During the first year of Shoup's service as commandant, he served under the Eisenhower administration, in which military budget policy was dominated by the "New Look" policy, under which a strong nuclear deterrent was favored over conventional warfare forces.
Eisenhower focused on containment without entangling the United States in proxy wars such as the Korean War.
The end result of this was spending cuts and force reductions within the Marine Corps.
The 1960 election of Kennedy ushered in a major change in military strategy with the adoption of the "Flexible Response" strategy, which saw a return to conventional military forces as a deterrent to nuclear war.
Under the Kennedy administration there was increased civilian participation in defense policy-building, and the new secretary of defense, Robert McNamara, sought more inter-service cooperation.

Shoup favored a more frugal approach to the military budget, feeling the military was too susceptible to influence from large corporations arguing for expensive and unnecessary programs.
As the Kennedy administration brought more emphasis on conventional warfare, Shoup sought to use increased funds to improve military logistics.
He is credited with formulating an entirely new system of financial management, supply, and inventory management.
He also created a new Data Processing Division to centralize the data processing functions of several combat service support branches.
During the first year of Shoup's service as commandant, he served under the Eisenhower administration, in which military budget policy was dominated by the "New Look" policy, under which a strong nuclear deterrent was favored over conventional warfare forces. Eisenhower focused on containment without entangling the United States in proxy wars such as the Korean War. The end result of this was spending cuts and force reductions within the Marine Corps. The 1960 election of Kennedy ushered in a major change in military strategy with the adoption of the "Flexible Response" strategy, which saw a return to conventional military forces as a deterrent to nuclear war. Under the Kennedy administration there was increased civilian participation in defense policy-building, and the new secretary of defense, Robert McNamara, sought more inter-service cooperation.
Shoup favored a more frugal approach to the military budget, feeling the military was too susceptible to influence from large corporations arguing for expensive and unnecessary programs. As the Kennedy administration brought more emphasis on conventional warfare, Shoup sought to use increased funds to improve military logistics. He is credited with formulating an entirely new system of financial management, supply, and inventory management. He also created a new Data Processing Division to centralize the data processing functions of several combat service support branches.
David M. Shoup