How continuity gave Burke institutional authority

Burke served five years and 349 days as CNO across the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. Four Navy secretaries and four defense secretaries oversaw him during that period, with some tenures overlapping his arrival or departure. Thomas Gates moved from Navy Secretary to Defense Secretary and then to other roles while Burke remained in office. A continuing service chief could become the person to whom staff routinely brought information. That position helped Burke influence what information reached successive superiors, who relied on his experience and expected his support. The account connects this continuity to the procurement programs discussed next.