— Ch. 1 · The 1947 National Security Act —
Central Intelligence Agency.
~7 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
On the 26th of July 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act into law. This legislation dissolved the Central Intelligence Group and established the Central Intelligence Agency as a civilian foreign intelligence service. The act created the National Security Council to coordinate national security policy. It also gave the CIA authority to collect and analyze intelligence from around the world. A major impetus for this creation was growing tensions with the Soviet Union following World War II. Lawrence Houston served as principal draftsman of the act that would define the agency's early powers. The new organization reported directly to the president and the newly formed National Security Council. Truman wanted a centralized group to organize information reaching him rather than scattered military or State Department reports. The agency initially had only a few thousand employees, with about one thousand working in analysis. Most intelligence came from daily telegrams sent by the State Department and public documents. The CIA lacked its own intelligence-gathering capabilities at the outset. On the 21st of August 1950, Truman announced Walter Bedell Smith as the new Director of the CIA after the Korean War began. The change occurred shortly after North Korea invaded South Korea without clear warning to U.S. leadership.
Five Major Directorates Defined
The Central Intelligence Agency now operates under five major directorates that handle different aspects of its mission. The Directorate of Analysis helps policymakers make informed decisions by organizing all available information on an issue. This directorate maintains four regional analytic groups covering areas like Russia, Europe, and Latin America. Six additional groups focus on transnational issues while three others concentrate on policy and staff support. The Directorate of Operations collects foreign intelligence primarily through clandestine human sources known as HUMINT. It also conducts covert action operations worldwide. This directorate was created to end years of rivalry between the CIA and the Department of Defense over influence and budget. The Directorate of Science and Technology researches and manages technical collection disciplines and equipment. Many innovations developed here were transferred to other intelligence organizations or military services. A notable example is the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft developed in cooperation with the United States Air Force. The Directorate of Support handles organizational and administrative functions for significant units including security communications and information technology offices. The newest addition is the Directorate of Digital Innovation which focuses on accelerating innovation across agency mission activities. This office formally began operations on the 1st of October 2015 after covertly operating since approximately March 2015. DDI officers help integrate digital and cybersecurity capabilities into espionage counterintelligence analysis and covert action operations.