Difference between revisions of "Central Intelligence Agency"
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| + | {{short description|'''United States civilian foreign-intelligence agency, established in 1947'''}} | ||
{{Infobox organization | {{Infobox organization | ||
| name = [[Central Intelligence Agency]] | | name = [[Central Intelligence Agency]] | ||
| − | | | + | | logo = Seal of the Central Intelligence Agency - Powerbase.png |
| − | | image_size = | + | | image_size = 200px |
| − | | caption = | + | | caption = Seal of the Central Intelligence Agency. |
| − | | type = | + | | type = Civilian foreign-intelligence agency |
| − | + | | founded = {{Start date|1947}}<ref name="infobox2026_about">Central Intelligence Agency, "[https://www.cia.gov/about/ About CIA]", undated, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> | |
| − | | founded = | + | | headquarters = Langley, Virginia<ref name="infobox2026_hq">Central Intelligence Agency, "[https://www.cia.gov/legacy/headquarters Explore CIA Headquarters]", undated, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> |
| − | + | | area_served = United States government; worldwide foreign-intelligence remit | |
| − | | headquarters = | ||
| − | |||
| − | | area_served = | ||
| − | |||
| services = Foreign intelligence collection; all-source analysis; covert action as directed by the President<ref name="infobox2026_about"/> | | services = Foreign intelligence collection; all-source analysis; covert action as directed by the President<ref name="infobox2026_about"/> | ||
| − | | key_people = | + | | key_people = [[John Ratcliffe|John L. Ratcliffe]] (Director, sworn in 23 January 2025); [[Michael Ellis (intelligence official)|Michael Ellis]] (Deputy Director, sworn in 10 February 2025)<ref name="infobox2026_director">Central Intelligence Agency, [https://www.cia.gov/about/director-of-cia/ Director of the CIA], undated, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> |
| − | |||
| website = [https://www.cia.gov/ Official website] | | website = [https://www.cia.gov/ Official website] | ||
| − | | remarks = | + | | remarks = Director reports to the [[Office of the Director of National Intelligence|Director of National Intelligence]]; not a law-enforcement organisation<ref name="infobox2026_director"/><ref name="infobox2026_about"/> |
| − | |||
}} | }} | ||
| − | The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] ( | + | The '''[[Central Intelligence Agency]]''' ('''CIA''') is the United States government's civilian foreign-intelligence agency. Its Director manages intelligence collection, analysis, covert action, counterintelligence and liaison with foreign intelligence services, and reports to the [[Office of the Director of National Intelligence|Director of National Intelligence]]. [[John Ratcliffe|John L. Ratcliffe]] has been Director since 23 January 2025.<ref name="infobox2026_director"/><ref name="RatcliffeSworn">Central Intelligence Agency, [https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/john-ratcliffe-sworn-in-as-cia-director/ John Ratcliffe Sworn in as CIA Director], 23 January 2025, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> |
| + | [[File:Aerial view of the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters, Langley, Virginia - Corrected and Cropped - Powerbase.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Aerial view of CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia.]] | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
| + | The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] was established in 1947 under the [[National Security Act of 1947]].<ref name="HouseNSA1947">Office of the Historian, US House of Representatives, [https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-National-Security-Act-of-1947/ The National Security Act of 1947], historical highlight dated 26 July 1947, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref><ref name="infobox2026_about"/> | ||
| + | |||
===War on Terror=== | ===War on Terror=== | ||
====Detention and rendition==== | ====Detention and rendition==== | ||
| − | Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] began a secret detention program under which suspected | + | Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] began a secret detention program under which suspected terrorists were held in prisons or “black sites,” outside the United States, where they were subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” involving torture and other abuse. The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] also began a secret programme of “extraordinary rendition,” transferring detainees to other governments, without legal process, for detention and interrogation.<ref name="merged_9d1072e2c7">[http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/globalizing-torture-20120205.pdf Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition], Open Society Justice Initiative, February 2013, p5.</ref> |
| − | terrorists were held in prisons or “black sites,” outside the United States, where they were subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” involving torture and other abuse. The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] also began a secret programme of “extraordinary rendition,” transferring detainees | + | |
| + | The [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]] (SSCI) later studied the programme. Its declassified findings and conclusions, ordered printed as Senate Report 113-288 in December 2014, state that the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]'s use of enhanced interrogation techniques "was not an effective means of acquiring intelligence or gaining cooperation from detainees", and that the agency's justifications for the techniques rested on inaccurate claims of their effectiveness.<ref name="SSCI2014">Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-113srpt288/pdf/CRPT-113srpt288.pdf Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program], S. Rept. 113-288, findings and conclusions, December 2014, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> The committee chair, [[Dianne Feinstein]], wrote in her foreword that, under any common meaning of the term, CIA detainees were tortured. Minority views were printed with the study.<ref name="SSCI2014"/> | ||
| + | |||
| + | The 2018 nomination of [[Gina Haspel]], who had been a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] base chief in Thailand in late 2002 and chief of staff to the head of the clandestine service when interrogation videotapes were destroyed in 2005, renewed scrutiny of these records.<ref name="NSArchiveHaspel">John Prados, Wendy Valdes and Tom Blanton, [https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/intelligence-torture-archive/2018-05-09/cia-black-sites-program-gina-haspel-nomination The CIA Black Sites Program and the Gina Haspel Nomination], National Security Archive, 9 May 2018, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> At her confirmation hearing on 9 May 2018 she told the committee that "under my leadership, on my watch, CIA will not restart a detention and interrogation program".<ref name="HaspelHearing">Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115shrg30119/pdf/CHRG-115shrg30119.pdf Open Hearing: Nomination of Gina Haspel to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency], S. Hrg. 115-302, 9 May 2018, accessed 7 November 2026.</ref> | ||
| − | |||
==People== | ==People== | ||
===Directors=== | ===Directors=== | ||
| Line 51: | Line 51: | ||
*[[Porter Goss]] - 2004-5 <ref name="merged_6ecba561ad">[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/directors-and-deputy-directors-of-central-intelligence/directors-of-central-intelligence.html Directors of Central Intelligence - Central Intelligence Agency], accessed 27 February 2008.</ref> | *[[Porter Goss]] - 2004-5 <ref name="merged_6ecba561ad">[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/directors-and-deputy-directors-of-central-intelligence/directors-of-central-intelligence.html Directors of Central Intelligence - Central Intelligence Agency], accessed 27 February 2008.</ref> | ||
| − | Following passage of the Intelligence Reform and | + | Following passage of the [[Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004]] the [[Director of Central Intelligence]] was replaced as head of the US Intelligence community by a [[Office of the Director of National Intelligence|Director of National Intelligence]] outside the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]. <ref name="merged_96d835a07d">[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB144/index.htm From Director of Central Intelligence to Director of National Intelligence], National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 144, edited by Jeffrey T. Richelson, December 17, 2004, accessed 27 February 2008.</ref> |
====Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency==== | ====Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency==== | ||
