesses 

without impairing the advantages we have obtained from its 

strengths.” He drew largely from the Hoover Commission’s 

National Security Organization Task Force’s report and in March 

17 Jack Alexander, “Stormy New Boss of the Pentagon,” Saturday Evening Post, 30 Jul 1949; 

Doris Condit, The Test of War, 1950–1953, vol. 2 of Secretaries of Defense Historical Series

(Washington, DC: OSD Historical Office, 1988), 15; McFarland and Roll, Louis Johnson 

and the Arming of America, 160; “‘Steve’ Early’s Job Is to Muzzle the Loud-Mouth Brass in 

Pentagon,” Washington Daily News, 8 Apr 1949; John H. Ohly, interview by D. M. Condit, 

28 Apr 1977, 8, Oral History Collection, OSD/HO; Hanson W. Baldwin, “Defense Friction 

Eases,” New York Times, 28 Jul 1949.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Early 

(left) confers with Secretary of Defense Louis 

Johnson. In the absence of clearly defined 

duties, Early relied on the skill he knew 

best, public relations, and handled many 

Pentagon public relations issues during his 

tenure in office. (OSD Historical Office)

Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Early (2nd from right) looks on as President 

Truman hands out pens after signing the 1949 National Security Act Amendments 

into law. The Amendments redesignated “under secretary of defense” to “deputy 

secretary of defense.” (Abbie Rowe, National Park Service, Harry S. Truman 

Library & Museum/OSD Historical Office)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

12 13

one critical exception. The deputy would “take precedence in the 

Department of Defense next after the secretary of defense.”19

Early’s Role in the Pentagon

Stephen Early’s day-to-day role as under secretary and then deputy 

secretary of defense was not clearly defined when he took office, so he 

drew on the experience he knew best—press secretary. Throughout 

his tenure, he recommended public relations strategies to Johnson 

19 Herman S. Wolk, “The Quiet Coup of 1949,” Air Force Magazine, Jul 1999, 79; “Senators 

Approve Johnson Powers,” New York Times, 26 Apr 1949; Cole et al., Department of Defense: 

Documents, 81, 89. See ibid. for additional organizational changes made by the 1949 

amendments.

ORGANIZATION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

NATIONAL SECURITY ACT AS AMENDED

10 August 1949

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Secretary of Defense

Deputy Secretary of Defense

President of the United States

Joint

Staff

Joint Chiefs

of Staff

National Security

Council

National Security

Resources Board

Central Intelligence

Agency

Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

Munitions Board Research and

Development Board

Armed Forces

Policy Council

Dept. of the Army

Secretary

Dept. of the Navy

Secretary

Dept. of the Air Force

Secretary

Assistant Secretary ( Comptroller )

Responsible for the supervision and coordination of the activities of the Department of 

Defense as directed by the Secretary of Defense. Act for, and exercise the power of,

the Secretary of Defense during his absence or disability.

that he believed the newspapers, and subsequently the American 

people, would accept. For example, when the Soviet Union shocked 

the United States by exploding an atomic bomb in late August 

1949, shattering the four-year-old American atomic monopoly, 

Truman reportedly met with Secretary Johnson, Deputy Secretary 

Early, and Secretary of State Dean Acheson to discuss whether he 

should issue a statement. Early suggested to the president that he 

inform the American people before the Soviets had the opportunity 

to exploit their breakthrough as an act that signaled nuclear parity 

with the United States. On 23 September, the president announced 

that the Soviets had detonated their first atomic device. Columnist 

Walter Lippman praised the president’s revelation, an affirmation 

of Early’s sage advice, writing, “had he [Truman] waited to let the 

Soviet government announce the news, or let it leak out, there might 

well have been panicky agitation.”20

Another notable example of Early’s success in handling public relations 

occurred in August 1950, two months after North Korean forces 

invaded the South. Early appeared on Battle Report—Washington, a 

White House-produced television show broadcast by NBC, along 

with Commerce Secretary Charles Sawyer; Senator Brien McMahon 

(D–CT), chairman of the Atomic Energy Committee; and Chairman 

of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Tom McCabe. He 

summarized the situation and commended the U.S. military effort:

It is the first time in history, as far as I know, that any nation 

has made a successful piecemeal commitment of its armed 

forces in the face of a moving hard striking enemy army, and 

won the initial decision. I refer to the failure of the enemy 

to drive the American advance forces out of Korea. The 

communists confidently expected to do this.

20 Robert J. Donovan, Tumultuous Years: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1949–1953 (New 

York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1982), 98–101; Drew Pearson, “Red-A-Bomb 

Set Off Debate Here,” Merry-Go-Round, Washington Post, 24 Dec 1949; Walter Lippman, 

“End of the Atomic Monopoly,” Today and Tomorrow, New York Herald Tribune, 27 Sep 1949.

