Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945–1950, Emergence of the Intelligence Establishment

122. Memorandum for the Record⁰

Washington, August 8, 1946.

Late in the afternoon of 6 August 1946, the Office of the Secretary of State requested a meeting of NIA to be held on 7 August 1946.¹ The purpose of the proposed meeting was to air the danger involved in pulling FBI operatives out of Central and South America prior to the time CIG was prepared to take over—and to come to necessary decisions in the matter. At the time of calling the meeting, the State Department requested we prepare a memorandum for NIA, outlining our actions to date in this regard and indicating our time schedule for taking over Central and South American activities.

The NIA meeting was held on the morning of 7 August² and our memo³ was submitted by Colonel Galloway. All NIA members were adamant in the necessity for FBI to remain operative in the area until he took over and in the necessity for an overlap of operatives in order to preserve continuity.

The meeting was brief, spearheaded by Admiral Leahy. The Secretary NIA was directed to prepare a letter to the Attorney General, requesting that FBI be directed to retain their operation in the subject area until we were fully operative. The Secretary was also directed to draft a letter to the Attorney General, to be signed by the President, for use in the event no action was taken by the Attorney General on the letter from NIA.

The NIA letter to the Attorney General was prepared by us on 7 August, signed by all members of NIA, and dispatched on the morning of 8 August 1946.⁴ The draft of the Presidential letter⁵ has been approved by all members of NIA and is being retained for later use if necessary.

E. K. Wright

Colonel, GSC
Executive to the Director

On Saturday, 10 August, I was called to the office of Admiral Leahy and informed that the Attorney General had agreed to take steps providing that FBI personnel did not move out of Latin American areas until CIG could replace them with proper operatives and until there was a reasonable overlap of time between the arrival of CIG personnel and the departure of FBI personnel.⁶ Admiral Leahy also stated that Mr. Clark was anxious that CIG take no steps toward the employment of FBI personnel in Latin American areas as this personnel were all trained operators and were needed in the domestic field.

0. Source: Central Intelligence Agency Historical Files, HS/CSG–2227, Job 83–00739R, Box 2, Folder 3. Top Secret. Although the memorandum is dated August 8, it was obviously amended later, since the postscript refers to developments on August 10.
1. See Document 117.
2. Document 118.
3. Dated August 7. (Central Intelligence Agency Historical Files, HS/CSG–2227, Job 83–00739R, Box 2, Folder 3) See the Supplement.
4. Document 120.
5. Document 119.
6. See Document 123, which gives an account by Hoover’s assistant of the Attorney General’s August 10 meetings with the President and Admiral Leahy.