| Line 58: | Line 58: | ||
*[[Leon E. Panetta]] 2009-2011 | *[[Leon E. Panetta]] 2009-2011 | ||
*[[David Petraeus]] 2011<ref name="merged_968044f90a">[https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/david-h.-petraeus.html David H. Petraeus], Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 18 April 2012.</ref>-2012 | *[[David Petraeus]] 2011<ref name="merged_968044f90a">[https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/david-h.-petraeus.html David H. Petraeus], Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 18 April 2012.</ref>-2012 | ||
| − | *[[John O. Brennan]] — March 2013–January 2017.<ref name="merged_e4b280f917">US National Archives / LBJ Presidential Library, [https://www.archives.gov/calendar/event/an-evening-with-john-brennan An Evening with John Brennan], 24 October 2018 event, accessed 6 November 2026 | + | *[[John O. Brennan]] — March 2013–January 2017.<ref name="merged_e4b280f917">US National Archives / LBJ Presidential Library, [https://www.archives.gov/calendar/event/an-evening-with-john-brennan An Evening with John Brennan], 24 October 2018 event, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref><ref name="merged_a278af552c">[https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/john-o-brennan.html John O. Brennan], Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 27 March 2013.</ref> |
| − | *[[John Ratcliffe|John L. Ratcliffe]] — sworn in on 23 January 2025 | + | *[[Mike Pompeo]] — sworn in on 23 January 2017 as the 22nd Director;<ref name="CIAPompeo2017">Central Intelligence Agency, [https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/mike-pompeo-takes-helm-as-director-of-the-central-intelligence-agency/ Mike Pompeo Takes Helm as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency], 24 January 2017, accessed 7 November 2026.</ref> entered on duty as [[US Department of State|Secretary of State]] on 26 April 2018.<ref name="StateHistPompeo">Office of the Historian, US Department of State, [https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/pompeo-michael-r Michael Richard Pompeo (1963–)], Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission, accessed 7 November 2026.</ref> [[Gina Haspel]] was Acting Director by the time of her confirmation hearing on 9 May 2018.<ref name="HaspelHearing"/> |
| + | *[[Gina Haspel]] — confirmed by the Senate 54–45 on 17 May 2018; announced her departure on 19 January 2021.<ref name="SenateHaspelVote">US Senate, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220410181222/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1152/vote_115_2_00101.htm Roll Call Vote 115th Congress – 2nd Session, Vote 101], 17 May 2018, archived 10 April 2022, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref><ref name="ForbesHaspelResign">Jemima McEvoy, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/01/19/cia-director-gina-haspel-announces-resignation/ CIA Director Gina Haspel Announces Resignation], ''Forbes'', 19 January 2021, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> | ||
| + | *[[William Burns|William J. Burns]] — confirmed by Senate voice vote on 18 March 2021; left office 20 January 2025.<ref name="CNNBurnsConfirm">Jeremy Herb, [https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/18/politics/william-burns-confirmed-cia-director-senate-voice-vote William Burns: Senate confirms next CIA director after Cruz lifts hold], ''CNN'', 18 March 2021, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref><ref name="BurnsOGE">William Joseph Burns, [https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/C870C36D57A2114685258C3F0031EFF4/$FILE/William-J-Burns-2025-278TERM.pdf Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278e), Termination], US Office of Government Ethics, termination date 20 January 2025, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> | ||
| + | *[[John Ratcliffe|John L. Ratcliffe]] — confirmed by the Senate 74–25 and sworn in on 23 January 2025 as the 25th Director.<ref name="SenateRatcliffeVote">US Senate, [https://web.archive.org/web/20250123235612/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00013.htm Roll Call Vote 119th Congress – 1st Session, Vote 13], 23 January 2025, archived 23 January 2025, accessed 6 November 2026.</ref><ref name="RatcliffeSworn"/><ref name="infobox2026_director"/> | ||
====Deputy Directors==== | ====Deputy Directors==== | ||