The 1949 National Security Act Amendments redesignated the position of under 

secretary of defense to deputy secretary of defense. The deputy took precedence in 

the Defense Department immediately after the secretary. Forrestal’s three special 

assistants were made assistant secretaries of defense, but they ranked below the 

deputy in departmental hierarchy.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

14 15

matters, . . . make a decision, or would take them up with Mr. Johnson.”23

The New York Times reported that Early had assumed the “burdens of 

the Pentagon’s public information problems.” Under the 1949 National 

Security Act Amendments, Early had authority over matters Johnson 

delegated to him. In August 1950, Johnson informed the Armed Forces 

Policy Council (AFPC), the secretary’s policy advisory group, that at 

his request, Early “had . . . assumed the responsibility of reviewing 

[Defense Department] speeches 

and articles for policy and 

propriety.” The Pentagon 

press pool also knew him, 

and they preferred to get 

information from him rather 

than navigate through the 

“cumbersome existing public 

relations set-up.” Bureau of 

the Budget Director Frank 

Pace Jr. recalled that Early 

was “very persuasive with Mr. 

Johnson . . . who put a lot of 

store by him.”24

Johnson’s reliance on Early’s public relations acumen was borne out in the 

administration’s dispute with General Douglas MacArthur. In late August 

1950, MacArthur, the commander of U.S. and United Nations forces in 

Korea, accepted an invitation to send a statement to the Chicago meeting 

of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. His telegraphed missive suggested the 

United States intended to militarize Formosa by supplying arms to the 

Nationalist government, a direct contradiction of Truman’s publicly stated 

objective. With the United States military already engaged in combat, the 

23 “The Problem of Unified Public Relations (Second Phase), Secretary Louis Johnson, March 

28, 1949 to September 18, 1950,” folder Public Relations in a Unified Military Establishment, 

First Phase, box 1192, Subject Files, OSD/HO.

24 Austin Stevens, “Early Steps Down as Defense Deputy,” New York Times, 13 Sep 1950; 

Minutes, Armed Forces Policy Council, 29 Aug 1950, Unification Tab, Binder 1950, box 4, John 

Ohly Papers, OSD/HO; Frank Pace Jr., interview by Jerry N. Hess, 17 Jan 1972, 86, HSTL.

His sober yet optimistic remarks evoked praise from Senator Warren 

Magnuson (D–WA), Representative Frank Boykin (D–AL), and 

Under Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball.21

Early’s personal crafting of Pentagon messages led to a clash with 

the Defense Department’s Office of Public Information (OPI). 

Forrestal had created the office in March 1949 to handle military 

public relations, but Secretary Johnson rarely used it. Instead he 

preferred to let his immediate staff and Early handle his press affairs. 

OPI Director William Frye was annoyed when he perceived the 

deputy secretary overstepping his bounds. In December 1949, 

Early ordered Frye to permit the three armed services to handle 

their own press releases, seemingly violating the spirit of unification 

that the Department of Defense was working hard to promote. The 

directive lasted only four days. The ensuing confusion prompted 

newspapermen to speculate as to which man was actually in charge 

of Pentagon public relations.22

Despite Frye’s objection to perceived interference in his domain, Early 

did have authority over OPI. Not long after Early became deputy, OPI 

was informed that Early would handle “all top level public relations 

21 Ltr, John Steelman to Stephen Early, 7 Aug 1950, folder “Battle Report—Washington,“ 

box 61, Stephen T. Early Papers (hereafter STEP), Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (hereafter 

FDRL); “U.S. Forces Are Hailed in Early Report,” Hartford Courant, 14 Aug 1950; Remarks 

by Stephen Early, Deputy Secretary of Defense on National Broadcasting Company Television 

Program, “Battle Report—Washington,” 13 Aug 1950; memo for Dorothy, 14 Aug 1950; ltr, 

Warren G. Magnuson to Stephen Early, 16 Aug 1950; Memorandum, Office of the Deputy 

Secretary: all in folder Speech, NBC-TV “Battle Report—Washington,” box 61, STEP, FDRL.

As part of the White House’s efforts to keep the country informed of the war, Assistant to 

the President John Steelman produced “Battle Report—Washington” from his West Wing 

office. He appeared on each episode and invited high-ranking administration officials to 

discuss the Korean conflict and its impact on the American people. See Nancy Bernhard, U.S. 

Television News and Cold War Propaganda, 1947–1960 (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge 

University Press, 1999), 116–117.

22 Rearden, The Formative Years, 81–83; “Changing of OPI–Departmental Relations by 

Deputy Secretary Early,” Dec 1949, folder OPI Historical Background Information Compiled 

by Mr. Althaus, Apr 1950, box 1192, Subject Files, OSD/HO; ltr, E. John Long to William 

Frye, 12 Jan 1951, folder Bill Frye, 1947–1950, box 1192, Subject Files, OSD/HO; “Defense 

News Unified,” New York Times, 21 Dec 1949; “Question: Who’s Boss of Defense Press 

Division?” Chicago Daily Tribune, 21 Dec 1949. 

Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Early 

meets with the press in his Pentagon office, 

September 1950. (National Archives)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

16 17

president wanted to avoid further hostilities, particularly a dispute with 

the communist People’s Republic of China over the hotly contested issue 

of Taiwan. Secretary Johnson, however, did not necessarily disagree with 

MacArthur’s assertion and balked at reprimanding him. Early, an 

old friend of MacArthur’s, feared the public relations consequences 

for the administration if the president openly clashed with the 

popular general, and he advised Johnson not to issue the president’s 

order demanding MacArthur withdraw his statement. The president 

would not yield his position and ultimately forced Johnson to 

rebuke MacArthur.25

Breaking Free from “Shackles and Handcuffs”

Shortly after the flare-up over the MacArthur statement, Early 

informed President Truman that he was stepping down. He 

originally intended to serve as deputy for only a year, the length of 

his leave of absence from Pullman Inc., but after the outbreak of 

the Korean conflict he agreed to remain at his post. Nevertheless, 

he felt his time as deputy had been especially taxing. He told 

reporters that Congress should have been more precise in crafting 

the language for the deputy secretary’s duties so that he would not 

“have had to function as the alter ego of the defense secretary.” As he 

confided in a letter to an acquaintance, the overwhelming burden 

of being deputy “has had the effect of shackles and handcuffs—of 

making me a virtual prisoner in the Pentagon.” Initially, a sense of 

duty compelled him to stay: “As long as our boys are leaving their 

homes to engage in hostile forces in South Korea or elsewhere, 

I cannot find it within myself to leave.” By 1 September 1950, 

however, Early wrote Truman, “The time has come when I can 

25 Donovan, Tumultuous Years, 264; Arnold A. Offner, Another Such Victory: President Truman 

and the Cold War, 1945–1953 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002), 384–385; 

McFarland and Roll, Louis Johnson and the Arming of America, 328–331; Condit et al., The Test 

of War, 177; Levin, The Making of FDR, 31; Annex, 26 August 1950, Foreign Relations of the 

United States [FRUS], 1950, vol. 6, East Asia and the Pacific (Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, 1976), 454–459, <history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950v06/

pg_454>; Michael Schaller, “MacArthur, Douglas,” The Oxford Companion to American Military 

History, ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 405–406.

no longer deny or evade the immediate need for a change in the 

manner of my life.”26

Johnson was on his way out as well. His intransigence over the 

MacArthur statement, an ongoing clash with Secretary of State Dean 

Acheson, and other policy differences with the president prompted 

Truman to ask for his resignation. Early broke the news to Johnson after 

the disbelieving secretary discounted press reports of the president’s 

growing displeasure. In a last act of public relations management, 

Early edited Johnson’s letter of resignation, which was effective on 

12 September 1950. Early stepped down on 30 September. With 

Johnson’s forced resignation and Early’s near-simultaneous departure, 

the president faced a complete turnover in Pentagon leadership.27

“Secretary Marshall’s Good Right Arm”

After Truman appointed former Secretary of State George Marshall to be 

the third secretary of defense, Marshall requested that the president select 

Robert Abercrombie Lovett as the deputy secretary of defense. Truman 

phoned Lovett at his home in Locust Valley, New York, on the morning of 

29 September 1950 and offered him the job. Lovett immediately accepted, 

knowing that he could not turn down either the president or Marshall.28

26 Austin Stevens, “Early Steps Down as Defense Deputy,” New York Times, 13 Sep 1950; ltr, 

Stephen T. Early to Reese H. Taylor, 5 Jul 1950, folder Correspondence, Chron File, May-Oct 

1950, box 58, STEP, FDRL; ltr, Stephen T. Early to President Truman, 1 Sep 1950, folder L. 

J. Resignation, 1950, box 597, Subject Files, OSD/HO.

27 McFarland and Roll, Louis Johnson and the Arming of America, 339–349; ltr, Stephen T. Early to 

President Truman, 1 Sep 1950 cited in note 26. Early briefly returned to the Truman White House 

in late 1950 to serve as acting press secretary in the aftermath of Press Secretary Charlie Ross’ 

death. In August 1951, Early suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized. Although he showed 

signs of improving, he died of a second heart attack on 11 August at the age of 61. He was buried 

at Arlington National Cemetery. Some of his former Pentagon colleagues served as honorary 

pallbearers, including Secretary of the Army Frank Pace Jr., Secretary of the Air Force Thomas K. 

Finletter, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Omar N. Bradley. See “Stephen T. 

Early Is Dead at 61; Press Aide to Two Presidents,” Washington Post, 12 Aug 1951; B. C. Mossman 

and M. W. Stark, The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funerals, 1921–1969 (Washington, DC: 

Department of the Army, 1991), 57–58.

28 Paul P. Kennedy, “President Appoints Lovett Deputy Secretary of Defense,” New York Times,

29 Sep 1950. 
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

18 19

The Yale-educated Lovett already had experience being Marshall’s 

alter ego. After serving as a special assistant to Secretary of

War Henry Stimson in 1940 and then as assistant secretary of war for air in 1941, 

Lovett became Marshall’s under secretary of state in 1947. The travel demands of 

the secretariat and Marshall’s declining health kept him away from Washington 

for extended periods during 

his tenure, and Lovett often 

functioned as acting secretary 

of state in Marshall’s absence. 

