National Security
& Homeland Defense
Read the primary source below, then answer 8 questions based on the passage.
The President proposes to create a new Department of Homeland Security . . . by largely transforming and realigning the current confusing patchwork of government activities into a single department whose primary mission is to protect our homeland. . . .
History . . . teaches us that new challenges require new organizational structures. For example, prior to 1945, America's armed forces were inefficiently structured with separate War and Navy Departments and disconnected intelligence units. There were no formal mechanisms for cooperation. . . .
In December 1945, only months after America's decisive victory in World War II, . . . President Truman declared, "It is now time . . . to provide for the future the soundest, most effective and most economical kind of structure for our armed forces. . . ."
President Truman's goals were achieved with the National Security Act of 1947 and subsequent amendments. . . . The legislation consolidated the separate military Departments into the Department of Defense . . ., established a Central Intelligence Agency to coordinate all foreign intelligence collection and analysis, and created the National Security Council in the White House to coordinate all foreign and defense policy efforts.