| United States Secretary of Defense | |
|---|---|
.svg) Seal of the department[a] | |
 | |
 | |
| United States Department of Defense | |
| Style | Mr. Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal) |
| Abbreviation |
|
| Member of | Cabinet National Security Council |
| Reports to | President of the United States |
| Seat | The Pentagon,Arlington County,Virginia |
| Appointer | Thepresident withSenateadvice and consent |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | 10 U.S.C. § 113 |
| Precursor | |
| Formation | 17 September 1947 (1947-09-17) |
| First holder | James Forrestal |
| Succession | Sixth[3] |
| Deputy | Deputy Secretary of Defense |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, level I[4] |
| Website | war.gov |
TheUnited States secretary of defense (SecDef), secondarily titled thesecretary of war (SecWar),[b] is the head of theUnited States Department of Defense (DoD), theexecutive department of theU.S. Armed Forces, and is a high-ranking member of thecabinet of the United States.[7][8][9] The secretary of defense's position of command and authority over the military is second only to that of thepresident of the United States, who is thecommander-in-chief. This position corresponds to what is generally known as adefense minister in many other countries.[10] The president appoints the secretary of defense with theadvice and consent of theSenate, and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of theNational Security Council.[11]
Subject only to the orders of the president, the secretary of defense is in thechain of command and exercisescommand and control, for both operational and administrative purposes, over all DoD-administered service branches – theArmy,Marine Corps,Navy,Air Force, andSpace Force – as well as theCoast Guard when its command and control is transferred to the Department of Defense.[12][13][14][15][16] Only the secretary of defense (or the president or Congress) can authorize the transfer of operational control of forces between the three military departments (Department of the Army,the Navy, andthe Air Force) and the elevenUnified Combatant Commands.[12]
To ensurecivilian control of the military, U.S. law provides that the secretary of defense cannot have served as an active-dutycommissioned officer in the military in the preceding seven years except forgenerals andadmirals, who cannot have served on active duty within the previous ten years. Congress can legislatively waive this restriction[17] and has done so three times, forGeorge C. Marshall Jr.,James N. Mattis, andLloyd J. Austin III. Thechairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense and the president; while the chairman may assist the secretary and president in their command functions, the chairman is not in the chain of command.[18]
Because the secretary of defense is vested with legal powers that exceed those of anycommissioned officer, and is second only to the president in the military hierarchy, its incumbent has sometimes unofficially been referred to as "deputy commander-in-chief".[19][20][21] Thesecretary of state, thesecretary of the treasury, the secretary of defense, and theattorney general are generally regarded as the four most important (and are officially the four most senior and oldest) cabinet officials because of the size and importance of their respective departments.[22]
The current secretary of defense isPete Hegseth, who was nominated by PresidentDonald Trump and was confirmed by theSenate on 25 January 2025.
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An Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were established in 1775, in concurrence with theAmerican Revolution. TheWar Department, headed by thesecretary of war, was created byAct of Congress in 1789 and was responsible for both the Army and Navy until the founding of a separateDepartment of the Navy in 1798.
Based on the experiences ofWorld War II, proposals were soon made on how to more effectively manage the large combined military establishment. The Army generally favored centralization while the Navy had institutional preferences for decentralization and the status quo. The resultingNational Security Act of 1947 was largely a compromise between these divergent viewpoints. It renamed theDepartment of War theDepartment of the Army, and added both it and theDepartment of the Navy to a newly establishedNational Military Establishment (NME). The act also separated theArmy Air Forces from the Army to become its own branch of service, theUnited States Air Force.
A new title was coined by the act for the head of the NME: Secretary of Defense. At first, each of the service secretaries maintained cabinet status. The first secretary of defense,James Forrestal, who in his previous capacity as thesecretary of the Navy had opposed the creation of the new position, found it difficult to exercise authority over the other branches with the limited powers his office had at the time. To address this and other problems, the National Security Act was amended in 1949 to further consolidate the national defense structure in order to reduceinterservice rivalry, directly subordinate thesecretaries of the Army, the Navy and theAir Force to the secretary of defense in the chain of command, and rename the National Military Establishment as the Department of Defense, making it oneExecutive Department. The position of thedeputy secretary of defense, the number two position in the department, was also created at this time.
The general trend since 1949 has been to further centralize management in the Department of Defense, elevating the status and authorities of civilianOSD appointees and defense-wide organizations at the expense of the military departments and the services within them. The last major revision of the statutory framework concerning the position was done in theGoldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. In particular, it elevated the status of joint service for commissioned officers, making it in practice a requirement before appointments to general officer and flag officer grades could be made.