Their relationship was so harmonious that Lovett later 

characterized their collegiality 

as almost familial. “I was his 

alter ego. We worked together 

almost as brothers.” In his 

capacity as deputy, Lovett was 

known as “Secretary Marshall’s 

good right arm.” Yet, despite 

their close connection, Marshall always referred to Lovett by his surname. Lovett 

never objected to his boss’ formal manner and fondly recalled his association 

with Marshall: “I loved that absolutely magnificent man. There was none finer, 

more dedicated or with more ability.” The feeling was mutual.29

29 Edward B. Lockett, “Leave It to Lovett,” Collier’s, 30 Jun 1951, 70; Edward B. Lockett, 

“Again the Marshall-Lovett Team,” New York Times, 29 Oct 1950; Robert A. Lovett, interview 

by Doris E. Condit, 7 Jun 1976, 11, Oral History Collection, OSD/HO; Carl W. Borklund, 

Marshall and Lovett’s Pentagon operated quite differently from 

Johnson and Early’s. Years later, Lovett remarked that he “felt 

completely at home in the Department of Defense.” His comfort 

proved essential, as Marshall agreed to serve as secretary of defense 

for only one year and insisted that Lovett succeed him. The pair 

engendered a cooperative relationship with Secretary of State 

Acheson and the State Department; this interdepartmental harmony 

had been lacking under Johnson and Early. Whereas Johnson never 

articulated Early’s responsibilities, Marshall made them plain. Lovett’s 

official duties were, according to Marshall, to “carry out the policies I 

have announced. He is in charge of operations.” As Colonel Marshall 

Carter, Secretary Marshall’s executive secretary, recalled, “There 

was never any question about who was boss, never any question in 

Marshall’s mind that the job would be done by Lovett as Marshall 

wanted it done when Marshall was out of town. Everyone knew 

when Lovett took a decision, that it was Marshall’s decision too.” 

Lovett chaired meetings of the Staff Council, the 11-member group 

of assistant secretaries tasked with coordinating OSD staff work. He 

was also a member of the AFPC.30

As deputy secretary, Lovett was a statutory member of the newly 

created Psychological Strategy Board (PSB) charged with coordinating 

State, CIA, and the military services’ policies on psychological 

warfare. While American military personnel were engaged in combat 

with Communist forces in Korea, policymakers in the United States 

were considering other means for waging war. Since its inception, 

the CIA had responsibility for covert operations, but as more 

noncommunist nations appeared to be threatened, the Departments 

of State and Defense were increasingly drawn into devising plans for 

psychological warfare to counter communism. Interagency rivalry 

over this strategy prompted the president to create a separate entity 

to coordinate political, military, economic, and propaganda policies 

Men of the Pentagon: From Forrestal to McNamara (New York, Washington, and London: 

Frederick A. Praeger, 1966), 118.

30 Lovett interview, 7 Jun 1976, 3; McFarland and Roll, Louis Johnson and the Arming of 

America, 330; Lockett, “Leave It to Lovett,” 31; Condit, The Test of War, 485.

Secretary of Defense George Marshall (left) and 

his alter ego, Deputy Secretary Robert Lovett. 

(National Archives)

FROM GENERAL TO SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

The National Security Act’s original provision forbade the appointment of 

individuals for the positions of secretary and deputy secretary who had within 

10 years of their nomination been on active duty as commissioned officers in the 

armed forces. Public Law 81-788, passed on 18 September 1950, amended the 

act to permit Truman’s appointment of General Marshall as secretary of defense. 

This act was only in effect for the duration of Marshall’s term as secretary. For the 

amendment, see Cole et al., Department of Defense: Documents, 114; also Forrest C. 

Pogue, George C. Marshall: Statesman, 1945–1959 (New York: Viking, 1987), 150, 

424–429; Condit, The Test of War, 36.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

20 21

under development by governmental departments. On 4 April 1951, 

Truman issued a directive initiating the PSB and ordered membership 

to include the under secretary of state, deputy secretary of defense, 

and the director of central intelligence. The PSB reported to the 

NSC. Deputy Secretary of Defense Lovett attended PSB meetings in 

July and August 1951 and was the first of three consecutive deputy 

secretaries engaged with PSB activities. Since every course of action 

the PSB considered required funding, and since Lovett was involved 

in the Pentagon’s budget, he was acutely aware of the costs of fighting 

the Cold War.31

“The Smoothest Negotiator You’ve Ever Seen”

