ORGANIZATION AND LOCATION OF THE DCI HISTORY STAFF

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP01-00569R000100070007-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 12, 2009
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: October 19, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

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a
19 October 1983
MEMORANDUM FOR:
THROUGH
FROM
Charles A. Briggs
Executive Director
Thomas B. Cormack
Executive Secretary
J. Kenneth McDonald
Chief, History Staff
SUBJECT Organization and Location of the DCI History Staff
1. This is to explain why I am convinced that the History Staff must
remain independent and in the Office of the Director of Central
Intelligence.
2. Although last summer told me some of his ideas about
expanding the Center for the Stu y of Intelligence, including an Anschluss of
the History Staff, I have seen no written proposals. There are, however, two
questions involved in Paul's or any other proposals to change the DCI History
Staff's present organization or location. These are:
A. Whether to take the History Staff out of the Office of the DCI and
place it in one of the four directorates.
B Whether to consolidate the History Staff with other offices--e.g.
DDI's Historical Intelligence Collection, DCI's Academic Coordinator, or
DDA's Center for the Study of Intelligence and Studies in Intelligence.
3. In fact, the History Advisory Committee and top Agency management
considered both of these issues carefully in 1980 when they examined the
question of resurrecting a CIA History Staff. For clarity, I shall treat
each of these two questions separately.
4. Since General Walter Bedell Smith created it in 1951, the History
Staff has always been in the Office of the DCI, except for a sojourn in the
Directorate of Administration from mid-1973 to the end of 1979 . In DDA the
History Staff withered away from a staff of 23 in 1973 to one historian--Jack
Pfeiffer--in 1975, and on to extinction at the end of 1979. In November 1980
when the History Staff was re-established, it returned to the Office of the
DCI, as the all-Agency History Advisory Committee, chaired by had
recommended in its report to the DCI of 15 July 1980 (Attachment 1).
5. In explaining its recommendation that the Office of CIA Historian be
established "as an independent office under the Director of Central
Intelligence," Committee quoted generously from a 15 June 1980 study
(Attachment 2) prepared for them by the distinguished military historian, Dr.
who served as consultant to the Agency and the Committee:
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"Certain characteristics of the Agency) Iwrote], both
structural and procedural, militate against the establishment and
performance of an Historical Activity, and they should be clearly
recognized and hardly minimized. Among them are the decentralized nature
of the Agency's operational framework; the virtual independence of the
major components; compartmentation control; the extreme sensitivity of
much of the Agency's production; and the understandable reluctance,
particularly on the part of the Directorate of Operations, to record
actions and events."
6. To overcome these and other difficulties, concluded
that the Agency's Historical Activity should be "organizationally located at
the top, as a separate entity directly under the Director." He found this
essential first, "to break down the compartmentation control;" and secondly,
"to indicate to the Agency that the Activity enjoys the fullest support and
confidence at the highest level."
7. On 25 August 1980, in approving all of
recommendations, the DCI wrote to the DDCI:
"Specifically, I think we should put the Historian in the Executive
Secretariat....On the one hand, I think we'll need that proximity to the
front office to attract a good Historian; on the other, it makes sense
for the Executive Secretary to feel responsible for keeping the Historian
posted on what is going on....I'd like to make the Historian an SIS
position up to SIS-4 (that's GS-18 I hope)".
8. The Chief Historian was established as an SIS position, and I
accepted the appointment on the assurance from Ben Evans and the members of
the search committee that the History Staff was in the Office of the DCI, and
that I would report to the DDCI and DCI. I can now observe that the History
Staff's location with the Executive Secretary in the Office of the DCI has in
fact supported its independent role, by giving us the benefit of Tom
Cormack's counsel, as well as the important support of the Executive Registry
in getting access to the documentation we need.