As the secretary of defense is a civilian position intended to be independent of the active-duty leadership, a secretary is required to have been retired from service for at least seven (originally ten) years unless a waiver is approved by Congress.[23] Since the creation of the position in 1947, such a waiver has been approved only three times, for Army generalGeorge Marshall in 1950, Marine Corps GeneralJim Mattis in 2017, and retired Army generalLloyd Austin in 2021.[24][25]
The secretary of defense, appointed by thepresident with the advice and consent of theSenate, is by federal law (10 U.S.C. § 113) the head of the Department of Defense, "the principal assistant to the President in all matters relating to Department of Defense", and has "authority, direction and control over the Department of Defense". Because theConstitution vests all military authority inCongress and the president, the statutory authority of the secretary of defense is derived from their constitutional authorities. Since it is impractical for either Congress or the president to participate in every piece of Department of Defense affairs, the secretary of defense and the secretary's subordinate officials generally exercise military authority.
As the head of DoD, all officials, employees and service members are "under" the secretary of defense. Some of those high-ranking officials, civil and military (outside of OSD and the Joint Staff) are: thesecretary of the Army,secretary of the Navy, andsecretary of the Air Force,Army chief of staff,commandant of the Marine Corps,chief of naval operations,Air Force chief of staff,chief of space operations, andchief of the National Guard Bureau and the combatant commanders of theCombatant Commands. All these high-ranking positions, civil and military, require Senate confirmation.
The Department of Defense is composed of theOffice of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), theJoint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and theJoint Staff (JS),Office of the Inspector General (DODIG), theCombatant Commands, the Military Departments (Department of the Army (DA),Department of the Navy (DON) &Department of the Air Force (DAF)), theDefense Agencies and DoD Field Activities, theNational Guard Bureau (NGB), and such other offices, agencies, activities, organizations, and commands established or designated by law, or by the president or by the secretary of defense.
Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 describes the organizational relationships within the department and is the foundational issuance for delineating the major functions of the department. The latest version, signed by former secretary of defenseRobert Gates in December 2010, is the first major re-write since 1987.[26][27]
The secretary's principally civilian staff element is called theOffice of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and is composed of thedeputy secretary of defense (DEPSECDEF) and six under secretaries of defense in the fields ofacquisition & sustainment,research & engineering,comptroller/chief financial officer,intelligence,personnel & readiness, andpolicy; severalassistant secretaries of defense; other directors and the staffs under them. The Secretary of Defense is issuing through the Office of the Secretary of Defense theNational Defense Strategy, a major policy document.
The name of the principally military staff organization, organized under the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is theJoint Staff (JS).
TheDefense Distinguished Service Medal (DDSM), theDefense Superior Service Medal (DSSM), theDefense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM), theJoint Service Commendation Medal (JSCM) and theJoint Service Achievement Medal (JSAM) are awarded, to military personnel for service in joint duty assignments, in the name of the secretary of defense. In addition, there is theJoint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA), which is the only ribbon (as in non-medal) and unit award issued to joint DoD activities, also issued in the name of the secretary of defense.
The DDSM is analogous to the distinguished services medals issued by the military departments (i.e.Army Distinguished Service Medal,Navy Distinguished Service Medal &Air Force Distinguished Service Medal), the DSSM corresponds to theLegion of Merit, the DMSM to theMeritorious Service Medal, the JSCM to the service commendation medals, and the JSAM to the achievement medals issued by the services. While the approval authority for DSSM, DMSM, JSCM, JSAM and JMUA is delegated to inferior DoD officials: the DDSM can be awarded only by the secretary of defense.
Recommendations for theMedal of Honor (MOH), formally endorsed in writing by the secretary of the military department concerned and thechairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are processed through theunder secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and such recommendations be must approved by the secretary of defense before it can be handed over to the president, who is the final approval authority for the MOH, although it is awarded in the name ofCongress.
The secretary of defense, with the concurrence of thesecretary of state, is the approval authority for the acceptance and wear ofNATO medals issued by thesecretary general of NATO and offered to theU.S. permanent representative to NATO in recognition of U.S. servicemembers who meet the eligibility criteria specified by NATO.[28]
As the head of the department, the secretary of defense is the chief witness for the congressional committees with oversight responsibilities over the Department of Defense. The most important committees, with respect to the entire department, are the two authorizing committees, theSenate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and theHouse Armed Services Committee (HASC), and the two appropriations committees, theSenate Appropriations Committee and theHouse Appropriations Committee.
For the DoD intelligence programs theSenate Select Committee on Intelligence and theHouse Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have the principal oversight role.
The secretary of defense is a statutory member of theNational Security Council.[29] As one of the principals, the secretary along with thevice president, secretary of state and theassistant to the president for national security affairs participates in biweekly Principals Committee (PC) meetings, preparing and coordinating issues before they are brought before full NSC sessions chaired by the president.
