Is It Wrong to Have a General, Like James Mattis, Run the Pentagon?

Gen. James N. Mattis in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times

President-elect Donald J. Trump has picked James N. Mattis, who retired as a four-star Marine general in 2013, to be defense secretary. To ensure civilian control of the military, the law that established the Department of Defense barred military officers from serving as defense secretary for 10 years after active duty (later amended to seven years). In 1950 Congress passed a law to allow George C. Marshall to be appointed, but said it was an exception that would not be repeated.

Should Congress pass a similar law to allow General Mattis’s appointment, or would that undermine civilian control of the military?

Correction: An earlier version referred to Mattis as an Army general

This is part of the Issues for Trump and America series.