9. My own two years' experience with the new History Staff, along with
the History Staff's previous history from 1951 to 1979, fully confirm the
wisdom of the History Advisory Committee, and top Agency
management in opting in 1980 for an independent History Staff in the Office
of the DCI. To write comprehensive and objective history, the History Staff
must not be identified with or subordinate to any one of the four
directorates, and it must have DCI-level access to documents and people
across compartmentation lines. Our experience last winter with the proposed
study of congressional relations demonstrates how even a topic accepted by
all four Deputy Directors and the Executive Director (acting as CIA's History
Advisory Board) still needs the imprimatur of the DDCI and DCI. As histories
are produced, we shall need the same levels of approval in the review of
manuscripts and for decisions on dissemination of the studies. In sum, the
History Staff can only do its job if it has, and can clearly be seen to have,
the full confidence and support of the DCI.
10. On the second question, there is little to recommend merging other
components with the History Staff if the History Staff's proper location is
in the Office of the DCI. Nevertheless, I should perhaps explain the
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implications for the History Staff of associating it with each of the offices
that have apparently been discussed as candidates for consolidation in CSI.
11. Historical Intelligence Collection. Since the principal role of
HIC's curator seems to be to maintain and build the collection, and to answer
reference questions, HIC seems well placed now in DDI's Office of Central
Reference organizationally, and adjacent to the CIA Library physically.
Although a case could be made for putting the Historical Intelligence
Collection under the History Staff, owning it would be more hindrance than
help in our work. Moreover, I can see no advantages for either HIC or the
History Staff in having both part of some other entity.
12. Coordinator for Academic Relations. This is an "outreach" function
to universities, which seems properly placed in Public Affairs. It would
appear foolhardy to associate this function with the History Staff, which has
compelling reasons for not reaching out to provoke or encourage outside
interest--especially from academics--in its classified internal work.
13. Studies in Intelligence. A case could be made for the History Staff
to publish this professional journal, since Studies publishes a good deal of
historical writing, and since the History Staf as published it in the
past. Yet while it might be useful to have the Chief of the History Staff on
the Board of Studies, I can find no advantages for either Studies or the
History Staff in having both part of some other entity.
14. Center for the Study of Intellience. The role of CSI seems to be
to encourage and arrange certain types of relatively short-term internal
individual research projects, to sponsor occasional external contract
research, to organize both internal and external conferences, and to publish
Studies in Intelligence. Association with CSI's "outreach" role (as in the
forthcoming conference for university professors teaching intelligence
courses) could jeopardize the History Staff's work, while CSI's internal
training and fellowship programs have virtually nothing in common with our
historical work in purpose, focus, organization or staffing.
15. In light of the disparate--and in some respects incompatible--roles
of the History Staff and these other components, I can find no case for their
consolidation under a new layer of administration. Moreover, for the History
Staff to join CSI in DDA's Office of Training and Education would raise all
the problems we identified in paragraphs 5-9 above, in discussing the vital
importance of our present location.
16. The History Staff can best--and probably only--do its job by
maintaining its independent role in the Office of the Director of Central
Intelligence.
J. Kenneth McDonald
Attachments
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15 July 1980
MEMORANDUM FOR:
VIA:
FROM:
Director of Central Intelligence
Deputy Director for Administration
airman, History Advisory Committee
SUBJECT: Report of the History Advisory Committee
{ 1AB A)
1. Since its appointment in January of this year,
the History Advisory Committee has met almost weekly to
investigate and discuss the past and present state of the
Agency's history program with the objective of determining
a proper role and scope for a future history program. We
have interviewed, officers associated with the program in the
past and held meetings with representatives of concerned
components. We have benefited from the investi ations and
advice of an eminent historian,
Throughout, we have taken a deliberate and open approach
to the question of what the Agency needs and should have
in the way of a history program.
2. As recorded in our interim status report, we
found that the history program which flourished in the
1960s and early 1970s is essentially dormant, if not dead.
The two clerical employees remaining from the original staff
manage to answer the most pressing requirements for historical
data on a catch-as catch-can basis; nothing else is being
done either to identify and capture historical documents or
to exploit existing mar,-.ti-;.,, F -1
is a model charter':"whichydirects the performanceAofuproper3}
historical functions and grants the historical staff access
to the records, but it is a dead letter. Indeed, from 1973
onward the historical program progressively declined to its
present moribund state.
