July 26, 1947: The National Security Act

July 26, 1947: President Harry S Truman signs the National Security Act into law. It turns the Department of War into the Department of the Army. It separates the U.S. Air Force from the U.S. Army, and gives it its own Department. It protects the U.S. Marine Corps as an independent service under the Department of the Navy.

And it puts all 4 departments under the new Department of Defense (DOD), headed by a Secretary of Defense. James Forrestal was confirmed as the 1st "SecDef" on September 18, 1947.

The Act also creates the U.S. National Security Council, run by the President, which includes the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the nation's top active-duty military officer).

Later added to it have been the National Security Advisor (a post created in 1953), the White House Chief of Staff, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director National Intelligence, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, and the Director of National Drug Control Policy. On occasion, other officials, whose expertise may apply to a situation, may be asked to attend: The White House Counsel, the U.S. Trade Representative, medical advisors, and so on.

The National Security Act also establishes the Central Intelligence Agency. This turns out to be beneficial in some cases, problematic in others, as later Presidents used the CIA to help organize coups in various countries, to topple governments seen as too friendly to the Soviet Union. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter was appointed as the 1st Director of Central Intelligence.

The legislation creating the Act was already going through Congress when the Roswell incident happened earlier in July.

The current headquarters of the U.S. Department of State, built in 1941, was named the Harry S Truman Building in 2000. Its address is 2201 C Street NW. The CIA's headquarters, now named for the 41st President and the only one to be a former CIA Director, the George Bush Center for Intelligence, is in Langley, Virginia (and is sometimes nicknamed "Langley"), 10 miles northwest of downtown Washington.

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July 26, 1947 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Eddie Lopat outpitches Bill Bevens, and helps his own cause with an RBI single. He impresses the Yankees so much that they trade for him the next year. Tommy Henrich hit a home run, but Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-4.

* The New York Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Jackie Robinson went 2-for-4 with a 2-run homer. Hank Greenberg, in his final season, went 0-for-3 with a walk. Earlier in the season, he crashed into Robinson at first base, helped him up, apologized, and, as the man who had faced more prejudice than any player until Robinson, told him he was doing all right and that he supported him all the way.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 12-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams hit 2 home runs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 13-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. I guess 84-year-old Connie Mack forgot to tell his A's that you have to come out of the clubhouse to play the ballgame. George Kell and Eddie Lake hit home runs for the Tigers, while center fielder Roger "Doc" Cramer, a native of New Jersey's Long Beach Island, went 3-for-5 with 6 RBIs. Virgil Trucks pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-4 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Bucky Walters pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Braves, 9-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Stan Musial went 1-for-4 with an RBI.