| − | [[Kingman Douglass]] | [[Edwin Kennedy Wright]] | [[William Harding Jackson]] | [[Allen Dulles]] | [[Charles P. Cabell]] | [[Marshall Carter]] | [[Richard Helms]] | [[Rufus Taylor]] | [[Robert E. Cushman, Jr.]] | [[Vernon Walters|Vernon A. Walters]] | [[E. Henry Knoche]] | [[John F. | + | [[Kingman Douglass]] | [[Edwin Kennedy Wright]] | [[William Harding Jackson]] | [[Allen Dulles]] | [[Charles P. Cabell]] | [[Marshall Carter]] | [[Richard Helms]] | [[Rufus Taylor]] | [[Robert E. Cushman, Jr.]] | [[Vernon Walters|Vernon A. Walters]] | [[E. Henry Knoche]] | [[John F. Blake]] |
*[[Frank Carlucci]] 1978-81. | *[[Frank Carlucci]] 1978-81. | ||
*[[Bobby Ray Inman]] 1981-82 | *[[Bobby Ray Inman]] 1981-82 | ||
| Line 75: | Line 78: | ||
*[[Stephen Kappes]] 2006-10. | *[[Stephen Kappes]] 2006-10. | ||
*[[Michael Morell|Michael J. Morell]] 2010<ref name="merged_4192cf69d9">[https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/michael-j.-morell.html Michael J. Morell], Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 27 March 2013.</ref>-2013. | *[[Michael Morell|Michael J. Morell]] 2010<ref name="merged_4192cf69d9">[https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/michael-j.-morell.html Michael J. Morell], Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 27 March 2013.</ref>-2013. | ||
| + | *[[Gina Haspel]] 2017-2018.<ref name="HaspelHearing"/> | ||
| + | *[[Michael Ellis (intelligence official)|Michael Ellis]] — sworn in 10 February 2025.<ref name="infobox2026_director"/> | ||
| + | [[File:John Brennan CIA official portrait - Powerbase.jpg|250px|right|thumb|John O. Brennan, CIA Director from 2013 to 2017.]] | ||
===Whistleblowers and former agents=== | ===Whistleblowers and former agents=== | ||
| − | * [[Philip Agee]]—Former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] employee (1957-1968), [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] critic, and author of Inside the Company: | + | * [[Philip Agee]]—Former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] employee (1957-1968), [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] critic, and author of ''Inside the Company: CIA Diary'' (1975). |
[[Robert Baer]] | [[A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard]] | [[Mary O. McCarthy]] | [[Ralph McGehee]] | [[Victor Marchetti]] | [[Lindsay Moran]] | [[Robert Baer]] | [[A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard]] | [[Mary O. McCarthy]] | [[Ralph McGehee]] | [[Victor Marchetti]] | [[Lindsay Moran]] | ||
| − | * [[David MacMichael]]—ten-year [[US Marine Corps | + | * [[David MacMichael]]—ten-year [[US Marine Corps]] veteran and former [[Central Intelligence Agency]] ([[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]) analyst. Resigned from [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] in protest. |
* [[Raymond McGovern|Ray McGovern]]—Retired [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] analyst who had been in charge of preparing daily security briefs for President [[Ronald Reagan]], later a political activist and [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] critic. | * [[Raymond McGovern|Ray McGovern]]—Retired [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] analyst who had been in charge of preparing daily security briefs for President [[Ronald Reagan]], later a political activist and [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] critic. | ||
| − | [[L. Fletcher Prouty]] | [[Frank Snepp]] | [[John Stockwell]] | | + | [[L. Fletcher Prouty]] | [[Frank Snepp]] | [[John Stockwell]] | |
| + | |||
==Structure== | ==Structure== | ||
| − | + | In 2010 the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] listed four main components: | |
*The [[CIA Directorate of Intelligence|Directorate of Intelligence]] | *The [[CIA Directorate of Intelligence|Directorate of Intelligence]] | ||
| − | *The [[National Clandestine Service]] | + | *The [[National Clandestine Service]] |
*The [[CIA Directorate of Science & Technology|Directorate of Science & Technology]] | *The [[CIA Directorate of Science & Technology|Directorate of Science & Technology]] | ||