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SUBJECT: Report of the History Advisory Committee
3. We found that past efforts to create and maintain
historical records proceeded from a general misunderstanding
of the value to the Agency of an effective historical program.
As a result, the program suffered from peaks and valleys of
executive and organizational interest, from competition for
space, funds and personnel, from conflicting perceptions of
its benefits and costs, and from precipitate and short-term
actions. Even during its most productive period, the program
yielded results ranging from good to horrid; component support
has varied from grudging tolerance to lethal opposition.
4. Yet we find at the beginning of 1980 wide support
within the Agency for a program which will provide an accessible
record of Agency activity, a teaching resource, a means of more
easily and reliably providing data to the Congress and the
public, and a way to respond to the requirements of other agencies
involved in the maintaining and recording of Government histories.
Although there is no strictly legal requirement for the Agency
to write histories or even to maintain records purely for the
preparation of histories, there is a, strongly felt demand from
the Congress, from academia, from the Departments of State and
Defense, and from the press that the Agency be able to produce
authoritative accounts of its activities, particularly those
undertaken as part of larger Government programs. We found a
keen awareness of this demand among all the component represen-
tatives we interviewed, and a desire. that the Agency put itself
in. a better position to respond to external demands and internal
requirements consistent with the 'DCI's responsibilities under the
law to protect intelligence sources and methods.
S. This change in perception can be accounted for by the
Agency's having been required to "go public" since the mid-70s
as a result of new,Congressional and Executive Branch oversight
requirements. In the course of responding to these demands for
accounting of past Agency activities, our managers and employees
have had to devote enormous time and effort to not-always-successful
attempts to recapture knowledge of facts and events from the past --
not to mention documents. At the same time, with the passing into
retirement of the Agency's founding generation, much of a quarter
century of institutional memory has faded away and should be
recaptured. A new generation of operators, analysts, and managers
finds itself reinventing wheels, systems, techniques, and paper-
clips simply because lessons of the past have not been recorded
and passed on.
6, ~in his succinct y why the Agency shouldI,oandtindeedCmust, embark onaaed
respectable program of historical accounting: a
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~. i u 9 9 .,. 4 c a a: L
SUBJECT: Report of the History Advisory Committee
consideration of our own findings and of Dr.
advice (a co
f
py o
as
a his full report is attached
the Tab follB),owing: the History Advisory Committee therefore recommends
a. Establish an Office of the CIA Historian as
an independent office under the Director of Central
Intelligence. The CIA Historian, occu
SIS slot, will in effect sit at the Director's left rhandel
(so that he may record history) and enjoy DCI-level access
to programs and documents (so that he may determine the
requirements'of an historical program).
b. Recruit an historian of professional stature to
head up the program and oversee its organization and
development. The professional officers staffing the
office can come from a variety of sources. Most of these
people will be professional or practical historians; some
few may be officers detailed or contracted to the office
to write up historical data for rewriting into professional
histories, assembling reference materials and conducting
oral histories. These include:
PAL
"An Historical Activity -- I use the term to denote
the totality of an historical effort, its personnel, program
and activities -- is not a luxury but' rather a legitimate
tool that can and should facilitate the Agency's work. '
Certain characteristics of the Agency, both structural
and procedural, militate against the establishment and
performance of an Historical Activity,
clearly recognized and hardly minimized. Amoney them are
ld are
the decentralized nature of the Agency's operational
framework; the virtual independence of the major components;
compartmentation control; the extreme sensitivity of much
of the Agency's production; and the understandable reluctance
particularly on the part of the Directorate of Operations, to
record actions and events.
Despite these conditions, a competent Historical
Activity, if properly supported, directed and managed,
can and should contribute to the Agency's missions, roles,
and functions.
The Agency should significantly expand its Historical
Acfivity to enable it to serve the Agency and to hel
discharge its obligations." p it
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t/ a S t lr:~~ A rT$ .
