Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Why isn't there a secretary of offense in the United States government?

There used to be a "Secretary of War" which is somewhat closer to the "secretary of offense" idea.   This office was eliminated in 1947; it changed (more or less) into several other jobs: Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of Defense.  The first two are now subordinate to the last.

Why was no one ever called "Secretary of Offense"?  Well, first, it might be offensive.  (Sorry).  But, more generally:

1) The cabinet offices were established before American football was invented and, therefore, the notion of "offensive" and "defensive" coaches wasn't prominent.

2) The job of coordinating the efforts of the armed forces isn't easily separable into "offense" and "defense".


Read other answers by Peter Flom on Quora: Read more answers on Quora.

from Quora http://ift.tt/28MK4dV

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