Presidential Directives, better known as Presidential Decision Directives or PDD are a form of an executive order issued by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the National Security Council. As a National Security instrument, the PDD articulates the executive's policy, carries the "full force and effect of law",[1] and throughout the terms of presidents, have taken on various titles or intents towards national security policy.[2][3]
Since many of the Presidential Directives pertain to the national security of the United States, many were or are promulgated as classified. Various presidents since the administration of John F. Kennedy have issued such directives but under different names.
Contents |
| NSCID | National Security Council Intelligence Directives | 1947-1977 | Truman - Ford |
| NSAM | National Security Action Memorandums | 1961-1969 | Kennedy and Johnson |
| NSSM | National Security Study Memorandums | 1969–1977 | Nixon and Ford |
| NSDM | National Security Decision Memorandums | 1969–1977 | Nixon and Ford |
| PRM | Presidential Review Memorandums | 1977-1981 | Carter |
| PD | Presidential Directives | 1977–1981 | Carter |
| NSSD | National Security Study Directives | 1981-1989 | Reagan |
| NSDD | National Security Decision Directives | 1981–1989 | Reagan |
| NSR | National Security Reviews | 1989-1993 | G. H. W. Bush |
| NSD | National Security Directives | 1989–1993 | G. H. W. Bush |
| PRD | Presidential Review Directive | 1993-2001 | Clinton |
| PDD | Presidential Decision Directives | 1993–2001 | Clinton |
| NSPD | National Security Presidential Directives | 2001–2009 | G. W. Bush |
| HSPD | Homeland Security Presidential Directives | 2001- | G. W. Bush and Obama |
| PSD | Presidential Study Directives | 2009- | Obama |
| PPD | Presidential Policy Directives | 2009- | Obama |
After the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and interagency problems over responsibility for coordinating terrorism efforts, a National Security Decision Directive was signed by President Reagan in early 1986. This gave the State Department responsibility for coordinating international terrorism policy.
After September 11, 2001, George Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directives (HSPDs), with the consent of the Homeland Security Council. The first such directive created the Homeland Security Council while the second changed immigration policies to combat terrorism. The most recent HSPD (HSPD-21) was issued October 18, 2007 and called for public and private healthcare organizations, hospitals and healthcare facilities to form a system of "disaster healthcare" the definition of which mimicked the definition of disaster medicine.
The State Department was put in charge of coordinating the efforts of CIA, DOD, and FBI efforts to track and deal with terrorism. The first man in charge was L. Paul Bremer with the title Coordinator for Counter Terrorism at State Department (S/CT).
Steven Aftergood, of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, stated in February 2008 that:
Of the 54 National Security Presidential Directives issued by the (George W.) Bush Administration to date, the titles of only about half have been publicly identified. There is descriptive material or actual text in the public domain for only about a third. In other words, there are dozens of undisclosed Presidential directives that define U.S. national security policy and task government agencies, but whose substance is unknown either to the public or, as a rule, to Congress.[4]
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