National Security Agency Research Paper

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"More times than we can count, we've made history, without history even knowing we were there." - GEN Keith Alexander - Director NSA/Chief CSS

The National Security Agency (NSA) has been news regarding breaking privacy boundaries and overstepping its legal authority through the unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States and abroad. In the most significant leak of government secrets in history, NSA's data-gathering programs were used to expose leaker Edward J. Snowden. Snowden was an American computer specialist who worked for NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton and leaked details of several top-secret United States and British government mass surveillance programs to the press.

A closer …show more content…

decision makers and military leaders since it was established on November 4, 1952, by directive of the National Security Act of 1947. NSA engages in the collection (to include through clandestine means), process, analyze, produce, and disseminate signals intelligence information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes to support national and departmental missions; Act as the National Manager for National Security Systems as established in law and policy, and in this capacity be responsible to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director, National Intelligence; Prescribe security regulations covering operating practices, including the transmission, handling, and distribution of signals intelligence and communications security material within and among the elements under control of the Director of the National Security Agency, and exercise the necessary supervisory control to ensure compliance with the regulations. In short, the NSA engages in global monitoring, collection, decoding, translation and analysis of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence....while authorized to utilize clandestine measure to achieve its goals.

The inception of the National Security Agency came about when then President, Harry Truman, recognized the necessity for continuing America's valiant efforts that had led to breaking German and Japanese …show more content…

Every President has provided the NSC with varying degrees of importance and given the NSC staff degrees of autonomy and influence over other agencies to include the Departments of State and Defense. An example may be made with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who employed the NSC meetings to form key foreign policy decisions. Both President John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson took a more informal approach with the NSC through their revered associates. President Richard M. Nixon utilized the NSC staff, (then headed by Henry A. Kissinger), as an organization that actively engaged in negotiations with foreign leaders and implementing his directives. The NSC meetings, however, were infrequent and served to confirm decisions already agreed upon by Nixon and

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