HomeHistoryHistory of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
History of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Posted in History
- 1941 11 July
President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints William J. Donovan as
"Coordinator of Information." Donovan was a prominent lawyer who won
the Congressional Medal of Honor as an Army colonel in World War I.
- 1942 13 June
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a military order establishing the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and naming William J. Donovan as its
Director. Donovan remained a civilian until 24 March 1943, when he was
appointed brigadier general. He advanced to the rank of major general
on 10 November 1944.
- 1945 1 October
President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9621 abolishes the OSS and
transfers its functions to the State and War Departments.
- 1946 22 January
President Truman signs a Presidential Directive establishing the
Central Intelligence Group to operate under the direction of the
National Intelligence Authority. Truman names the first Director of
Central Intelligence, Rear Admiral Sidney W. Souers, USNR, who was
sworn in on the following day.
- 1947 18 September
The National Security Act of 1947 establishes the National Security
Council and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to replace the
National Intelligence Authority and the Central Intelligence Group.
- 1949 20 June
The Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 provides special
administrative authorities and responsibilities for the Agency and the
Director.
- 1950 1 December The Directorate of Administration is established.
- 1952 2 January Creation of the Directorate of Intelligence.
- 1 August Establishment of the Directorate of Plans.
- 1955 4 August President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill authorizing $46 million for construction of a CIA Headquarters Building.
- 1956 13 January
President Eisenhower establishes the President's Board of Consultants
on Foreign Intelligence Activities, predecessor to the President's
Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
- 1959 3 November President Eisenhower presides at laying of cornerstone of CIA Headquarters Building in Langley, Virginia.
- 1963 5 August Directorate of Science and Technology is created.
- 1964 1 December President Lyndon B. Johnson receives the first President's Daily Brief (PDB).
- 1973 1 March The Directorate of Plans becomes the Directorate of Operations.
- 1975 4 January
President Gerald R. Ford signs Executive Order 11828 creating the
Commission on CIA Activities within the United States. Chaired by Vice
President Nelson Rockefeller, the Commission submitted its report on
CIA domestic activities to the President on 6 June 1975.
- 27 January The Senate
establishes its Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With
Respect to Intelligence Activities under the chairmanship of Senator
Frank Church (D-ID). The Church Committee investigated the nation's
intelligence activities for 15 months and was disestablished upon
submission of its final report to the public on 26 April 1976.
- 19 February The House
establishes its Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate
allegations of "illegal or improper" activities of federal intelligence
agencies. Its first chairman, Representative Lucien Nedzi (D-MI), was
later replaced by Representative Otis G. Pike (D-NY). On 29 January
1976, two days before the Committee was scheduled to conclude its
activities, the House voted to withhold public dissemination of the
Committee's final report.
- 1976 19 May
The Senate establishes a permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
under the chairmanship of Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) to carry out
oversight of the nation's intelligence organizations.
- 1977 14 July
The House of Representatives establishes a permanent Select Committee
on Intelli-gence. Chaired by Representative Edward P. Boland (D-MA), it
differs from the SSCI in that it has oversight jurisdiction over CIA
but shares legislative oversight authority with several other House
committees over all other intelligence agencies.
- 1978 24 January
President Jimmy Carter signs Executive Order 12036, which reshapes the
intelligence structure and provides explicit guidance on all facets of
intelligence activities.
- 1979 3 December The National Intelligence Council is created.
- 1981 20 October
President Ronald W. Reagan reconstitutes the President's Foreign
Intelligence Advisory Board and names 19 distinguished citizens outside
of government to serve on the Board.
- 4 December President Reagan signs
Executive Order 12333, which clarifies ambiguities of previous orders
and sets clear goals for the Intelligence Community in accordance with
law and regard for the rights of Americans.
- 1982 23 June
President Reagan signs Public Law 97-200, the Intelligence Identities
Protection Act of 1982, imposing criminal penalties on those who reveal
the names of covert intelligence personnel.
- 1984 24 May President Reagan presides over ground breaking of the New Headquarters Building.
- 15 October President Reagan signs
the Central Intelligence Agency Information Act of 1984, which exempts
the Agency from the search and review requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act with respect to operational and other sensitive files
which cannot be released because of operational or security
considerations.
- 1985 1 November Vice President George H. W. Bush presides at the laying of the cornerstone for the Headquarters Building Expansion.
- 1986 12 February The Counterterrorist Center is established.
- 1987 27 May First annual memorial ceremony commemorates Agency employees who have died in the line of duty.
- 1988 4 April The CounterIntelligence Center is established.
- 1989 4 April The Crime and Narcotics Center is established.
- 1991 March The New Headquarters Building, attached to the Original Headquarters Building, is completed and occupied.
- 1992 12 June Dedication of the Office of Strategic Services Memorial.
- 18 December Berlin Wall Monument Dedication.
- 1996 7 June The Memorial Garden, which honors all deceased intelligence officers and contractors who served their country, is dedicated.
- 1997 18 September The Central Intelligence Agency celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
- 1999 26 April
The CIA headquarters compound is dedicated as the George Bush Center
for Intelligence as specified in the Intelligence Authorization Act for
fiscal year 1999.
- 2001 4 June
CIA announces the most far-reaching organizational realignment in its
history, which establishes the CFO (Chief Financial Officer), CIO
(Chief Information Officer), Global Support, Human Resources and
Security Mission Support Offices and disestablishes the Directorate of
Administration.
- 2002 28 February CIA
University (CIAU) is dedicated. Operating like a university, CIAU
provides constant education and constant research to Agency employees
to meet intelligence challenges.
- 24 May Dedication of Route 123
Memorial commemorating two Agency officers killed outside the entrance
to CIA Headquarters the morning of January 25, 1993.
- 2004 17 December
President George W. Bush signs the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act which restructures the intelligence community,
abolishing the positions of DCI and DDCI and creating the position of
the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
- 2005 4 January Creation of the Directorate of Support which replaces the Mission Support Offices.
