Editing Chief of Naval Operations (section)

===Early attempts and the Aide for Naval Operations (1900–1915)===
[[File:William sowden sims.jpg|thumb|upright|[[William Sims]]]]
[[File:BADGER, CHARLES JOHNSTON. REAR ADMIRAL, U.S.N. LEFT, WITH ADMIRAL FISKE LCCN2016865376.jpg|thumb|upright|Rear Admiral [[Charles Johnston Badger]] with Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, {{circa|1914}}]]
In 1900, administrative and operational authority over the Navy was concentrated in the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|secretary of the Navy]] and [[United States Navy bureau system|bureau chiefs]], with the [[General Board of the United States Navy|General Board]] holding only advisory powers.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=3}}<ref>[[J. A. S. Grenville]]. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3678748 Diplomacy and War Plans in the United States, 1890–1917]. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Fifth Series, Vol. 11, (1961), pp. 1–21. Published by: Royal Historical Society</ref> Critics of the lack of military command authority included [[Charles J. Bonaparte]], Navy secretary from 1905 to 1906,{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=6-7}} then-Captain [[Reginald R. Belknap]]{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=5}} and future admiral [[William Sims]].{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=8}}

Rear Admiral [[George A. Converse]], commander of the Bureau of Navigation (BuNav) from 1905 to 1906, reported:

{{Blockquote
|text=[W]ith each year that passes the need is painfully apparent for a military administrative authority under the secretary, whose purpose would be to initiate and direct the steps necessary to carry out the Department's policy, and to coordinate the work of the bureaus and direct their energies toward the effective preparation of the fleet for war.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=7-8}} 
}}

However, reorganization attempts were opposed by [[United States Congress|Congress]] due to fears of a [[Great General Staff|Prussian-style general staff]] and inadvertently increasing the powers of the Navy secretary, which risked infringing on legislative authority.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=10}} Senator [[Eugene Hale]], chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Committee on Naval Affairs]], disliked reformers like Sims{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=9}} and persistently blocked attempts to bring such ideas to debate.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=3}}

To circumvent the opposition, [[George von Lengerke Meyer]], [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] under [[William Howard Taft]] implemented a system of "aides" on 18 November 1909.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=10}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=Navy - Chief of Naval Operations|journal=International Military Digest|date=June 1915|volume=1|issue=1|page=68|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAU8AQAAIAAJ}}</ref> These aides lacked command authority and instead served as principal advisors to the Navy secretary.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=10}} The aide for operations was deemed by Meyer to be the most important one, responsible for devoting "his entire attention and study to the operations of the fleet,"{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=11}} and drafting orders for the movement of ships on the advice of the General Board and approval of the secretary in times of war or emergency.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=11}}

The successes of Meyer's first operations aide, Rear Admiral [[Richard Wainwright (Spanish–American War naval officer)|Richard Wainwright]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TzXWAAAAMAAJ&dq=adm+richard+wainwright+aide+for+operations+1910&pg=PA11|title=The Chiefs of Naval Operations and Admiral's House, Volume 2|year=1969|page=11}}</ref> factored into Meyer's decision to make his third operations aide, Rear Admiral [[Bradley A. Fiske]] his ''de facto'' principal advisor on 10 February 1913.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|loc=p. 12: On 10 February 1913, with just three weeks remaining to the [[Presidency of William Taft|Taft presidency]], Meyer appointed Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske his Aide for Operations, and he "made the Aide for Operations his liaison man with all the offices and bureaus of the department"}} Fiske retained his post under Meyer's successor, [[Josephus Daniels]], becoming the most prominent advocate for what would become the office of CNO.{{sfn|Hone|Utz|p=13}}