United States Secretary of Defense

E379

United States federal executive position cabinet-level position defense minister role

The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the Department of Defense and the principal defense policy advisor to the President, overseeing the nation’s armed forces and military strategy.

Observed surface forms (4)

Surface form	Occurrences
Secretary of Defense	65
U.S. Secretary of Defense	6
Secretary of Defense of the United States	4
United States Secretary of War	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal executive position ⓘ cabinet-level position ⓘ defense minister role ⓘ
advises	President of the United States ⓘ
appointedBy	President of the United States ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
createdOn	1947-09-18 ⓘ
department	Department of Defense ⓘ surface form: United States Department of Defense
eligibleFor	reappointment without term limit ⓘ
firstHolder	James V. Forrestal ⓘ
hasAbbreviation	SecDef ⓘ
hasRole	principal defense policy advisor to the President of the United States ⓘ
headOf	Department of Defense ⓘ surface form: United States Department of Defense
isInLineOfSuccessionFor	President of the United States ⓘ
legalBasis	Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 ⓘ National Security Act of 1947 ⓘ
locatedIn	Arlington, Virginia ⓘ surface form: Arlington County, Virginia
memberOf	National Security Council of the United States ⓘ surface form: United States National Security Council
mustBe	civilian at time of appointment ⓘ
nominatedBy	President of the United States ⓘ
oversees	Joint Chiefs of Staff ⓘ Office of the Secretary of Defense ⓘ Unified Combatant Commands ⓘ United States Air Force ⓘ United States Armed Forces ⓘ United States Army ⓘ United States Marine Corps ⓘ United States Navy ⓘ United States Space Force ⓘ
participatesIn	meetings of the National Security Council ⓘ
partOf	Cabinet of the United States ⓘ
positionInPresidentialLineOfSuccession	seventh ⓘ
replaced	United States Secretary of Defense self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: United States Secretary of War United States Secretary of the Navy as cabinet-level military head ⓘ
reportsTo	President of the United States ⓘ
requires	advice and consent of the United States Senate ⓘ
responsibleFor	execution of approved defense policy ⓘ formulation of general defense policy ⓘ military strategy of the United States ⓘ overall direction of the United States military ⓘ
seat	Pentagon ⓘ surface form: The Pentagon
style	Mr. Secretary ⓘ
subjectTo	civilian control of the military principle ⓘ
supervises	Secretary of the Air Force ⓘ Secretary of the Army ⓘ Secretary of the Navy ⓘ
termLength	no fixed term ⓘ
website	https://www.defense.gov ⓘ

Referenced by (129)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

SecDef → abbreviationOf → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Civil Reserve Air Fleet → activationAuthority → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: U.S. Secretary of Defense

Individual Ready Reserve → activationAuthority → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Chief of Naval Operations → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Chief of Staff of the Air Force → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

CSAF → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

subject surface form: Chief of Staff of the Air Force

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Chief of the National Guard Bureau → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Commandant of the Marine Corps → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

CMC → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

subject surface form: Commandant of the Marine Corps

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Joint Chiefs of Staff → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

National Guard Bureau → advises → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Mr. Secretary → appliesToOffice → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Mr. Secretary → appliesToOfficeHolder → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: U.S. Secretary of Defense

Madam Secretary → appliesToPosition → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Mr. Secretary → appliesToPosition → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

National Military Strategy → approvedBy → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Seal of the United States Department of Defense → associatedWith → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command → authorizedBy → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

Air Force Distinguished Service Medal → awardingAuthority → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Defense Distinguished Service Medal → awardingAuthority → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award → awardingBody → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Air Force Reserve → canBeActivatedBy → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Minister of Defence → canBeKnownAs → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Department of Defense → chiefExecutiveOfficer → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

subject surface form: United States Department of Defense

United States Armed Forces → civilianLeader → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

National Security Act Amendments of 1949 → clarifiedRoleOf → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency → coordinatesWith → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

National Security Act of 1947 → created → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Frontiero v. Richardson → defendantOffice → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense of the United States

Presidential Succession Act → definesSuccessionPosition → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

Department of Defense directives → enforcedBy → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

National Security Act Amendments of 1949 → enhancedAuthorityOf → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Homeland Security Council of the United States → hasMember → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense of the United States

National Military Establishment → hasPosition → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

NME → headOfGovernmentBody → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

National Military Establishment → headOfGovernmentBody → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

Office of the Secretary of Defense → headOfGovernmentBody → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

Biden administration → includesPosition → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Vice Chief of Naval Operations → isInferiorTo → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Department of Defense → officeHeldByHeadOfGovernment → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

subject surface form: United States Department of Defense

Munitions Board → operatedUnder → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

United States military intelligence agencies → overseenBy → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

Central Security Service → oversightBy → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

Defense Intelligence Agency → oversightBy → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

NSC 10/2 directive → oversightBy → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: Secretary of Defense

Dick Cheney → positionHeld → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

this entity surface form: U.S. Secretary of Defense

Donald Rumsfeld → positionHeld → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

Elliot Richardson → positionHeld → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ

George C. Marshall → positionHeld → United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