Equally pressing was the question of the navy’s status in the postwar defense establishment. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, congressional leaders of both parties had vowed to streamline the military’s organizational chart. The War and Navy Departments, which had been independent and coequal since the administration of John Adams, were to be merged into a unitary department of defense under a single civilian cabinet officer. Although the specific arrangements remained to be negotiated, the army, navy, marines, and air forces would be fused into an integrated command structure. FDR persuaded
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