Editing Chief of Naval Operations (section)

====CNO Standley and the Vinson-Trammell act====
[[File:Faces last shot. Washington, D.C., Dec. 29. Admiral William H. Standley faced his last barrage today. A salva from the guns of a battery of cameramen. He retires as Chief of Naval Operations LCCN2016871034.tif|thumb|upright|[[William H. Standley]] (sitting) poses for his last photograph as Chief of Naval Operations on the day of his retirement, 29 December 1936.]]
[[William H. Standley]], who succeeded Pratt in 1933, had a weaker relationship with President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] than Pratt enjoyed with Hoover.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=100}} Often in direct conflict with Navy secretary [[Claude A. Swanson]] and assistant secretary [[Henry L. Roosevelt]], Standley's hostility to the latter was described as "poisonous".{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=100}}

Conversely, Standley successfully improved relations with Congress, streamlining communications between the Department of the Navy and the naval oversight committees by appointing the first naval legislative liaisons, the highest-ranked of which reported to the [[Judge Advocate General of the Navy|judge advocate general]].{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=109}} Standley also worked with Representative Vinson to pass the Vinson-Trammell Act, considered by Standley to be his most important achievement as CNO. The Act authorized the President:

{{blockquote|“to suspend” construction of the ships authorized by the law “''as may be necessary to bring the naval armament of the United States within the limitation so agreed upon, except that such suspension shall not apply to vessels actually under construction on the date of the passage of this act.''”{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=106}}}}

This effectively provided security for all Navy vessels under construction; even if new shipbuilding projects could not be initiated, shipbuilders with new classes under construction could not legally be obliged to cease operations, allowing the Navy to prepare for World War II without breaking potential limits from future arms control conferences.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=106}} The Act also granted the CNO "soft oversight power" of the naval bureaus which nominally lay with the secretary of the Navy,{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=107}} as Standley gradually inserted OPNAV into the ship design process.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=107}} Under Standley, the "treaty system" created by Pratt was abandoned.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=94}}