SUBJECT: Report of the History Advisory Committee
(1) Professional historians hired permanently,
temporarily, or part-time to turn existing data into
finished histories.
(2) On-duty Agency personnel who are qualified
historians assigned rotationally to the office to
complete specific historical projects (possibly as
"Historical Fellows" similar to the present DCI
Fellows at the Center for the Study of Intelligence).
(3) Annuitants hired to record historical data or
write finished histories of programs or components.
C. Transfer the existing three positions and the
two incumbent clerks to the new staff. In addition to the
slots, clerical personnel, and holdings of the existing
historical program, the new office should eventually absorb
the Historical Intelligence Collection and its personnel.
from the Office of Central Reference to assure the continued
functioning of that collection and the services it now provides.
Likewise, any collection of historical artifacts should, in
time, be housed within the new office, and the records of the
various "museum committees" of the past should be reviewed to
this end.
d.` Provide as a deputy to the historian a career
operational or analytical intelligence officer selected
primarily for his/her knowledge of the Agency, preferably
chosen in consultation with the Historian.
e. Provide a seasoned executive officer to help the
Historian preserve current documents for historical purposes
and provide the practical. administrative support required for
the exploitation of existing records. Even more important,
according to is the assignment to our Records
Management Program of a full-time, in-house Archivist to
help the Historian identify and preserve records of potential
historical value which, according to present criteria, will
otherwise be destroyed.
f. Reinvoke the provisions of HNF__1as a charter 25X1
for the program.
8. Nothing in these recommendations should be considered
as binding on the CIA Historian to be hired, except that
some initial organizational steps might be taken if the search
for a qualified historian from outside is protracted. 25X1
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SUBJECT: Report of the History Advisory Committee
has recommended a number of qualified h'
candidates, and he is available for further consultation as
the Director, consultationlbye
parallel those of 11 n iderable extent, our recommendations
we have had from t and the
CIA many Historian to be y Agency officers consulted the advice
Director and the De ppointed, in consultation with theist the
in how the office iputy Directors should have the kes staffed and how it functions, y role
Attachments:
Tabs A & B
4'. .~ i d 5 'lam
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A-
Ala
15 June 1980
WHY THE AGENCY NEEDS AN EXPANDED HISTORICAL ACTIVITY
AND HOW TO GET IT: SOME OBSERVATIONS, THOUGHTS,
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
General Statements
An historical program or activity is valid and can be
justified only if it is useful to the organization that
shelters and nourishes it.
So too at CIA. A strong and competent Historical
Activity, if revived and supported, will indeed by useful
and prove to be valuable.
An-Historical Activity -- I use the term to denote
the totality of an historical effort, its personnel, program,
and activities -- is not a luxury but rather a legitimate
tool that can and should facilitate the Agency's work.
An Historical Activity performs a staff function..
It serves the Agency's line officers.
Certain characteristics of the Agency, both structural
and procedural, militate against the establishment and
performance of an Historical Activity, and they should be
clearly recognized and hardly minimized. Among them are
the decentralized nature of the Agency's operational framework;
the virtual independence of the major components; compartmen-
tation control.; the extreme sensitivity of much of the.
Agency's production; and the understandable reluctance,
particularly on the part of the Directorate of Operations,
to record actions and events.
Despite these conditions, a competent Historical
Activity, if properly supported, directed, and managed
can and should contribute to the Agency's missions, roles,
and functions.
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15 June 1980
WHY THE AGENCY NEEDS AN EXPANDED HISTORICAL ACTIVITY
AND HOW TO GET IT: SOME OBSERVATIONS, THOUGHTS,
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
General Statements
An historical program or activity is valid and can be
justified only if it is useful to the organization that
shelters and nourishes it.
So too at CIA. A strong and competent Historical
Activity, if revived and supported, will indeed by useful
and prove to be valuable.
An"Historical'Activity -- I use th
t
e
erm to denote
the totality of an historical effort, its personnel, program,
and activities -- is not a luxury but rather a legitimate
tool that can and should facilitate the Agency's work.