Whereas Stephen Early involved himself with Pentagon public 

affairs, Lovett spent a large portion of his tenure as deputy helping 

prepare the Defense budget. He had been an investment banker 

with Brown Brothers Harriman & Company between 1926 and 

1940. Given Lovett’s expertise, Secretary Marshall trusted him to 

work on the budget. Nevertheless, the task of parceling funds for 

the Korean conflict, for long-range strategic planning, and for basic 

departmental operations was not an easy one, even for a man with 

Lovett’s business acumen.32

During the Truman administration, defense spending rose dramatically to 

meet the demands of waging the Cold War. The president built up military 

force levels to augment units fighting in Korea and to adhere to projected 

defense plans. NSC 68 recommended a rapid military buildup, but the 

31 Directive to the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Director of Central Intelligence, 

4 Apr 1951, FRUS 1951, vol. 1, National Security Affairs, Foreign Economic Policy, 58–59; 

Scott Lucas, “Campaigns of Truth: The Psychological Strategy Board and American Ideology,” 

International History Review 18, no. 2 (May 1996): 288. Deputy Secretaries of Defense William 

C. Foster and Roger M. Kyes (February 1953–May 1954) were the other two deputies to serve 

on the PSB before President Eisenhower replaced it with the Operations Coordinating Board 

in September 1953. See Executive Order 10483, Establishing the Operations Coordinating 

Board, 2 Sep 1953, The American Presidency Project, <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/

ws/?pid=60573>.

32 Borklund, Men of the Pentagon, 116–118; Memorandum by the Director of the Policy 

Planning Staff (Nitze) to the Secretary of State, 22 Mar 1950, FRUS 1950, 1:202; Condit, The 

Test of War, 232.

initial document did not consider cost. In January 1950, work had 

already begun on the fiscal year 1952 budget, spanning July 1951–

June 1952, but planners revised spending estimates to account for the 

Korean conflict. Deputy Secretary Lovett surmised that overall force 

levels would dramatically decrease with an early victory, as UN forces 

appeared to gain an advantage on the Korean peninsula. Optimism 

waned in late November 1950, however, after Chinese Communist 

forces drove UN forces out of North Korea. This sudden shift in 

events precipitated a reconsideration of military plans.33

Deputy Secretary Lovett, working closely with Assistant Secretary 

of Defense (Comptroller) Wilfred McNeil, had the thankless task 

of reconciling the broad military expansion proposed under NSC 

68 with the grim realities of the rapidly escalating Korean War 

and regular departmental appropriations. Lovett created a special 

working group comprising high-level officials from the three military 

33 Walter S. Poole, History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy, 

vol. 4, 1950–1952 (Washington, DC: Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 

1998), 35–36; Condit, The Test of War, 230.

NSC 68

National Security Council paper number 68, or NSC 68, was a topsecret memorandum completed in April 1950 by a joint State-Defense 

Department working group chaired by State’s Policy Planning Staff 

director, Paul Nitze. Drafted in response to a nuclearized Soviet Union, 

NSC 68 called for a buildup in American conventional and nuclear 

forces to counter the “Kremlin’s design for world domination.” Secretary 

of Defense Johnson did not take an active part in preparing NSC 68, as 

he had a particularly acrimonious relationship with Secretary of State 

Dean Acheson, and he disagreed with any policy reassessment that 

might impact the economy. Deputy Secretary Early also had no role in 

shaping NSC 68. In 1951, the task of budgeting for the suggested military 

buildup fell to Deputy Secretary Lovett, a former consultant to the working 

group that drafted NSC 68. See Curt Caldwell, NSC 68 and the Political 

Economy of the Early Cold War (New York: Cambridge University Press, 

2011); Nicholas Thompson, The Hawk and the Dove (New York: Henry 

Holt and Company, 2009), 111–114; McFarland and Roll, Louis Johnson 

and the Arming of America, 226.

 
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

22 23

departments to finalize the Defense Department’s fiscal policy. He 

became the first deputy secretary of defense to negotiate with the 

individual services over materiel and the first deputy to testify before 

the House and Senate appropriations committees on budgetary 

issues, setting a precedent for future deputies’ involvement in 

crafting the department’s budget. One general remarked that Lovett 

was “the smoothest negotiator you’ve ever seen. He’d spent his life 

negotiating loans. In the Pentagon he negotiated, but he always 

got his way.” Ultimately, the Defense Department had to revise its 

spending and the Pentagon submitted three separate supplemental 

fiscal year 1951 measures to Congress. The fiscal year 1952 Defense 

budget was the largest appropriated sum since the end of World 

War II. Years later, when McNeil reflected on his involvement in 

the fiscal year 1953 budget, he pointed out that he was “rather the 

action agent in carrying out the agreement between Marshall, Lovett 

and the administration. I certainly didn’t dream up all the ideas.”34

34 Condit, The Test of War, 242–243, 250, 256, 260, 486; Memorandum for the Joint Chiefs 

of Staff, 18 Aug 1951, CD 381 (War Plan NSC 68), box 272, Records of the Office of the 

Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, Decimal File 1951, National Archives and Records 

Administration, College Park, MD (hereafter NARA II); Statement by the Honorable Robert 