The secretary is one of only five or six civilians – the others being the president, the three "service secretaries" (thesecretary of the Army,secretary of the Navy, andsecretary of the Air Force), and thesecretary of homeland security (when theUnited States Coast Guard is under theUnited States Department of Homeland Security and has not been transferred to theDepartment of the Navy under the Department of Defense) – authorized to act asconvening authority in themilitary justice system forGeneral Courts-Martial (10 U.S.C. § 822: article 22,UCMJ), Special Courts-Martial (10 U.S.C. § 823: article 23, UCMJ), and Summary Courts-Martial (10 U.S.C. § 824: article 24 UCMJ).
The secretary of defense is aLevel I position in the Executive Schedule,[4] thus earning a salary ofUS$246,400, as of October 2024.[30]
The longest-serving secretary of defense isRobert McNamara, who served for a total of 7 years, 39 days. Combining his two non-sequential services as the secretary of defense, the second-longest serving isDonald Rumsfeld, who served just ten days fewer than McNamara. The second-longest unbroken tenure was Caspar Weinberger's, at 6 years, 306 days.
The shortest-serving secretary of defense isElliot Richardson, who served 114 days and then was appointedU.S. attorney general amid theresignations of theWatergate Scandal (this is not countingdeputy secretaries of defenseWilliam P. Clements andWilliam Howard Taft IV, who each served a few weeks as temporary/acting secretary of defense).
For precursors to this position prior to the establishment of the Department of Defense, see the lists ofsecretaries of the Navy andsecretaries of war prior to 1947.
Democratic Republican Independent / Unknown
| No. | Image | Name | Start | End | Duration | Party | Home State | President(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | James Forrestal[31] | 17 September 1947 | 28 March 1949 | 1 year, 192 days | Democratic |  New York | Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) | ||
| 2 |  | Louis A. Johnson[32] | 28 March 1949 | 19 September 1950 | 1 year, 175 days | Democratic |  West Virginia | |||
| 3 | .JPEG) | George C. Marshall[33] | 21 September 1950 | 12 September 1951 | 356 days | Independent |  Pennsylvania | |||
| 4 |  | Robert A. Lovett[34] | 17 September 1951 | 20 January 1953 | 1 year, 125 days | Republican | New York | |||
| 5 |  | Charles Erwin Wilson[35] | 28 January 1953 | 8 October 1957 | 4 years, 253 days | Republican |  Michigan | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) | ||
| 6 |  | Neil H. McElroy[36] | 9 October 1957 | 1 December 1959 | 2 years, 53 days | Republican |  Ohio | |||
| 7 |  | Thomas S. Gates Jr.[37] | 2 December 1959 | 20 January 1961 | 1 year, 49 days | Republican | Pennsylvania | |||
| 8 |  | Robert McNamara[38] | 21 January 1961 | 29 February 1968 | 7 years, 39 days | Republican | Michigan | John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) | ||
| Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) | ||||||||||
| 9 |  | Clark Clifford[39] | 1 March 1968 | 20 January 1969 | 325 days | Democratic |  Maryland | Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) | ||
| 10 |  | Melvin Laird[40] | 22 January 1969 | 29 January 1973 | 4 years, 7 days | Republican |  Wisconsin | Richard Nixon (1969–1974) | ||
| 11 |  | Elliot Richardson[41] | 30 January 1973 | 24 May 1973 | 114 days | Republican |  Massachusetts | |||
| – |  | Bill Clements Acting[42] | 24 May 1973 | 2 July 1973 | 39 days | Republican |  Texas | |||
| 12 | .jpg) | James R. Schlesinger[43] | 2 July 1973 | 19 November 1975 | 2 years, 140 days | Republican |  Virginia | Richard Nixon (1969–1974) | ||
| Gerald Ford (1974–1977) | ||||||||||
| 13 |  | Donald Rumsfeld[44] | 20 November 1975 | 20 January 1977 | 1 year, 61 days | Republican |  Illinois | Gerald Ford (1974–1977) | ||
| 14 |  | Harold Brown[45] | 20 January 1977 | 20 January 1981 | 4 years, 0 days | Democratic |  California | Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) | ||
| 15 |  | Caspar Weinberger[46] | 21 January 1981 | 23 November 1987 | 6 years, 306 days | Republican | California | Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) | ||
| 16 |  | Frank Carlucci[47] | 23 November 1987 | 20 January 1989 | 1 year, 58 days | Republican | Virginia | |||