An Historical Activity performs a staff function..
It serves the Agency's line officers. '
Certain characteristics of the Agency, both structural
and procedural, militate against the establishment and
performance of an Historical. Activity, and they should be
clearly recognized and hardly minimized. Among then are
the decentralized nature of the Agency's operational framework;
the virtual independence of the major components; compartmen-
tation control; the extreme sensitivity of much of the.
Agency's production; and the understandable reluctance,
particularly on the part of the Directorate of Operations,
to record actions and events.
Despite these conditions, a-competent.Historical
Activity, if properly supported, directed, and managed
can and should contribute to the Agency's missions, roles,
and functions.
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Background
About a decade ago, th
e Agenc
sponso
e
d
h
effort of some magnitude,
and enti
"
r
dated 8
an
is
August
torical
1973
tled
CIA Historic
Activity to fulfill three
record of the Agency's act
past events; and 3) monito
vation of important documen
A
e
al Progra
major fun
ivities;
r the rec
ts relat
m," dire
ctions:
2) write
ords to
ing to t
cted the
1)
histori
insure t
he bict^
Historical
es' a
he preser-
f
g
ncy, To fulfill these r
esponsib
iliti
g o
ede
25X1
es
the Historical Activit
a
r
ed
y
ccess to all the
ecor s without
regard to compartmentation control.
The missions thus outlined and the' permission thus
granted established the basis of an adequate and satisfactory
historical program that could be successfully executed.
Unfortunately, I suspect, misunderstanding at higher
Agency levels of the legitimate historical functions led
to a misdirection of the effort and to mismanagement of
the historical resources, Lessening interest in and support
of, perhaps mounting opposition to, an Historical Activity
prompted the Agency to move the Historical Activity organiza-
tionally from the Office of the Director, specifically the
Office of the Comptroller, to the Directorate of Administration.
As a consequence of,.these developments, the
Activity began to wither away, to decline and er
virtual atrophy. About _persons were engaged
Historical Activit
Histor
ode to
in the
ical
y aroun 1970; today there are
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2oA]
the re Y ' `'1`L1 l eniains in ettect,
personnel' reductions obviously.make it impossible for
the historians to fulfill the responsibilities outlined
in t h --r I
The Present 'Situation
early this year, they worked under the direction and
supervision of an Historian whose time was mainly devoted
to writing a long-range and, I have no doubt, scholarly
and sound history of the Bay of Pigs.
Since about January 1980, when the Historian was
removed from the Historical Activity and reassigned, the
maladies have faithf
ll
u
y endeavored to sustain and. to
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fulfill a single facet of the historical functions. They
are responding, as best they can, and with informal guidance
from the former Historian, to requests for historical informa-
tion. These come for the most part from other governmental
agencies, for example, the Departments of State and Defense.
A few come from inside the Agency itself. The requests for
information number about ten to fifteen per month; responding
to them requires identifying, retrieving, and dispatching
appropriate records and making certain that these documents
are returned to the Agency. In addition, the ladies respond
to about ten or fifteen requests per month by answering them
over the telephone.
The historical holdings the ladies use to identify
sources of information into their work consists of:
1. About 360 "histories" written approximately
between 1953 and 1968. These are documented texts, and
sometimes the supporting papers are filed with the
llhi story " S
s . ,
ome
others in the Archives """11'' 25X1
Thes
"hi
"
e
stories
appear to be, in reality, historical studies and monographs,
sometimes little more than lists of events. They are more
or_less ambitious in scope, and their individual value as
historical sources ranges from poor to excellent. (Not
long ago -- a year or so perhaps -- a Congressional committee
or sub-committee asked to see one or more histories, and the
Agency complied and was subsequently embarrassed; had these
works been labeled "preliminary studies: instead of being
dignified by the. term "histories," they would no doubt have
been recognized for what they are, actually reference materials.)
2. Miscellaneous "histories," for the most part
unfinished studies, and miscellaneous documentary collections.
The Historical Activity obtained them because the authors and
collectors offered them out of the goodness of their hearts
in order to prevent their destruction.
