These include agencies such as the CIA and OSB, or Operations Coordinating Board. The growth of these three coordinating mechanisms -- NSC, CIA and OCB -- has contributed in some ways to strengthening Presidential leadership in policy-making and to increasing cooperation of agencies under ambassadorial leadership on "country teams" in the field.

(Elder 15)

The NSC is vital in today's Government to determine foreign Policy. "NSC staff continue to be key foreign policy advisers"

Kurian 6) the importance of the NSC can be gleaned from the following statement:

From the 1970s through the 1990s the National Security Council and its staff have overshadowed the Departments of State and Defense in formulating national security policy. The domestic policy staff in the White House is more important than any of the domestic cabinet departments on most domestic policy issues.

(Kurian 88)

The function of determining foreign policy requires the coordination of various sectors of the intelligence and governmental communities and this was the original idea behind the creation of the NSC.

The formation of the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency in 1947, and the Operations Coordinating Board in 1954, must be recognized as major steps toward the achievement of a minimum degree of coordination by the Chief Executive over the foreign affairs agencies.

Elder 12)

As has been stated, the constitution and functioning of the NSC varies according to the policies and objectives of each President. For example, "President Truman's NSC was dominated by the Department of State. President Eisenhower's predilection for the military staff system, however, led to the development of the NSC along those lines." (History of the National Security Council)

President Kennedy on the other hand at first placed the responsibility for foreign policy-making in the hands of the Secretary of State but changed this view when it became evident that a broader consensus with other departments was needed. Kennedy in fact "dismantled Eisenhower's elaborate NSC machinery and allowed the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs and his staff to assume the primary coordination role." (ibid)

The Bush Administration has placed foreign policy management in...

(ibid) in short, each President attempts to coordinate the NSC in order to attain the best integration of defense and foreign policies.
For 50 years, 10 Presidents have sought to use the National Security Council system to integrate foreign and defense policies in order to preserve the nation's security and advance its interests abroad. Recurrent structural modifications over the years have reflected Presidential management styles, changing requirements, and personal relationships.

Bibliography

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An Instrument of Government, to 1950 an Instrument of Government, to 1950. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1990.

Cyr, Arthur. "How Important is National Security Structure to National Security Policy?." World Affairs 146.2 (1983): 127-147.

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History of the National Security Council. The White House. Accessed Nov 4, 2004. http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/history.html

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