Influences on the CIA’s Creation

Abstract

At the end of World War II, the United States’ wartime intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services, was left in a difficult position. The State Department and War Department believed that there was no need for such an agency. William Donovan, the Director of the OSS, was not convinced that his station was of no use. The United States needed an agency with international capabilities for assistance in foreign policy and counterintelligence. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a glaring failure of military proficiency and served as a point that an independent centralized intelligence agency was necessary. The rise of the Soviet Union and its expansive Communist ideology was more reason for global security and surveillance. This research study aims to accurately determine the cause for the rise of the CIA with the introduction of the National Security Act of 1947.