Harry Truman sat down at his desk with seven pens clutched in his left fist and, using them one after the other, painstakingly finished his signature on the National Security bill. After he had handed out the pens as souvenirs to the congressional leaders and service brass gathered about him, the President hailed the new law as "a major step toward more responsible and efficient administration of the military affairs of the nation."
With his signature, the National Military Establishment was rechristened the Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson became...
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