Trump Nominates Retired Marine General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense

President-elect Donald Trump will nominate retired Marine General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis to be the 26th secretary of defense, the Washington Post reported. He would also serve as a member of the National Security Council.

If confirmed, he would replace the current secretary, Ash Carter, who was confirmed in February 2015. However, Congress must pass a waiver before that happens because federal law states that service members must wait seven years after retiring from active duty before they can hold senior civilian defense positions, including secretary of defense.

Trump referred to Mattis as "a true General's General" after the two met on November 19.

The Department of Defense was originally created as the War Department in 1789 to “plan, advise, and carry out the nation’s security policies as directed by both the Secretary of Defense and the President.” It was renamed as the National Military Establishment in 1947 and as the Department of Defense in 1949.

Headquartered at the Pentagon, the Defense Department oversees the branches of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and the National Guard and Reserve), Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Unified Combatant Command. Other defense agencies include the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Agency (NSA), National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

Notable secretaries of defense include George Marshall (1950-1951); Robert McNamara (1961-1968); future Vice Presidents Donald Rumsfeld (1975-1977 and 2001-2006) and Dick Cheney (1989-1993); Bob Gates (2006-2011); Leon Panetta (2011-2013); and Chuck Hagel (2013-2015).