*The [[CIA Directorate of Support|Directorate of Support]]<ref name="merged_c34edb6e9c">[https://www.cia.gov/offices-of-cia/index.html Offices of CIA], CIA, accessed 15 March 2010.</ref> | *The [[CIA Directorate of Support|Directorate of Support]]<ref name="merged_c34edb6e9c">[https://www.cia.gov/offices-of-cia/index.html Offices of CIA], CIA, accessed 15 March 2010.</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | By November 2026 the agency described itself as organised into multidisciplinary Mission Centers grouped under five directorates: the [[CIA Directorate of Analysis|Directorate of Analysis]], the [[CIA Directorate of Operations|Directorate of Operations]], the [[CIA Directorate of Science & Technology|Directorate of Science and Technology]], the [[CIA Directorate of Mission Systems|Directorate of Mission Systems]] and the [[CIA Directorate of Support|Directorate of Support]].<ref name="CIAOrg2026">Central Intelligence Agency, [https://www.cia.gov/about/organization/ Organization], accessed 6 November 2026.</ref> The agency's leadership page credits Ratcliffe's tenure with creating the Directorate of Mission Systems, an Americas and Counternarcotics Mission Center and a Mission Center for Cyber Intelligence.<ref name="infobox2026_director"/> | ||
===National Clandestine Service=== | ===National Clandestine Service=== | ||
| Line 94: | Line 103: | ||
*Western Europe Division later the [[CIA European Division|European Division]]. | *Western Europe Division later the [[CIA European Division|European Division]]. | ||
*Soviet-East Europe Division later the [[CIA Central Eurasia Division|Central Eurasia Division]] | *Soviet-East Europe Division later the [[CIA Central Eurasia Division|Central Eurasia Division]] | ||
| − | [[CIA Near East and South Asia Division|Near East and South Asia Division]] | + | *[[CIA Near East and South Asia Division|Near East and South Asia Division]] |
| + | *[[CIA Africa Division|Africa Division]] | ||
*Originally the [[CIA East Asia Division|Far East Division]], later the [[CIA East Asia Division|East Asia Division]] | *Originally the [[CIA East Asia Division|Far East Division]], later the [[CIA East Asia Division|East Asia Division]] | ||
==Powerbase Resources== | ==Powerbase Resources== | ||
| − | [[CIA Media Operations in Chile, Jamaica, and Nicaragua]] | [[CIA operations in Angola]] | [[Congress for Cultural Freedom]] | [[Forum World Features]] | [[Forum News Service]] | [[Kern House Enterprises]] | [[Operation Mockingbird]] | | + | [[CIA Media Operations in Chile, Jamaica, and Nicaragua]] | [[CIA operations in Angola]] | [[Congress for Cultural Freedom]] | [[Forum World Features]] | [[Forum News Service]] | [[Kern House Enterprises]] | [[Operation Mockingbird]] | [[William Burns]] | [[Gina Haspel]] | [[John Ratcliffe]] |
| + | |||
==External Resources== | ==External Resources== | ||
*[http://cia-spotters.blogspot.co.uk/ Central Intell Agency] - Blog on [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] personnel. | *[http://cia-spotters.blogspot.co.uk/ Central Intell Agency] - Blog on [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] personnel. | ||
| Line 104: | Line 115: | ||
*[http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1991_hr/s910911-cia.htm Chronology of CIA's Senior Management Structure], 1991, [[Federation of American Scientists]]. | *[http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1991_hr/s910911-cia.htm Chronology of CIA's Senior Management Structure], 1991, [[Federation of American Scientists]]. | ||
*[[C.J. Chivers]] and [[Eric Schmitt]], [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/world/middleeast/arms-airlift-to-syrian-rebels-expands-with-cia-aid.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp Arms Airlift to Syria Rebels Expands, With Aid From C.I.A.], ''[[New York Times]]'', 24 March 2013. | *[[C.J. Chivers]] and [[Eric Schmitt]], [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/world/middleeast/arms-airlift-to-syrian-rebels-expands-with-cia-aid.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp Arms Airlift to Syria Rebels Expands, With Aid From C.I.A.], ''[[New York Times]]'', 24 March 2013. | ||
| − | *[[Mark Mazzetti | + | *[[Mark Mazzetti]], [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/world/asia/origins-of-cias-not-so-secret-drone-war-in-pakistan.html?_r=0 A Secret Deal on Drones, Sealed in Blood], ''[[New York Times]]'', 6 April 2013. |
| + | *[[Tom Griffin]], [https://intelligencehistory.substack.com/p/central-intelligence-agency Central Intelligence Agency], ''Intelligence History'', 31 May 2023. | ||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
Revision as of 21:58, 7 November 2026
United States civilian foreign-intelligence agency, established in 1947
| Central Intelligence Agency
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  Seal of the Central Intelligence Agency. |
| Type | Civilian foreign-intelligence agency |
