Editing National Security Act of 1947 (section)

=== Enactment ===
The National Security Act of 1947 was signed into law by President Truman on July 26, 1947.<ref name=":8" /> The bill signing took place aboard Truman's [[VC-54]]C presidential aircraft ''Sacred Cow'', the first aircraft used for the role of [[Air Force One]].<ref name=":12">[http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1845 Fact Sheets : National Security Act of 1947 : National Security Act of 1947<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114142445/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1845 |date=January 14, 2012 }}</ref> The president was traveling to be at the bedside of his dying [[Martha Ellen Young Truman|mother]] and delayed his departure until the bill was signed.<ref name=":8">{{cite news |last1=Hulen |first1=Bertram D. |title=UNIFICATION SIGNED; President Acts in Plane Just Before Take-Off for Mother's Home CONFIRMATION IS SPEEDY Senate Upholds Nomination by Truman, by Voice Vote, Just Before Quitting FORRESTAL NAMED DEFENSE CHIEF |id={{ProQuest|107857035}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/07/27/archives/unification-signed-president-acts-in-plane-just-before-takeoff-for.html |work=The New York Times |date=27 July 1947 }}</ref>

The majority of the provisions of the act took effect on September 18, 1947, the day after the Senate confirmed [[James Forrestal]] as the first secretary of defense.<ref name=":9">Historical Office. (n.d.). [https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571293/james-v-forrestal/ James V. Forrestal]. Office of the Secretary of Defense. Retrieved November 14, 2021</ref> His power was initially limited and it was difficult for him to exercise the authority to make his office effective.<ref>{{Cite web |title=James V. Forrestal |url=https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571293/james-v-forrestal/https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571293/james-v-forrestal/ |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=Historical Office |at="Forrestal brought to his new office a deep distrust of the Soviet Union and a determination to make the new national security structure workable. . . . He soon discovered that perhaps the chief obstacle to accomplishing his objectives for the NME was the inherent weakness in the secretary of defense's powers as defined in the National Security Act." |language=en-US}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> This was later changed in the amendment to the act in 1949, creating what was to be the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]].<ref>Kinnard, Douglas. "The Secretary of Defense in Retrospect." The Secretary of Defense. Lexington: University of Kentucky, 1980. 192–93. Print.</ref>