Why are civil-mil scholars upset about Austin Lloyd's nomination as the 28th Secretary of Defense?

Consider the nomination of the 3rd Secretary of Defense: George Marshall

[THREAD]

In 1950, Truman wanted to fire the second SecDef, Louis Johnson, and install George Marshall as Secretary of Defense.
There was a problem: when the Department of Defense was created in 1947, section 202 of the 1947 National Security Act (which created the DoD, then called "The National Military Establishment") would not allow recently retired officers to serve as SecDef

https://t.co/bWx4h1OFah
Marshall had only retired as a 5-star General in 1947
Of course, by 1950 Marshall had already served as Secretary of State and had proposed the "Marshall Plan" for the recovery of Europe
So Marshall was highly qualified and well respected.

But section 202 was perfectly clear that he couldn't be SecDef...unless the law was changed/suspended.
Truman wanted the provision suspended: the Korean War was starting and Truman needed Marshall's "unusual qualifications"
So Truman requested that the House Armed Services Committee & Senate Armed Services Committee put forward legislation to suspend the waiting period.

See, for example, H.R. 9646

https://t.co/alp9y1cHxU
But voting on and passing such legislation was not a given. Consider the remarks of California Senator William F. Knowland
He greatly feared precedent:
This echoed one of the original rationales for the waiting period: it could ensure that the SecDef was truly the "President's representative", not "the military's representative".
Keep in mind that the 1947 legislation was essentially establishing, for the first time in US history, the apparatus for a large standing army.

The US had a long history of being wary of creating and maintaining such an entity.
For example, see what Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist Paper no. 8

https://t.co/klzFVvsq7H
Indeed, during House floor debate over the legislation, some feared that the waiver constituted a "first step toward a military state".

But others, namely Representative Carl Vinson of Georgia, essentially said "what's the big deal?"
Specifically, Vinson pointed out that the President is a civilian, the National Security Council is comprised of civilians, etc.
In the end, considerations such as Vinson's and the perception that the Korean War (coupled with Marshall's qualifications) won out: the waiver was passed and, subsequently, Marshall was approved as SecDef.
For more into the details of Marshall's appointment, see the appendix of this excellent @CRS4Congress report by @kjmcinnis1. Indeed, the whole report is an outstanding primer on civil-mil control and the position of SecDef

https://t.co/9QYl8NTDT2
Overall, the debate over Austin will echo the debate over Mattis (in 2017) & Marshall (in 1950): concerns over elevating military officials into the highest ranks of government will be met with 🤷‍♂️.

But Biden, like Truman and Trump, will ultimately get who he wants.

[END]

More from Paul Poast

Is it true that democracies don't go to war with each other?

Sort of. But I wouldn't base public policy on the finding.

Why? Let's turn to the data.

[THREAD]


The idea of a "Democratic Peace" is a widely held view that's been around for a long time.

By 1988, there already existed enough studies on the topic for Jack Levy to famously label Democratic Peace "an empirical law"


The earliest empirical work on the topic was the 1964 report by Dean Babst published in the "Wisconsin Sociologist"


Using the war participation data from Quincy Wright's "A Study of War", Babst produced the following two tables


The tables show that democracies were NOT on both sides (of course, Finland is awkward given that it fought WITH Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union).

Babst expanded his study beyond the World Wars in a 1972 paper in Industrial Research. He confirmed his finding.

More from History

**Thread on Bravery of Sikhs**
(I am forced to do this due to continuous hounding of Sikh Extremists since yesterday)

Rani Jindan Kaur, wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh had illegitimate relations with Lal Singh (PM of Ranjit Singh). Along with Lal Singh, she attacked Jammu, burnt - https://t.co/EfjAq59AyI


Hindu villages of Jasrota, caused rebellion in Jammu, attacked Kishtwar.

Ancestors of Raja Ranjit Singh, The Sansi Tribe used to give daughters as concubines to Jahangir.


The Ludhiana Political Agency (Later NW Fronties Prov) was formed by less than 4000 British soldiers who advanced from Delhi and reached Ludhiana, receiving submissions of all sikh chiefs along the way. The submission of the troops of Raja of Lahore (Ranjit Singh) at Ambala.

Dabistan a contemporary book on Sikh History tells us that Guru Hargobind broke Naina devi Idol Same source describes Guru Hargobind serving a eunuch
YarKhan. (ref was proudly shared by a sikh on twitter)
Gobind Singh followed Bahadur Shah to Deccan to fight for him.


In Zafarnama, Guru Gobind Singh states that the reason he was in conflict with the Hill Rajas was that while they were worshiping idols, while he was an idol-breaker.

And idiot Hindus place him along Maharana, Prithviraj and Shivaji as saviours of Dharma.
Folks who don't know history just tweet whatever they want.

On Feb 1935, Bose attacked the Nazis as he was angry as Indians were described as Sub-Humans in Mein Kampf. The British arrested Bose in April 1936, because he insulted the Nazis.

#Thread


The West at this point had a soft spot for the Nazis. France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Poland all gave the Nazi Salute during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Even during the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939), the Western powers observed neutrality as the Fascists rose in Spain.


In 1937, Hitler told British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax that one of his fav movies was ‘The Lives of a Bengal Lancer’. Why?

‘The Lives of a Bengal Lancer’ depicted a handful of "superior race" Brits holding sway over an entire Indian subcontinent (Sub-Humans).

"Shoot Gandhi. If necessary, shoot more Congress Leaders (Nehru & Bose)."

- Hitler to Lord Halifax, Britain's Foreign Secretary

This statement by Hitler in 1937 angered many pro-Leftist leaders of the INC including Bose.

Bose reached London in Jan 1938, and he met many leaders of the British Labour Party including Attlee.

1938 & 1939 were two huge years for the Indian National Congress. As i always say, the 10-year phase from 1938 - 1948 shaped modern India and it began in 1938 Haripura session.

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