| Founded | 1947[1] |
| Headquarters | Langley, Virginia[2] |
| Area served | United States government; worldwide foreign-intelligence remit |
| Services | Foreign intelligence collection; all-source analysis; covert action as directed by the President[1] |
| Key people | John L. Ratcliffe (Director, sworn in 23 January 2025); Michael Ellis (Deputy Director, sworn in 10 February 2025)[3] |
| Website | Official website |
| Remarks | Director reports to the Director of National Intelligence; not a law-enforcement organisation[3][1] |
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the United States government's civilian foreign-intelligence agency. Its Director manages intelligence collection, analysis, covert action, counterintelligence and liaison with foreign intelligence services, and reports to the Director of National Intelligence. John L. Ratcliffe has been Director since 23 January 2025.[3][4]
History
The CIA was established in 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947.[5][1]
War on Terror
Detention and rendition
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the CIA began a secret detention program under which suspected terrorists were held in prisons or “black sites,” outside the United States, where they were subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” involving torture and other abuse. The CIA also began a secret programme of “extraordinary rendition,” transferring detainees to other governments, without legal process, for detention and interrogation.[6]
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) later studied the programme. Its declassified findings and conclusions, ordered printed as Senate Report 113-288 in December 2014, state that the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques "was not an effective means of acquiring intelligence or gaining cooperation from detainees", and that the agency's justifications for the techniques rested on inaccurate claims of their effectiveness.[7] The committee chair, Dianne Feinstein, wrote in her foreword that, under any common meaning of the term, CIA detainees were tortured. Minority views were printed with the study.[7]
The 2018 nomination of Gina Haspel, who had been a CIA base chief in Thailand in late 2002 and chief of staff to the head of the clandestine service when interrogation videotapes were destroyed in 2005, renewed scrutiny of these records.[8] At her confirmation hearing on 9 May 2018 she told the committee that "under my leadership, on my watch, CIA will not restart a detention and interrogation program".[9]
People
Directors
Directors of Central Intelligence
- Sidney Souers - 1946
- Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg - 1946-7
- Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter - 1947-50
- Walter Bedell Smith - 1950-53
- Allen Dulles - 1953-61
- John McCone - 1961-65
- William Francis Raborn, Jr. - 1965-66
- Richard Helms - 1966-73
- James Schlesinger - 1973
- William Colby - 1973-6
- George Herbert Walker Bush - 1976-7
- Stansfield Turner - 1977-81
- William Casey - 1981-87
- William H. Webster - 1987-91
- Robert Gates - 1991-3
- James Woolsey - 1993-5
- John M. Deutch - 1995-6
- George Tenet - 1997-2004
- Porter Goss - 2004-5 [10]
Following passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the Director of Central Intelligence was replaced as head of the US Intelligence community by a Director of National Intelligence outside the CIA. [11]
Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Porter Goss - 2005-6
- Michael Hayden - 2006[12]-2009
- Leon E. Panetta 2009-2011
- David Petraeus 2011[13]-2012
- John O. Brennan — March 2013–January 2017.[14][15]
- Mike Pompeo — sworn in on 23 January 2017 as the 22nd Director;[16] entered on duty as Secretary of State on 26 April 2018.[17] Gina Haspel was Acting Director by the time of her confirmation hearing on 9 May 2018.[9]
- Gina Haspel — confirmed by the Senate 54–45 on 17 May 2018; announced her departure on 19 January 2021.[18][19]
- William J. Burns — confirmed by Senate voice vote on 18 March 2021; left office 20 January 2025.[20][21]
- John L. Ratcliffe — confirmed by the Senate 74–25 and sworn in on 23 January 2025 as the 25th Director.[22][4][3]
Deputy Directors
Kingman Douglass | Edwin Kennedy Wright | William Harding Jackson | Allen Dulles | Charles P. Cabell | Marshall Carter | Richard Helms | Rufus Taylor | Robert E. Cushman, Jr. | Vernon A. Walters | E. Henry Knoche | John F. Blake
- Frank Carlucci 1978-81.