From Deputy to Secretary of Defense

In early September 1951, a fatigued Secretary of Defense Marshall 

informed the president that he was resigning, completing his promised 

year of service. His term had been particularly trying due to the ongoing 

Korean crisis and the furor in April over Truman’s relief of General 

MacArthur as commander of U.S. and UN Forces for threatening to 

expand the Korean War at a time when the Truman administration 

was attempting to broker peace. According to Lovett, MacArthur, who 

was not close to Marshall, erred in “considering himself omnipotent, 

or probably worse, by thinking everybody else considered him 

omnipotent.” Although Lovett was not directly involved in the 

president’s decision to dismiss MacArthur, Marshall spent seven days 

testifying before Congress on this issue. Deputy Secretary Lovett 

proved to be the one constant for Marshall during his tumultuous days 

as secretary. Marshall said he “trust[ed] Lovett’s judgment,” describing 

his deputy as “most congenial and utterly selfless.” Truman immediately 

nominated Lovett to succeed Marshall as the fourth secretary of 

defense. Lovett’s close collaboration with Marshall ensured a continuity 

of leadership that the president needed while the fighting continued 

in Korea. Lovett’s popularity with Congress also meant a smooth and 

speedy Senate confirmation. He was the first of five deputy secretaries 

of defense to become secretary of defense.35

A. Lovett on 7 May 1951 before the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, 

on the FY 1952 Budget for the Department of Defense; Statement by the Honorable Robert A. 

Lovett on 7 June 1951 before the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations on the 

FY 1952 Budget for the Department of Defense: both in folder Budget FY 52, Jan-Jun 1951, 

box 767, Subject Files, OSD/HO; Borklund, Men of the Pentagon, 120–121; Wilfred McNeil, 

interview by Doris Condit and Ronald Hoffman, 7 Jun 1976, 3, Oral History Collection, 

OSD/HO.

35 Condit, The Test of War, 103–108. For MacArthur’s position, see Walter Waggoner, 

“Truman Names MacArthur to Head UN Forces in Korea,” New York Times, 9 Jul 1950; 

Lovett interview, 7 Jun 1976, 23; Pogue, George C. Marshall, 491; Edward B. Lockett, “Again 

the Marshall-Lovett Team”; John G. Norris, “Secretary of Defense Is Succeeded by Deputy,” 

Washington Post, 13 Sep 1951.

Lovett confers with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Omar Bradley 

(left) and General Matthew B. Ridgeway (center). (National Archives)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

24 25

Foster proved to be an adept administrator. He met regularly with 

the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Omar Bradley, and 

presided over regular meetings of the Armed Forces Policy Council. 

On Fridays, he chaired the Staff Council meetings of the 10 assistant 

secretaries, who coordinated the 

staff work within OSD. In October 

1952, Secretary Lovett designated 

him chairman of the seven-member 

Munitions Allocation Council 

within OSD to advise the secretary 

on weapons and ammunition. By 

June 1952, Foster also presided 

over meetings of the Defense 

Management Council, the entity 

which replaced the Johnson-era 

Defense Management Committee 

charged with improving the 

organizational structure of the department. And because of his 

experience at ECA, he also juggled 

military and economic assistance issues, testifying before congressional 

committees on 12 separate occasions from 1951 to 1952 on topics 

ranging from the Defense budget to the Mutual Security Act, which 

provided military and economic aid to America’s allies. He considered 

himself more “technically minded than Lovett” as a result of his 

coursework in engineering at MIT and closely collaborated with the 

Research and Development Board advising the secretary of defense on 

national security, science, and technology.38

William C. Foster, interview by Alfred Goldberg and Samuel A. Tucker, 27 Feb 1974, 27, 

Oral History Collection, OSD/HO; John G. Norris, “Secretary of Defense Is Succeeded by 

Deputy,” Washington Post, 13 Sep 1951; Senate Committee on Armed Services, Hearing on 

Nomination of William C. Foster to Be Deputy Secretary of Defense, 82nd Cong., 1st sess., 1951, 

2; Nomination of William C. Foster to be Deputy Secretary of Defense, 82nd Cong., 1st sess., 

Cong. Rec., 21 Sep 1951, S 11859.

38 Condit, The Test of War, 485, 22; Congressional Appearances—Deputy Secretary of Defense, 

9 Jul 1952, folder Deputy Secretary Foster’s Appearances on Capitol Hill, box 17, Biographical 

Files, OSD/HO; Foster interview, 27 Feb 1974, 5, 3.

“Another Lovett”

Secretary of Defense Lovett entered office on 17 September 1951. To 

fill the deputy secretary of defense post, Truman nominated William 

Chapman Foster. The former World War I Army Air Service pilot had 

substantial experience in both business and government. In 1922, he 

joined the Pressed & Welded Steel Products Co., Inc., and by 1946, 

he had become its president. He spent World War II as a member 

and chairman of the War Department’s Purchase Policy Advisory 

Committee. In 1944, he was appointed to the Purchase Division 

of the Army Service Forces and served as assistant director, deputy 

director, and then director. He was made a special representative to 

the under secretary of war on procurement issues for the Army Air 

Forces. From 1946 to 1948, he served as under secretary of commerce. 

