DIRECTORS OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, 1946?2005

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05460742
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: July 13, 2023
• Document Release Date: February 3, 2022
• Case Number: F-2018-02683
• Publication Date: September 1, 2005

Approved for Release: 2022/01/10 C05460742
STUDIES IN
INTELLIGENCE
Journal of the America Intelligence Professional
This publication is prepared primarily for the use of US government officials. The format,
coverage and content are designed to meet their requirements. To that end, some
issues of Studies in Intelligence each year remain classified and are not circulated to the
public, resulting in numbering gaps in scholarly collections and accounting for
discontinuities in page numbering. These printed unclassified extracts from a classified
issue have been provided as a courtesy to subscribers.
Some of the material in this publication is copyrighted, and noted as such. Those items
should not be reproduced or disseminated without permission.
All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed in Studies
in Intelligence are those of the authors. They. do not necessarily
reflect official positions or views of the Central Intelligence
Agency or any other US government entity, past or present.
Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or
implying US government endorsement of an article's factual
statements, interpretations, or recommendations.
Approved for Release: 2022/01/10 C05460742
Approved for Release: 2022/01/10 C05460742
A Long Look Back
Directors of Central Intelligence, 1946-2005
'David S. Robarge
66
Nineteen DCIs served
through 10 changes in
president, scores of
wars,. . . a global
recession, the specter
of nuclear holocaust,
and the arrival of
international
terrorism on US
shores.
99
Dr. David S. Robarge is chief
historian of the CIA.
For nearly six decades, the direc-
tor of central intelligence (DCI)
headed the world's most impor-
tant intelligence agency and
oversaw the largest, most sophis-
ticated, and most productive set of
intelligence services ever known.
From 1946 to 2005, 19 DCIs
served through 10 changes in
president; scores of major and
minor wars, civil wars, military
incursions, and other armed con-
flicts; two energy crises; a global
recession; the specter of nuclear
holocaust and the pursuit of arms
control; the raising of the Berlin
Wall and the fall of the Iron Cur-
tain; the proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction; and the
arrival of international terrorism
on the shores of America and the
war against it overseas. During
that time, the DCIs participated
in or oversaw several vital contri-
butions that intelligence made to
US national security: strategic
warning, clandestine collection,
independent analysis, overhead
reconnaissance, support to war-
fighters and peacekeepers, arms
control verification, encourage-
ment of democracy, and counter-
terrorism.
The responsibilities of the DCI
grew logarithmically after Janu-
ary 1946, when President Harry
Truman whimsically presented
the first DCI, Sidney Souers,
with a black hat, black cloak, and
wooden dagger and declared him
the "Director of Centralized
Snooping."1 At that time, the DCI
had no CIA to run, no indepen-
dent budget or personnel to
manage, no authority to collect
foreign secrets, and no power to
bring about a consensus among
agencies. Maybe that is why
Souers, when asked not long
after his appointment, "What do
you want to do?" replied, "I want
to go home."2
Then came the National Security
Act of 1947, which set forth a
description of the DCI's job:
There is a Director of Central
Intelligence who shall. . .
serve as head of the United
States intelligence commu-
nity. . . act as the principal
adviser to the President for
intelligence matters related to
the national security; and . . .
serve as head of the Central
Intelligence Agency.
Two years later, the Central Intel-
ligence Agency Act laid down the
DCI's and the Agency's adminis-
trative rubrics. Over the next
several decades, the DCI would
directly manage thousands of
employees and billions of dollars,
and would have an important part
in guiding many thousands and
many billions more.
1 Christopher Andrew, For the President's
Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the
Presidency from Washington to Bush (New
York: HarperCollins, 1995), 164.
2 Tom Braden, "The Birth of the CIA,"
American Heritage 27 (February 1977): 10.
Studies in Intelligence Vol. 49, No. 3
Approved for Release: 2022/01/10 C05460742
1
Approved for Release: 2022/01/10 C05460742
946-2005
Jon 1946
May 1947
(ro�) 2K \p I9i% 30 Jim 1966
Riit'ard NkCorrat Him 30 Jun i966 2 Feb 1973
2 Jul 11973
William Flo :10 Jan 1976
31) ,1,41) 1976 20 Jun 1977
J977 21) Ian 1
Wi! am Jowpli iti� n 91;1 29 J;iti 1967
Wvivivr 26 May1967 31 Any 1991
Rhud Mkhacl C1ac 6 N