“Part of me wants to say that this is just kind of silly…” remarked Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times, in a discussion on PBS News Hour. He was responding to President Trump’s announcement on Sept. 5 of changing the name of the Department of Defense to Department of War. Bouie explained his comment, “officially it is still the Department of Defense, right? That’s established by congressional statute. That’s not something the president kind of just changed unilaterally.” The result is that the official title does not change, but if one chooses, one can use The War Department like a nickname.
However, we should not be complacent about this “silly” declaration to use “War Department” instead of the “Department of Defense.” Nicknames are used to describe characteristics that may not be apparent in the given name. Consider the rest of the President’s pronouncement: The name “demonstrates our ability and willingness to fight and win wars on behalf of our Nation at a moment’s notice, not just to defend.”
It is apparent that the goal of using the substitute is to convince the world that the United States is a powerful warrior nation. There is nothing “silly” about this posturing to be the dominate force in the world of nations. Seeking to change the perception of our nation into being a warrior nation is a serious move. It could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The ability and willingness to fight and win wars at a moment’s notice, demonstrates the demand of the White House for a Machismo culture. Acting out this conviction, the White House posted an image on social media depicting Trump with helicopters, billowing flames and the Chicago skyline. The image included Trump’s words, “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
Tom Homan, White Houser border czar, told CNN that the post was intended to convey that the administration is “going to war with the criminal cartels; we’re going to war with illegal aliens, public safety threats,” and mentioned operations in the city that resulted in arresting violent criminals. In summary, “war” has become common usage in the White House lexicon.
The formation of the Department of Defense and the office of Secretary of Defense in 1947 through 1949 did not include any discussion of the implications for the name change from War Department to Department of Defense. The goal was to unify the various branches of the military, with their different missions, into one department. Also, included in the goal was the assurance that the Department of Defense would be under the civilian control of the Secretary of Defense.
Choosing civilian leadership and choosing the label “defense” has signaled an opening for the nation to rely less and less on the power to wage war and more and more upon the values of reason and negotiation skills with an eye on goals of cooperation, sharing resources and helping those in need.
Greg Taggart, ex-infantry officer and military historian, observed in a Quora post that firearms can be “in one case a ‘defensive’ weapon. In another case, an ‘offensive’ weapon. The only difference is basically the heart of the man wielding it.” Following the lead of War Department enthusiasts would soon weigh us down with hearts of stone. However, here in 2025, there is still the uncalculated component in the 1947 choice of establishing a Department of Defense. It augments the emergence of hearts of compassion and the sense of a nation practicing world companionship.
John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com.