The evolution of the cia's covert action mission, 1947-1963

Abstract

The core contentions and departures of this study are that: (1) a three way delineation distinguished the basic types of operation that the CIA performed, between defensive, offensive, and preventive covert action; (2) the agency and its forerunner organisations anticipated government policy and initiated small-scale political clandestine operations during 1946 and 1947, ahead of being given official sanction for such activities; (3) the CIA's operations directorate played a more significant role as an instrument of wider strategic objectives, most notably during the Eisenhower years, than has hitherto been suggested; and (4) domestic politics had a strong impact on the development and deployment of CIA covert action, especially during the McCarthy era. Only by taking these factors into account can the early evolution of the CIA's operations directorate be fully understood.