The National Security Act of 1947, signed by President Harry S Truman, is how the Central Intelligence Agency was formally created. The “office off director of central intelligence” was also created as a result of this Act. Anyone in this position served as head of the United States intelligence community and acts as the President’s principal advisor. He/She usually updates the President of any and all intelligence issues concerning national security (Wagner 13).
Even before the National Security Act, our nation’s officials used spies, secret agents, covert action, and the gathering of intelligence during wars. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington drafted Nathan Hale and other spies to help them acquire independence. Benjamin Franklin and John Jay also created secret missions and operations to ensure their success during this war. These missions included secret agents and double agents, sabotage, raids against British troops, secret codes, propaganda and the spreading of false information (Wagner 13).
After gaining independence, George Washington asked the United States Congress to create a fund for secret missions during his First State of the Union speech. President Thomas Jefferson used this to take down a foreign government in North Africa in 1804. Between 1810 and 1812, James Madison used secret intelligence to try and obtain land from Spain in what we know today as Florida. During the Civil War, both Union and Confederate officers used secret information, military scouts, stolen mail, and telegrams and captured documents to try and gain advantages for their side (Wagner 14-15).
In our nation today, the major role of the CIA is shaping American foreign policy. Employees of the Central I...
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The major motion picture American Sniper was released December 24, 2014. It is based on the true story of the life of the United States Navy Seal Chris Kyle. Based on symptoms shown in the movie and the criteria set by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition, Chris Kyle would be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which the movie accurately displays. Various forms of treatments were presented in the movie and more exist outside of those for individuals who suffer from PTSD. While the movie succeeds in sending a positive message about helping veterans with mental disorders, there is still stigmas that surround individuals with these disorders.
Guilford, CT: Dushkin/ McGraw-Hill, 1997. Chiatkin, Anton. A. Treason in America. Washington DC: Executive Intelligence. Review, a review of the book, Divine, Breen, Frederickson, and Williams. America Past and Present.
Andrew Batten, the executive director of Frances Tavern in New York, explains that “Everything about being a spy went against the code of the gentleman,” speaking about espionage in the late 18th century. In this period, espionage was seen by most as a disgraceful profession. This is why although the Continental Army needed spies to help them win the Revolutionary War, so many people refused to do the job because they feared becoming someone who dedicated their lives to lies and deception. However, american history is full of brave, forward thinking men and women who dedicated their lives to taking risks in order to create a better life for themselves and for future generations. Among these courageous souls are the founders and members of the elusive Culper Spy Ring. This ring of spies and informants operated during the American
“INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL REVIEW.” Propaganda and Disinformation: How the CIA Manufactures History. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
For the American intelligence community, George Washington is considered the father of intelligence. The introduction of the intelligence concept and its application in some missions during the early days of America helped America’s Founding Fathers to succeed against t...
The American Revolution was a time when colonial peoples were forced to develop a Patriot identity separate from that of the British. The evolution of espionage provides a paradigm case to support the shift in identity. The role of espionage is really only seen through the eyes of the British and the Patriots, the loyalists in the colonies are absent from the narrative. This paper argues that the use of espionage during the American revolution and the consequences that it brought developed a distinct American identity by analyzing the societal benefit it played in the colonies (the motivation that drove American’s to spy), the exclusion of members with loyalist sympathies found by John Honeyman and Enoch Crosby and its reputation within the colonial side.
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) was established in November 1952 to provide a cryptologic organization for the civilian and military leaders of the United States and to provide them with timely information. The National Security Agency (NSA) coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to produce foreign intelligence information and protect United States information systems through two main missions, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Information Assurance (IA). The Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) mission uses cryptologic machines to break foreign codes to find out what they know and what they are doing. The biggest accomplishment publicly known was when they broke the Japanese military code in World War II and learned that Japan had plans of invading Midway Island. This allowed us to attack and destroy Japan’s superior fleet. With this intelligence, it was said to have shortened the Pacific war by over one year.
Aldrich Ames was one of the most notorious spys in United States history, single handily crippling the United States spy network in the Soviet Union, and compromising hundreds of Intelligence Operations around the world. Ames’ impact on the national security of the United States was devastating and the ramifications of his actions can still be felt today in the Intelligence Community. This paper will provide details into the background and the events surrounding Ames’ espionage and subsequent arrest for treason.
During World War I, Congress would authorize two controversial pieces of legislation: the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. The Espionage Act was ratified in order to “suppress the spread of alleged disloyalty and to maintain the public image of remarkable national unity behind the war effort” (James and Wells, 71). The act inhibited the freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and some of which seems the antithesis of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Most of the Espionage Act would be in effect only during times of war, but two of the provisions stayed in effect during times of peace. In times of peace and war, the Espionage Act granted the “issue of search warrants for the seizure of property used as a means of committing a felony” (“Treason”, 223).
...that had helped the United States to be one of the greatest counties that it is today. Within the agency, there was no communications where they kept information from each other. The CIA agency had no idea what they were doing in regards to central intelligence and they were compromised where the enemies knew about the attack before the attack was fully implemented. These examples prove that some leaders had some positive outcomes for the United States, but the agency from within could not stay united as well as keeping communications about what was going on in the world. I agree with Tim Weiner’s thesis that the United States is one of the greatest countries in the world, but we cannot seem to create a great and efficient spy service to benefit the United States.
knowledge of the CIA and who would later would be involved in the clash between the
Nedzi (D-Mich.), Luclen N. “Oversight or Overlook: Congress and the US Intelligence Agency.” A Congressman talk to the CIA senior seminar, November 14, 1979, https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol18no2/pdf/v18i2a02p.pdf (accessed January 7, 2014).
He called for a new organization having direct Presidential supervision, "which will procure intelligence both by overt and covert methods and will at the same time provide intelligence guidance, determine national intelligence objectives, and correlate the intelligence material collected by all government agencies." Despite strong opposition from the military, the State Department, and the FBI, Truman established the Central Intelligence Group in January 1946. Later under the National Security Act of 1947, the National Security council and the Central Intelligence Agency were established. In 1949, the Central Intelligence Agency Act (also called "Public Law 110") was passed, permitting the agency to use confidential fiscal and administrative procedures and exempting it from many of the usual limitations on the use of federal funds. The act also exempted the CIA from having to disclose its "organization, functions, officials, titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed." It also created a program called "PL-110" to handle defectors and other "essential aliens" outside normal immigration procedures, as well as give those persons cover stories and economic support. The Central Intelligence Agency reports to U.S. Congressional committees but also answers to the President directly.
The American Revolution saw the rise of the American spy, and the father of these spies was George Washington, commander in Chief of the Continental Army. The siege of New York demonstrated the importance and dire need for an intelligence to General Washington. Unfortunately, the difficulty, at least initially, lay with finding people willing and able to serve in this manner.
?Espionage.? 2000-2004. The War to End All Wars. Michael Duffy. Original Material. Primary Documents Online.