3. About 35 oral "histories" obtained in the same
manner as above. Some of the tapes have been transcribed.
4. The most important: an impressive and excellent
card index (36 cubic feet of 5" x 8" cards) referenced and
cross-refe o reco
d
h
r
s t
at can be retrieved STAT
from files
the work o in the Agency. Unfortunately,
eeping the refe
rence cards up-to-date with
the records came to an end about ten years ago because of
redi:ctions in historical personnel. '
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tft
Minimum Action
Action order to Maintain e
y ve this rud'
, the following actions should be be taken Historical
1 ?
and 'Compile and
Monographs additi
to write - studies
the years cover the onal short
subsequent to the end Agenof~s activitie the s during
2. Update "histories,, ? events and key personnel, aids program;
1968, when Y personnel, chronologies s
71 index card
this work ceased; es lists of
etc. beyond
of the Monitor the
Agency-s recenteandds to keep abreast and
This re current act
and ivities, informed
additions pe Agency su
1 personnel, PP?rt historical
leadership
hold Bn But this, I believe,
di g operation essentiaWoud lly be a Mal effort
gnity, and im Y unworthy of the ' a
Place in th
status,
e government IstructueWhat Should be , well-recognized
Done and A~
Activity t uld
The Agency sho significantly
o enable discharge its obligationsserve the Agency its Historical
Y and to help it
A well-defined
Historical Activity should:
l Create and
. A preserve an inst should: the Agency onal
Activity would be Properly functioning information able to e Historicalry
requires from within theeAgen d to o requests for
insight .an no Historical Activit Y and without
changing nt apast operations Ywknowledge Of and
We mi organizational structure fu names
nction, events, etc.
2. Present to
and credible narrativthe es Public from ti
meats. All of time to
People , andhe g?ver ment Y' d a This
agencies of the gent time rate
the American s work and
is
s .9 to the extent that the CIA should are accountable mPlish-
sensi p.err~it Denying or deliberate) ty of be no endeption?
mission a
thi that
Y overlooking materials
o s obligation
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leaves it to be fulfilled b
individuals outside the ohmergtanizatns
the s
disgruntled ex-em , and
in a more or lessPdistortedtc. Their descriptionsrreSult
That in turn denies the Picture of what the
Thte to n den also undermines Public reco Agency does
nition activities. Public confidenceo nuts
CIA histories can and should
public image. We might call this the Writinrrect the
(Some writing will be done for the
function.
Records Purpose o reference.)
In order for the Historical Activity to ful;'
Reference and Writin
research . Historical functions' it must be 1111 both
re iti'rch , whether able to perform
g, is impossibresearch
for Reference
le without records.
Although records collection
historical responsibility, the historical it is not a primary
is closely
be reasonably certainsthaththe~re?ords l Activity to
thbed preserved are being must
and will continue tocbelectd
to proper historical research.
Activity take Although t e germane
it should have no active part in grecordslmanagement
with the recordsome ad tin ry connection or ass
1973 g process, as ciation
indicated and directed.
8 August
Collecting and preser -
of records managers and g records are responsibilities
records managers are concerniedvists. If I may oversimplify, while archivists are primarill more close with disposing
preserving historical papers. y concered with
In view of the tremendous rouct Of the Agency, it is no wonder or accidentothat
and senior archivist is paper at
managers. On the other presentl no professional
the records hand y employed the records
shedees managers, ' it is rny fair r to state that
folloclosely and their records of the National and scrupulousl management
Archives on what historicaltree cordsatoe
preserve. This guidance comes from
published regulations and directives, ublished
Archives r National call s
tive pec who makeSor the Agency by a Nationalified and interpreted
occasional or periodic visitsc tov the r Agenency.
to the
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The Historical Activity must be bound by the same
rules and regulations imposed on all components of the
Agen~c h one exception: compartmentation control.
If is indeed still in effect, there
But perhaps permission of access to A enc is no problem.
