The Intelligence
Function
Issues in Crime and Justice
CJ 4610 – PA 5315
Professor James J. Drylie
Week 3
The Evolution of US
Intelligence
The function of intelligence in the United
States is often regarded as a product of
the Cold War.
The use of intelligence in America has
been a function that can be traced to the
founding of the Republic.
Intelligence has long been a staple of the
military and shaping American policies
toward other countries.
The American Revolution
General George Washington was an
avid consumer of intelligence and is
noted as a consummate practitioner
of the intelligence craft.
In 1775 Washington employed an
unidentified agent to live in Boston to
report on the movements of British
troops.
The use of “secret correspondence”
was a surreptitious way of providing
information.
General Washington was know for
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Recruiting spies
He ran a number of agents
Set up spy rings
Devised secret methods of reporting
Analyzed raw intelligence
Mounted an extensive campaign to deceive the
British
Many of Washington’s activities in this
regard have been credited with major
military victories and the ability of the
Continental Army to evade the British
during the winters at Valley Forge.
Washington's thoughts
The necessity of procuring good
intelligence is apparent and need not
be further urged… For upon Secrecy,
success depends in most Enterprises
of the kind, & for want of it, they are
generally defeated, however well
planned . . . . (letter to Colonel Elias
Dayton, 26 July 1777)
Early Progression of Intelligence
November 1775 – the Continental
Congress created the Committee of
Secret Correspondence.
• This committee gathered foreign
intelligence from people in Ireland,
England, and elsewhere in Europe to
help prosecute the war.
President Washington requested
Congress to provide funds to finance
intelligence operations.
July 1790 – Congress established the
Contingent Fund of Foreign Intercourse
(also known as the Secret Service Fund).
$40,000 was authorized for this purpose.
Within three years the fund had grown to
$1 million, or 12 percent of the
Government’s budget.
Although Congress required certification of
expenditures it allowed the president to
conceal the purposes and recipients of the
funds.
This aspect withstood a Congressional
challenge in 1846 when President Polk,
citing national security grounds, would not
provide specific information.
Succeeding administrations may not have
been as interested in intelligence to the
extent that Washington was.
A paucity in historical records between the
late 1800s and early 1900.
During the War of 1812, there was a
significant failure in military intelligence.
• MI failed to discover an advancing British
troops until they were 16 miles from
Washington
• The Secretary of War refused to believe the
British would invade Washington
• MI reported from this perspective
Civil War
• Union & Confederate
leaders relied on Intel
• Established spy
networks
• Used the press for
gathering info
• Confederates
established the Signal
and Secret Service
Bureau
• Union code breakers
decoded Confederate
messages
Union forces
established a Balloon
Corps
Bureau of Military
Intelligence
• First professional Intel
organization
• General Joseph Hooker
conducted assessments
and analysis of
Confederate troops
• One major setback was
the overload of
Information
• BMI was disestablished
at the end of the war
• 1865 the US Secret
Service was created
Intelligence in Peacetime
Prior to the 1880s Intel were devoted
almost exclusively to military
operations
1882 – 1st permanent Intel
organization
• Office of Naval Intelligence
• Collect Intel on foreign navies in peacetime
1885 – Military Intelligence Division
• Similarly collected Intel foreign and
domestic
President Theodore Roosevelt
Perhaps the most active use of
intelligence for foreign policy
purposes by any President until that
time
Used operatives to incite revolution
in Panama to justify annexing the
Panama Canal
1907 – relied on Intel that showed
the build-up of the Japanese
• Launched the “Great White Fleet”
Civilian Intelligence
1908 – Justice Department Bureau of
Investigation
• Forerunner to the FBI
• Established out of concern of Secret
Service agents spying on members of
Congress
• 1916 saw the establishment of a charter
that included
Internal security
Border control
Mexican war neutrality violations
Pre-World War
With war in Europe the Bureau
turned its attention to activities of
German and British nationals within
US borders
World War I
With the advent of war the US lacked
a coordinated intelligence effort
President Woodrow Wilson had a
personal disdain for spies
• British intelligence would help change
his mind
The Zimmerman Telegram
British Intelligence had intercepted
German diplomatic and naval traffic
The Germans were attempting to
entice Mexico into joining the effort
against the US
Germany offered the states of New
Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico
in exchange for assistance
1917 – Wilson was infuriated and
urged Congress to declare war
June 1917 – US
signals intelligence
formed in the US
Army
• MI-8
• Charged with
decoding military
communications
and providing codes
• Decrypted Japanese
diplomatic traffic
President Hoover –
was against State
Department
interception of
diplomatic cables
• “Gentlemen do not
read each other’s
mail”
1925 – J. Edgar
Hoover named
director of the
Bureau (renamed
FBI in 1935)
J. Edgar Hoover
Bureau’s charter was broadened in
the years leading to World War II
Concern for US internal security was
mounting in the face of German
aggression in Europe
The Interdepartmental Intelligence
Coordinating Committee was created
• First effort to coordinate US Intel
community
• Many agencies were reluctant to share
information
World War II
FDR relied on American and
European travels to provide him with
timely and accurate Intel
William J. Donovan
• WWI veteran sent to Europe by FDR to
gather information on the stability of
Britain as well as Italy
• Donavan AKA “Wild Bill” lobbied for a
centralized, civilian Intel apparatus to
complement the military
1941 – FDR appointed Donavan as
the Coordinator of Information (COI)
to form a non-military Intel
organization
The COI collected and analyzed info
and data that may have a bearing in
national security
Donovan relied on a British model of
Intel and incorporated academics to