| – |  | William Howard Taft IV Acting[48] | 20 January 1989 | 21 March 1989 | 60 days | Republican | Ohio | George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) | ||
| 17 | .jpg) | Dick Cheney[49] | 21 March 1989 | 20 January 1993 | 3 years, 305 days | Republican |  Wyoming | |||
| 18 |  | Les Aspin[50][51][52] | 20 January 1993 | 3 February 1994 | 1 year, 14 days | Democratic | Wisconsin | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) | ||
| 19 | .jpg) | William Perry[53][51][54] | 3 February 1994 | 24 January 1997 | 2 years, 356 days | Democratic | Pennsylvania | |||
| 20 | .jpg) | William Cohen[55] | 24 January 1997 | 20 January 2001 | 3 years, 362 days | Republican |  Maine | |||
| 21 | .jpg) | Donald Rumsfeld[56] | 20 January 2001 | 18 December 2006 | 5 years, 332 days (7 years, 29 days total) | Republican | Illinois | George W. Bush (2001–2009) | ||
| 22 | .jpg) | Robert Gates[57][51] | 18 December 2006 | 30 June 2011 | 4 years, 194 days | Republican | Texas | George W. Bush (2001–2009) | ||
| Barack Obama (2009–2017) | ||||||||||
| 23 | .jpg) | Leon Panetta[58] | 1 July 2011 | 26 February 2013 | 1 year, 240 days | Democratic | California | Barack Obama (2009–2017) | ||
| 24 | .jpg) | Chuck Hagel[59] | 27 February 2013 | 17 February 2015 | 1 year, 355 days | Republican |  Nebraska | |||
| 25 | .jpg) | Ash Carter[60][51] | 17 February 2015 | 20 January 2017 | 1 year, 338 days | Democratic | Massachusetts | |||
| 26 | .jpg) | Jim Mattis[61] | 20 January 2017 | 1 January 2019 | 1 year, 345 days | Independent |  Washington | Donald Trump (2017–2021) | ||
| – | .jpg) | Patrick M. Shanahan Acting[62] | 1 January 2019 | 23 June 2019 | 173 days | Independent | Washington | |||
| – | .jpg) | Mark Esper Acting[63] | 24 June 2019 | 15 July 2019 | 21 days | Republican | Virginia | |||
| – | .jpg) | Richard V. Spencer Acting[64] | 15 July 2019 | 23 July 2019 | 8 days | Republican | Wyoming | |||
| 27 | .jpg) | Mark Esper[63] | 23 July 2019 | 9 November 2020 | 1 year, 109 days | Republican | Virginia | |||
| – | .jpg) | Christopher C. Miller Acting[63] | 9 November 2020 | 20 January 2021 | 72 days | Republican |  Iowa | |||
| – | .jpg) | David Norquist Acting[65] | 20 January 2021 | 22 January 2021 | 2 days | Republican | Massachusetts | Joe Biden (2021–2025) | ||
| 28 | .jpg) | Lloyd Austin[66] | 22 January 2021 | 20 January 2025 | 3 years, 364 days | Independent |  Georgia | |||
| – |  | Robert G. Salesses Acting | 20 January 2025 | 25 January 2025 | 5 days | Independent |  Rhode Island | Donald Trump (2025–present) | ||
| 29 | .jpg) | Pete Hegseth | 25 January 2025 | Incumbent | 303 days | Republican |  Minnesota | |||
The secretary of defense is sixth in thepresidential line of succession, following thesecretary of the treasury and preceding theattorney general.[67]
On 10 December 2020, President Donald Trump modified the order of succession for the office of Secretary of Defense in Executive Order 13963. The order of succession is:[68]
It is hereby expressed as the intent of the Congress that the authority granted by this Act is not to be construed as approval by the Congress of continuing appointments of military men to the office of Secretary of Defense in the future. It is hereby expressed as the sense of the Congress that after General Marshall leaves the office of Secretary of Defense, no additional appointments of military men to that office shall be approved.
Defenselink bioArchived November 18, 2008, at theWayback Machine, Retrieved February 8, 2010; andMarshall Foundation bioArchived September 27, 2011, at theWayback Machine, Retrieved February 8, 2010.
In June 1973, Representative O. C. Fisher complained to William P. Clements, Jr., acting Secretary of Defense, that the authority, responsibility, and, consequently, effectiveness of the chiefs of the various reserve components seemed to be eroding.
(Deputy Secretary of Defense William H. Taft served as acting secretary of defense from 20 January 1989 until 21 March 1989).
Sworn in as secretary of defense on 3 February 1994 and served until 24 January 1997.
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| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byasSecretary of the Treasury | Order of precedence of the United States as Secretary of Defense | Succeeded byasAttorney General |
| U.S. presidential line of succession | ||
| Preceded by | 6th in line | Succeeded by |
