The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is created

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was created with the signing of the National Security Act on July 26, 1947 by President Harry S. Truman. [1, 2, 3] Aside from the purposeful unification of the three military departments, the act established the National Security Council. [4]

The CIA was established under the National Security Council (NSC) to be headed by a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), who would be appointed by the President, and be their principal advisor for intelligence matters related to national security.

To “promote the national security by providing for a Secretary of Defence; for a National Military Establishment; for a Department of the Army, a Department of the Navy, and a Department of the Air Force; and for the coordination of the activities of the National Military Establishment with other departments and agencies of the Government concerned with national security.”

Although “modern U.S. intelligence can be traced back to World War II, with the establishment of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)” in 1942 their “functions included the use of propaganda, subversion, and post-war planning” including running ‘Operation Paperclip‘.

In 2004 the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act which passed December 17, 2004, amended the 1947 National Security Act to provide for a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) who would assume some of the roles formerly fulfilled by the DCI. [1]

The DNI, supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), produces the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), a top-secret document including intelligence from all Intelligence Community (IC) agencies, handed each morning to the president of the United States – previously handled by CIA Director.

Freedom of Information requests and declassification has revealed  just how the CIA has helped “shape” history. “The CIA was vested with broad powers, functioning under minimal public scrutiny, often operating in international territories to counter perceived threats to U.S. interests,” and become involved in global affairs. [2]