(and officials) should be restated, g Y-wide records
Organizational Placement
The Historical Activity should be organizationally
located at the top, as a separate entity directly under
the Director. This is necessary for two reasons: 1) to
break down the compartmentation control; and 2) to indicate
to the Agency that the Activity enjoys the fullest support
and confidence at the highest level.
(The Activity should not be structurally co-located
with the Public Affairs Office, which performs an altogether
different function. The'Historical Activity should respond
to Public Affairs requests for information, and Public Affairs
should be represented on any review board deciding whether
or not to publish a particular open historical work. Nor
should the Activity be placed in the Directorate of Administration,
which has interests and concerns wholly different from those of
historians.)
Expected Results
A strong and professional Historical Activito
the support of the Director, if it performs properlynanding
effectively, will relieve Agency components in large
art
from having, as at present, to act as their own historians.
In addition to providing helpful reference guides and materials,
it can produce historical case studies and other instructional
materials for use in Training. It will by enhance the public image of the Agency,' its publications,
Personnel and Duties
There should be a Chief Historian. He or she should
be a senior person who is vigorous, competent, and likable.
He/she should have stature and reputation in the academic
world and probably should have written several good books.
He should have proved his prior success to manage programs
and people. He should be acquainted, even familiar, with the
government, preferably the Washington scene and its bureaucracy.
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This person will be difficult to identify, and it will
be difficult to persuade him to join the Agency. Two things
will have to challenge him: the opportunity to create and
direct a meaningful historical program; and the opportunity
to write history for the public.
He should have access to whatever documents and
officials (for interview) that he deems necessary
in order to perform his duties. He should be invited
to attend as an observer the regular and important meetings
and conferences at the highest Agency levels. He should have
knowledge of all the activities engaged in by the Agency so that
he can record decisions, events, personalities, processes,
organizational shifts, and the like.
He should be exempt from rotational assignments. He
and his professional staff should have a special career track to
insure promotions, commendations, and the like.
There should be a Deputy Chief Historian to run the
shop and to act in the absence of the Chief Historian. He
could come from within the Agency, and if so, should be
well-known and well-liked, but he too should have proper
historical credentials, probably have written a book or two,
and have what is called the historical temperament and outlook.
Beyond that, the staff should grow as the program develops.
To set forth specific personnel requirements at this stage
seems premature. The Chief Historian, with the help of his
Deputy, should fashion a program and lay out his requirements
for personnel, space, clerical assistance, etc. His office
and at least some of his staff should probably be located
at Headquarters.
Desirable Actions
It would be helpful to have an Historical Advisory
Committee formed somewhat later of three to five members.
They should visit the Historical Activity annually, meet
with the historical staff, discuss historical problems, and
the like. This can be done without compromising sensitivity
and classification.
I would be glad to help establish an expanded Historical
Activity, but I suggest as being better
qualified. For many years until his recent retirement, he
was the Chief Historian of the AEC. He created and managed
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1-7
? ~ i.i, d
an historical program that might well be a model for the
Agency. Operating in a sensitive area, he performed the
various historical functions, including publishing several
excellent volumes of official history. I do not know him
personally, but I recommend that he be requested, under
contract, to help set up the detailed guidelines, procedures,
methods, and relationships necessary to establish and maintain
a strong Historical Activity at CIA.
Conclusion
Such an Activity will, above all, serve the Agency
by providing an institutional memory for internal use,
being a point of contact with other governmental agencies
and departments, and eventually enhancing'the stature of
the Agency in the public awareness.
Recommendations
To recapitulate, I recommend that:
1. A decision be made to strengthen the
Historical Activity and to place it directly under
the Director;
2. A Chief Historian be appointed;
3. A Deputy Chief Historian be appointed;
4. be asked to help establish the
Historical ctivity;
S. The Chief Historian and his Deputy formulate
a charter to establish and govern an historical
program might be enough);
6. An Historical Advisory Committee eventually
be appointed. I venture to guess that, in the best
of circumstances, it will take at least a year or two
for the Historical Activity to gain the confidence and
cooperation of the Agency at large.
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