Midcourse corrections for National Security Adviser

The National Security Adviser should be institutionalized by Congress, and given guidance on the roles and functions he should play in the national security decision making process. There is no basis for the Adviser's position in the National Security Act, which codified the National Security Council (NSC). What's more, the original framers of the NSC had intended the NSC, not a "Presidential Assistant" to be the President's primary advisory body on the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to national security. When President Eisenhower appointed Gordon Gray as his special assistant, he established a position that would eventually compete with, then overshadow the advice of NSC principals. The National Security Adviser has three major roles to play in the national security decision making process: "honest broker" custodian-manager of the policy making process, and vicar of strategy. These are important roles he must play.