review analysis and test conclusions
Pearl Harbor revealed serious flaws
in US Intel
• Handled in a casual, uncoordinated
manner
• Insufficient attention to collection
requirements
• Failure to provide timely dissemination
of relevant information to key
decisionmakers
• Grossly underestimation of Japanese
actions
Based on cultural biases
Forerunner of the CIA
June 1942 – Office of Strategic Services
(OSS)
Succeeded the COI
Established under the recently created
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)
OSS was chartered to conduct clandestine
operations against Axis powers on a
worldwide scale
• Donovan’s fear of a joint military-civilian
apparatus was evident in the problems that
OSS had in interfacing with JCS
Code Breakers
Army signals intelligence broke the
Japanese codes
US Army, Polish, and British decoded
German military communications
using Enigma cipher machines, code
named ULTRA
• Both resulted in shortening the War in
both theaters of operation
Using assets
The Marine Corps used native
Americans in an elaborate system of
communications that Axis powers
could not decipher
• The Navajo Code Talker Program
Successfully used in the conflicts in Korea
and Vietnam
Less than intelligent decisions
By 1945 President Harry Truman
abolished the OSS
• Functions were divided between the War
and State Departments
• Some felt that Donovan was too strong
a personality to continue with OSS
This human factor will play out in future IC
feuds
Central Intelligence
January 1946 – President Truman
issues an executive order creating
the National Intelligence Authority
(NIA), a Central Intelligence Group
(CIG), and the Director of Central
Intelligence (DCI)
• NIA is comprised of
Secretaries of War, State, Navy
Presidential representatives
June 1946 – Congress passes
legislation creating the office of
Secretary of Defense (SecDef)
• SecDef would provide the unification of
the military establishment
National Security Act of 1947
• The DCI was a presidential appointment
The DCI could be military or civilian
A military DCI would not be in the military
chain of command
• Created the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA)
1950s – 1960s
October 1952 – President Truman
establishes the National Security
Agency (NSA)
• NSA would be the single entity to be
responsible for signals intelligence
1954 – Truman authorizes highflying reconnaissance of Soviet aire
defense systems
• The U-2 program was a joint CIA-USAF
OP
1961 - Bay of Pigs
• CIA failure in assisting Cuban
expatriates to invade Cuba
• Promised US military assistance did not
happen
Significant failure
CIA reputation suffered
1962 – Cuban missile crisis
• U-2 photographs played a significant
role in resolving the crisis
The 1970s
President Nixon directed that the IC
should be changed to bring about
greater efficiency and effectiveness
• The intelligence functions were found to
be
Fragmented
Disorganized
Collection activities were competitive and
redundant
Unplanned
Unguided
The media, fueled by Watergate, reported
critically on intelligence activities
The Rockefeller Commission
Created by President Gerald Ford (1975)
Chaired by VP Nelson Rockefeller
Tasked with determining whether CIA
employees were operating illegally within
the US
• Report confirmed domestic mail opening
operation
• In the 60s – 70s the CIA kept files on 300K US
citizens and organizations
• President Nixon tried to use CIA records for
political ends
• The CIA was not involved in the 1963
assassination of JFK
The Church Committee
The US Senate impaneled the
Committee to Study Government
Operations with Respect to
Intelligence Activities
• One of the largest investigations ever
undertaken by the Senate
• Examined domestic and foreign
activities
Covert activity
Assassinations
IRS & FBI activities
NSA intercepts of communications
originating with US citizens
The Pike Committee
The counterpart to the Senate’s
Church Committee
Never officially released when
completed (1976)
The Murphy Commission
The commission began in 1972 and
was near completed in June 1975
when the Rockefeller Commission
was completing their inquiries
• Examined the organization and
performance of the IC
• Recommended that the DCI be given
greater status within the White House
and the IC
• Covert action be used only when it is
clearly essential to vital US purposes
The Outcome
Summer of 1975 President Ford
implemented 20 of 30
recommendations of the Rockefeller
Commission
• Improved internal supervision within
CIA
• Additional restrictions on CIA domestic
activities
• A ban on mail openings
• An end to wiretaps
Ford did not agree to public disclosure of the
IC budget
New Orders
February 1976, Ford issued the first
Executive Order on intelligence
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The IC was formally described for the first time
Authority and responsibilities were specified
A ban on assassinations as an instrument of
US policy
• The establishment of an new Intelligence
Oversight Board within the Office of the
President
The 1980s
President Reagan ran a platform that
promised a revitalization of the
intelligence function
• The Republicans asserted that Democrats had
impaired the efficiency of the IC
Budgets were increased and new
personnel hired
The DCI was elevated to cabinet rank
The “leaks”
In 1982 Congress passed a law
making it a crime to reveal the
names of covert intelligence
operatives
• This was on the heels of the murder of
at least one covert operative who was
killed after the public release of names
1985 saw an unprecedented number
of cases of spies within the IC
Again, the IC was under intense
scrutiny
Iran-Contra
1986 – Congress learned that the
Reagan Administration had sold arms
to Iran in exchange for assistance in
securing the release of US hostages
in Lebanon
This arrangement also involved the
support of Contra rebels in Nicaragua
funded by proceeds from the arms
sales
The end of the Cold War
1989 – the Berlin Wall came down
The Soviet Union began to break
apart
• Questions were raised about any further
need for the IC
• Others urged significant retrenchment
for new challenges
1991 – The first Gulf War ushered in
new challenges for the IC
A New Type of Warfare
The Gulf War saw for the first time
real time intelligence conveyed to
fighting forces with instantaneous
results
• The links between combat forces and
the intelligence function were critical
elements in defeating hostile forces