- Bobby Ray Inman 1981-82
- John N. McMahon 1982-1986.
- Robert Gates 1986-89.
- Richard J. Kerr 1991-92.
- William O. Studeman 1992-1995.
- George Tenet 1995-97.
- John A. Gordon 1997-2000.
- John E. McLaughlin 2000-04.
- Albert Calland 2005-06.
- Stephen Kappes 2006-10.
- Michael J. Morell 2010[23]-2013.
- Gina Haspel 2017-2018.[9]
- Michael Ellis — sworn in 10 February 2025.[3]
Whistleblowers and former agents
- Philip Agee—Former CIA employee (1957-1968), CIA critic, and author of Inside the Company: CIA Diary (1975).
Robert Baer | A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard | Mary O. McCarthy | Ralph McGehee | Victor Marchetti | Lindsay Moran
- David MacMichael—ten-year US Marine Corps veteran and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst. Resigned from CIA in protest.
- Ray McGovern—Retired CIA analyst who had been in charge of preparing daily security briefs for President Ronald Reagan, later a political activist and CIA critic.
L. Fletcher Prouty | Frank Snepp | John Stockwell |
Structure
In 2010 the CIA listed four main components:
- The Directorate of Intelligence
- The National Clandestine Service
- The Directorate of Science & Technology
- The Directorate of Support[24]
By November 2026 the agency described itself as organised into multidisciplinary Mission Centers grouped under five directorates: the Directorate of Analysis, the Directorate of Operations, the Directorate of Science and Technology, the Directorate of Mission Systems and the Directorate of Support.[25] The agency's leadership page credits Ratcliffe's tenure with creating the Directorate of Mission Systems, an Americas and Counternarcotics Mission Center and a Mission Center for Cyber Intelligence.[3]
National Clandestine Service
The National Clandestine Service, like its predecessors the Directorate of Plans 1952-1973, and the Directorate of Operations 1973-2005, is organised into a number of geographic divisions.[26]
- Western Hemisphere Division later the Latin American Division.
- Western Europe Division later the European Division.
- Soviet-East Europe Division later the Central Eurasia Division
- Near East and South Asia Division
- Africa Division
- Originally the Far East Division, later the East Asia Division
Powerbase Resources
CIA Media Operations in Chile, Jamaica, and Nicaragua | CIA operations in Angola | Congress for Cultural Freedom | Forum World Features | Forum News Service | Kern House Enterprises | Operation Mockingbird | William Burns | Gina Haspel | John Ratcliffe
External Resources
- Central Intell Agency - Blog on CIA personnel.
- Report on the Covert Activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (September 1954), archived at the Internet Archive.
- Chronology of CIA's Senior Management Structure, 1991, Federation of American Scientists.
- C.J. Chivers and Eric Schmitt, Arms Airlift to Syria Rebels Expands, With Aid From C.I.A., New York Times, 24 March 2013.
- Mark Mazzetti, A Secret Deal on Drones, Sealed in Blood, New York Times, 6 April 2013.
- Tom Griffin, Central Intelligence Agency, Intelligence History, 31 May 2023.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Central Intelligence Agency, "About CIA", undated, accessed 6 November 2026.
- ↑ Central Intelligence Agency, "Explore CIA Headquarters", undated, accessed 6 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Central Intelligence Agency, Director of the CIA, undated, accessed 6 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe Sworn in as CIA Director, 23 January 2025, accessed 6 November 2026.
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- ↑ US Senate, Roll Call Vote 115th Congress – 2nd Session, Vote 101, 17 May 2018, archived 10 April 2022, accessed 6 November 2026.
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- ↑ US Senate, Roll Call Vote 119th Congress – 1st Session, Vote 13, 23 January 2025, archived 23 January 2025, accessed 6 November 2026.
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