Central Intelligence Agency
| Central Intelligence Agency
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  Aerial view of CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia. |
| 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 Ratcliffe (John L. Ratcliffe) — Director, sworn in 23 January 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 US government overseas 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. The current CIA leadership page identifies John L. Ratcliffe as Director.[3]
History
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 to other governments, without legal process, for detention and interrogation.[4]
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 [5]
Following passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist 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. [6]
Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Porter Goss - 2005-6
- Michael Hayden - 2006[7]-2009
- Leon E. Panetta 2009-2011
- David Petraeus 2011[8]-2012
- John O. Brennan — March 2013–January 2017.[9][10]
- John L. Ratcliffe — sworn in on 23 January 2025; identified as Director on the CIA page checked on 6 November 2026.[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. Blke
- 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[11]-2013.
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 Corpt vet 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
The CIA has four main components:
- The Directorate of Intelligence
- The National Clandestine Service
- The Directorate of Science & Technology
- The Directorate of Support[12]
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.[13]
- 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 |
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 Mazetti, A Secret Deal on Drones, Sealed in Blood, New York Times, 6 April 2013.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 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 Central Intelligence Agency, Director of the CIA (undated), accessed 6 November 2026 (Europe/London, GMT).
- ↑ Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition, Open Society Justice Initiative, February 2013, p5.
- ↑ Directors of Central Intelligence - Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 27 February 2008.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Leadership - Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 27 February 2008.
- ↑ David H. Petraeus, Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 18 April 2012.
- ↑ US National Archives / LBJ Presidential Library, An Evening with John Brennan, 24 October 2018 event, accessed 6 November 2026 (Europe/London, GMT).
- ↑ John O. Brennan, Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 27 March 2013.
- ↑ Michael J. Morell, Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 27 March 2013.
- ↑ Offices of CIA, CIA, accessed 15 March 2010.
- ↑ CIA Celebrates 60 Years, CIA, 15 March 2010.