History lesson for anyone who needs it, including occupants of the White House: The Department of Defense was created in 1947 by merging the Department of War, the Department of the Navy, and the recently formed Department of the Air Force. Prior to the merger, the War Department managed only the Army. The name Department of Defense was political: it didn’t reuse any of the names of the former departments, so it couldn’t be seen as one absorbing the others, i.e. the Army absorbing the Navy and the Air Force they had just spun off from the Army Air Corps.
History lesson for anyone who needs it, including occupants of the White House: The Department of Defense was created in 1947 by merging the Department of War, the Department of the Navy, and the recently formed Department of the Air Force. Prior to the merger, the War Department managed only the Army. The name Department of Defense was political: it didn’t reuse any of the names of the former departments, so it couldn’t be seen as one absorbing the others, i.e. the Army absorbing the Navy and the Air Force they had just spun off from the Army Air Corps.
Also in a way it’s not made our jobs easier. It’s difficult to argue cutting “defense” funds, but it’s a lot easier to be against a “war” department.