In 1948, he became the deputy administrator for the Economic 

Cooperation Administration (ECA), the entity which oversaw the 

European Recovery Program (also known as the Marshall Plan), and 

by 1950 he was the administrator.36

Although Lovett and Foster spoke only briefly before Foster’s 

confirmation hearing, Lovett conveyed his hopes that Foster would 

act as a true deputy with full authority to oversee any type of issue 

in Lovett’s absence. The press praised Foster’s nomination, and, as 

the Washington Post observed, the Pentagon was getting “another 

Lovett” since Foster’s administrative skills were equivalent to those 

of the new secretary. Lovett happily turned over management of the 

Pentagon to his deputy, which Foster interpreted as “procurement 

[and] relations with the budget preparation.” The Senate confirmed 

him on 21 September and he took the oath of office three days later.37

36 Condit, The Test of War, 36–37; Biographical sketch printed in Senate Committee on Armed 

Services, Hearing on Nomination of William C. Foster to Be Deputy Secretary of Defense, 82nd 

Cong., 1st sess., 1951, 11–12.

Deputy Secretary Lovett became the fourth secretary of defense and served in that capacity for the 

remainder of the Truman administration. In his post-Pentagon endeavors, he was a member of several 

presidential commissions and continued to work for Brown Brothers Harriman. He died in 1986.

37 Memorandum for the Record re: Conversation with Mr. William C. Foster, Deputy 

Secretary of Defense, 1951–1953, on 25 Oct 1977, Oral History Collection, OSD/HO; 

Deputy Secretary of Defense William 

Foster proved to be an adept 

administrator for Secretary of Defense 

Robert Lovett. (OSD Historical Office)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

26 27

The 1949 National Security Act Amendments empowered the 

secretary and the deputy secretary with “direction, authority and 

control over the Department of Defense.” On 1 June 1951, the 

directive system emerged as a means for disseminating information. 

Directives served as the medium whereby the secretary published 

“policy guidance, instructions and orders for the direction and 

control of all Defense Department activities.” The deputy had the 

power to sign these documents in his own right and on behalf of 

the secretary. Deputy Secretary Foster issued a Defense Department 

directive establishing the Defense Supply Management Agency, which 

created one uniform cataloging system and supply standardization 

mechanism that complied with the 1951 Defense Cataloging and 

Standardization Act. In addition, as a PSB participant, he hoped 

to better coordinate psychological and covert planning within the 

Defense Department. He authorized an April 1952 directive creating 

the Office of Psychological Policy within the Office of the Assistant 

to the Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.39

Foster’s Foray into Foreign Affairs

Although consumed with managing the Pentagon, Foster became 

immersed in the major foreign policy issues occupying the Truman 

administration. The Korean War continued to be the chief foreign 

and military priority, and Foster later surmised that this conflict alone 

occupied 25–30 percent of his time in office. New trouble spots, 

such as Indochina, and issues involving the North Atlantic Treaty 

Organization (NATO) also required the administration’s attention.40

The week before Foster entered office, he was part of the American 

delegation in Ottawa at the seventh session of the North Atlantic 

39 P.L. 81–216 in Cole et al., Department of Defense: Documents, 88; “Proposal for the 

Reissuance and Indexing of Department of Defense Directives”; “Department of Defense 

Directive 5025.1,” 2 Feb 1954, Directives System, 1950–59: both in folder DoD Directive 

System Establishment, box 608, Subject Files, OSD/HO; P.L. 82-436 and Department of 

Defense Directive 5126.7; Department of Defense Directive, 21 Apr 1952, folder 300.6 Office 

Memoranda-General, box 21, Staff Member and Office Files, HSTL.

40 Foster interview, 27 Feb 1974, 19.

Council (NAC), a NATO committee comprising the foreign 

ministers of member nations. Despite not having been confirmed yet, 

Lovett asked him to attend, and he was both “economic minister and 

defense minister” for the United States at a critical time for the NAC. 

Since NATO’s inception in 1949, participating nations had been 

concerned with force levels, the cost of maintaining these units, and 

the collective defense of the Alliance. At the Ottawa meeting, NAC 

planned to study existing NATO defense plans in relation to each 

member nations’ political and economic capabilities. Foster arranged 

the meeting in which participants selected three representatives, W. 

Averell Harriman (U.S.), Jean Monnet (France), and Hugh Gaitskell 

(U.K.), known as the “three wise men,” to oversee the review.41

41 Department of State Press Release, 14 Sep 1951, folder NATO 1951, box 88, Subject Files, 

OSD/HO; Foster interview, 27 Feb 1974, 17–18; “Pact Nations Form Executive Bureau,” New 

York Times, 20 Sep 1951; Establishment of the Executive Bureau of the Temporary Council 

Committee, 11 Oct 1951, NAC-01-The North Atlantic Council, Series TCC-Temporary 

Council Committee, document TCC-D/1-Rev1, <http://archives.nato.int/establishment-ofexecutive-bureau-of-temporary-council-committee-2;isad>. Before the final review and report 

were completed, Sir Edward Plowden replaced Hugh Gaitskell.

