Presidential directive

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Presidential directives are a form of executive order issued by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the National Security Council. As a form of executive order, a Presidential Directive has the "full force and effect of law."^[1] Because of the nature of presidential directives as pertaining to the national security of the United States, many presidential directives are promulgated as classified. Various presidents since the administration of John F. Kennedy have issued such directives but under different names.

Contents 1 Names for National Security Directives by administration 2 External links 3 References 4 See also

[edit] Names for National Security Directives by administration

NCSCID	National Security Council Intelligence Directives	1947-1977	Truman - Ford
NSAM	National Security Action Memorandums	1961-1969	Kennedy and Johnson
NSSM	National Security Study Memorandums	1969-1977	Nixon and Ford
NSDM	National Security Decision Memorandums	1969-1977	Nixon and Ford
PRM	Presidential Review Memorandums	1977-1981	Carter
PD	Presidential Directives	1977-1981	Carter
NSSD	National Security Study Directives	1981-1989	Reagan
NSDD	National Security Decision Directives	1981-1989	Reagan
NSR	National Security Reviews	1989-1993	Bush
NSD	National Security Directives	1989-1993	Bush
PRD	Presidential Review Directive	1993-2001	Clinton
PDD	Presidential Decision Directives	1993-2001	Clinton
NSPD	National Security Presidential Directives	2001-	G. W. Bush
HSPD	Homeland Security Presidential Directives	2001-	G. W. Bush

After the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and interagency problems over responsibility for coordinating terrorism efforts, a National Security Decision Directive was signed by President Reagan in early 1986. This gave the State Department responsibility for coordinating international terrorism policy.

After September 11, 2001, George Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directives (HSPDs), with the consent of the Homeland Security Council. The first such directive created the Homeland Security Council while the second changed immigration policies to combat terrorism. The most recent HSPD (HSPD-21) was issued October 18, 2007 and called for public and private healthcare organizations, hospitals and healthcare facilities to form a system of "disaster healthcare" the definition of which mimicked the definition of disaster medicine.

State was put in charge of coordinating the efforts of CIA, DOD, and FBI efforts to track and deal with terrorism. The first man in charge was L. Paul (Jerry) Bremer with the title, Coordinator for Counter Terrorism at State Department (S/CT).

According to Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, "Of the 54 National Security Presidential Directives issued by the (George W.) Bush Administration to date, the titles of only about half have been publicly identified. There is descriptive material or actual text in the public domain for only about a third. In other words, there are dozens of undisclosed Presidential directives that define U.S. national security policy and task government agencies, but whose substance is unknown either to the public or, as a rule, to Congress."^[2]

[edit] External links

• National Security Action Memorandums | Document & Images From The Presidential Papers of John Fitzgerald Kennedy | National Security Files
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
• JFK | NSAMs list | PDF
• Federation of American Scientists Collection of Presidential Directives
• Presidential Directives: Background and Overview | PDF
• Terrorism: Why The Numbers Matter By Larry C Johnson, Managing Director BERG Associates, LLC

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Continuity of Operations Plan
• National Security Directive