when does the secretary of defense became president
United States Secretary of Defense The Secretary of Defense is sixth in the presidential line of succession, following the Secretary of the Treasury and preceding the Attorney General.[57]
United States Department of Defense The Department of Defense (DoD,[5] USDOD, or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the United States Armed Forces. The Department is the largest employer in the world,[6] with nearly 1.3 million active duty servicemen and women[a] as of 2016.[7] Adding to its employees are over 826,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services,[b] and over 742,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.8 million employees.[1] It is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.