History of the CIA

Foreign intelligence has been important to the United States since the days of George Washington, but it’s only been since World War II that such efforts have been coordinated on a government-wide level.

Even before Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was concerned about America’s deficient intelligence efforts.

He was particularly concerned about the need for the State Department and War Department to cooperate better and adopt a more strategic view of operations.

With that goal in mind, Roosevelt asked New York attorney and World War I hero William J. Donovan to draft a plan for a new intelligence service.

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