Deputy Secretary of Defense William Foster (back row, 2nd from left) visited troops 

in Korea as part of his 24-day inspection tour of American military installations in 

Asia. (National Archives)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1 Creating the Alter Ego

28 29

Deputy Secretary of Defense William Foster (seated, far right) and Secretary of 

Defense Robert Lovett (seated, 2nd from right) pose with incoming members of the 

Eisenhower administration, Secretary of Defense-designate Charles Wilson (seated 

2nd from left) and Deputy Secretary of Defense-designate Roger Kyes (seated, left). 

Secretary of the Navy-designate and future Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert 

Anderson is standing between Wilson and Lovett. (OSD Historical Office)

In October 1952, Foster embarked on a 24-day inspection tour of the 

United States’ Asian military installations, becoming the first deputy 

secretary of defense to travel abroad. His itinerary included stops in 

Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Manila, Saigon, Bangkok, Rangoon, Singapore, 

New Delhi, Cairo, Frankfurt, Naples, and Lisbon. Upon his return, 

he reported that the morale of the troops in South Korea was high, 

but he did not anticipate a rapidly negotiated armistice in the near 

future. He also indicated that in Indochina, where French forces had 

been fighting the Communist-backed Vietminh since 1946 in an 

effort to retain control over their former colony, pro-French forces 

had been built up and were assuming a large portion of the fighting. 

In a rare instance of discord between Foster and Lovett, the two were 

at odds over American policy toward Vietnam. While Foster believed 

that the French were angling for greater American involvement so 

that the United States could assume more of the burden of fighting 

the Communists, Lovett favored increasing American logistical 

support to the French. Theirs would not be the last disagreement 

on the matter; Vietnam would occupy the attention of the ensuing 

12 deputy secretaries of defense and their respective presidential 

administrations for the next two decades.42

Conclusion

Deputy Secretary of Defense Foster and Secretary of Defense Lovett 

worked together harmoniously during their service in the Pentagon. 

On 16 January 1953, only days before their tenures were about to 

expire, Lovett presented Foster with a Certificate of Appreciation, 

at the time the Department of Defense’s highest civilian honor. 

The citation lauded Foster for his “initiative, brilliant leadership 

and foresight” and for making a “significant contribution toward [the] 

improvement of [the American] military position and national security.” 

Foster and his predecessors had served their respective secretaries admirably. 

42 “Seoul Said to Lack All-Front Force,” New York Times, 24 Oct 1952; Minutes of Press 

Conference held by the Honorable William C. Foster, Deputy Secretary of Defense, 10 Nov 

1952, folder Foster-DepSec, box 17, Biographical Files, OSD/HO; Poole, JCS and National 

Policy, 210–220; Foster interview, 27 Feb 1974, 20; Condit, The Test of War, 214–215.

On 16 January 1953, just days before their terms in office expired, Secretary of 

Defense Robert Lovett presented Deputy Secretary William Foster with a certificate 

of appreciation, the Defense Department’s highest civilian honor at that time. 

(National Archives)
31

Deputy Secretary of Defense Series • Special Study 1

30

About the Author

Shannon E. Mohan joined the OSD Historical Office as a contract historian 

in September 2013. She holds a B.A. in history from the University of 

Maryland and an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from American University. 

Dr. Mohan is a specialist in cold war U.S. diplomatic history as well as 

the national security policymaking process.

About the Editor

Erin R. Mahan has been Chief Historian for the Secretary of Defense since 

2010. Previously, she worked in the Center for the Study of Weapons of 

Mass Destruction at National Defense University and in the Historian’s 

Office at the U.S. Department of State, where she was an editor of the 

Foreign Relations of the United States series. Dr. Mahan holds a Ph.D. in 

history from the University of Virginia.

The deputy secretary of defense post emerged from the secretary’s 

need to have a subordinate who shared the burdens of overseeing 

the Department of Defense. The statutory language describing the 

deputy’s duties was purposefully vague to permit the secretary of 

defense to task him with specific areas of responsibility. In the first 

four years after the deputy’s position came into existence, however, 

there seemed to be little consistency in the deputy’s role in the 

Pentagon. The first three deputies ultimately immersed themselves 

in areas in which they had the greatest expertise. Over time, as the 

burdens on the secretary of defense increased, the deputy secretary 

assumed greater importance within the defense establishment.43

43 SC 415784-S, Record Group 319-A, Army Signal Corps Still Photographs, folder Foster, 

William C., NARA II. 

Foster’s stint in the government was not over after the end of the Truman administration. In 

1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed him the first director of the Arms Control and 

Disarmament Agency, a position he held until 1969. He died in 1984.

Historical Office

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