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

68. Letter From Secretary of State Byrnes, Acting Secretary of War Royall, and Secretary of the Navy Forrestal to President Truman⁰

Washington, January 7, 1946.

My Dear Mr. President: Pursuant to your letter of September 20, 1945, addressed to the Secretary of State,¹ we have constituted ourselves an interdepartmental group to formulate a plan for your approval for a comprehensive and coordinated foreign intelligence program for all federal agencies concerned with that type of activity.

After extensive study, we have unanimously agreed to recommend to you the plan which is attached hereto.²

This plan takes the form of a directive establishing a National Intelligence Authority, composed of the Secretaries of State, War and the Navy, which is charged with the responsibility for such overall intelligence planning and development and such inspection and coordination of all Federal intelligence agencies as to assure the most effective accomplishment of the intelligence mission related to the national security. The directive further provides that the National Intelligence Authority shall establish a Central Intelligence Agency, headed by a Director to be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the National Intelligence Authority. The Director is to be advised by an Intelligence Advisory Board, consisting of the heads of the principal military and civilian intelligence agencies having functions related to the national security.

You will note that the plan set forth in the directive contemplates that the Authority, assisted by the Director and the Intelligence Advisory Board, will prepare and submit to you for your approval a basic organizational plan in accordance with the principles set forth in the directive. It is believed to be desirable that the details of the organization should be worked out in the first instance by the officials who will be responsible for its performance.

Accordingly, we recommend that you sign the attached directive.

Faithfully yours,

• James F. Byrnes
• Kenneth C. Royall
• James Forrestal

Attachment³

Directive Regarding the Coordination of Intelligence Activities

In order to provide for the development and coordination of intelligence activities related to the national security:⁴

1. A National Intelligence Authority composed of the Secretaries of State, War and the Navy⁵ is hereby established and charged with responsibility for such overall intelligence planning and development, and such inspection and coordination of all Federal⁶ intelligence activities, as to assure the most effective accomplishment of the intelligence mission related to the national security.

2. To assist it in that task the National Intelligence Authority shall establish a Central Intelligence Agency headed by a Director who shall be appointed or removed by the President on the recommendation of the National Intelligence Authority.⁷ The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency shall be responsible to the National Intelligence Authority and shall sit as a non-voting member thereof.

3. The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency shall be advised by an Intelligence Advisory Board consisting of the heads of the principal military and civilian intelligence agencies having functions related to the national security, as determined by the National Intelligence Authority.

4. The first duty of the National Intelligence Authority, assisted by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Intelligence Advisory Board, shall be to prepare and submit to the President for his approval a basic organizational plan for implementing this directive⁸ in accordance with the concept set forth in the following paragraphs. This plan should include drafts of all necessary legislation.

5. Subject to the direction and control of the National Intelligence Authority, the Central Intelligence Agency shall:

(a) Accomplish the synthesis and evaluation of departmental intelligence relating to the national security and other information collected by it and the appropriate dissemination within the government of the resulting strategic and national policy intelligence.

(b) Plan for the coordination of the activities of all intelligence agencies of the government having functions related to the national security and recommend to the National Intelligence Authority the establishment of such overall policies and objectives as will assure the most effective accomplishment of the national intelligence mission.

(c) Perform, for the benefit of departmental intelligence agencies, such services of common concern as the National Intelligence Authority determines can be more efficiently accomplished by a common agency, including the direct procurement of intelligence.

(d) Perform such other functions and duties related to intelligence as the President and the National Intelligence Authority may from time to time direct.

6. The Central Intelligence Agency shall have no police or law enforcement functions.

7. Subject to coordination by the National Intelligence Authority, the existing intelligence agencies of the government shall continue to collect, evaluate, synthesize and disseminate departmental operating intelligence, herein defined as that intelligence required by the several departments and independent agencies for the performance of their proper functions. Such departmental operating intelligence as designated by the National Intelligence Authority shall be freely available to the Central Intelligence Agency for synthesis. As approved by the National Intelligence Authority, the operations of the departmental intelligence agencies shall be open to inspection by the Central Intelligence Agency in connection with its planning functions. In the interpretation of this paragraph the National Intelligence Authority and the Central Intelligence Agency will be responsible for fully protecting intelligence sources and methods which, due to their nature, have a direct and highly important bearing on military operations.

8. Funds and personnel for the National Intelligence Authority shall be provided by the departments participating in the National Intelligence Authority in amount and proportions to be agreed upon by the members of the Authority. Within the limits of the funds made available to him, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency may employ⁹ necessary personnel and make provisions for necessary supplies, facilities and services. With the approval of the National Intelligence Authority, he may call upon departments and independent agencies to furnish such specialists as may be required for supervisory and functional positions in the Central Intelligence Agency, including the assignment of military and naval personnel.¹⁰

0. Source: Truman Library, Official File, 892. Confidential. An unsigned copy of this letter indicates that McCormack was the drafter. (Ibid., Papers of Clark M. Clifford, National Intelligence Authority)
1. Document 15.
2. The plan was not found attached to the source text but was attached to a copy in the Clifford Papers and is printed here as an attachment. It is virtually identical to the Joint Chiefs of Staff proposal of September 19; see Document 13.
3. Source: Truman Library, Papers of Clark M. Clifford, National Intelligence Authority. Confidential. At the top of the first page is a note (apparently in Souers’ handwriting) which reads “Draft of 1/8/45” [sic]. Subsequent revisions, all by hand, are apparently also by Souers.
4. The opening sentence is crossed out by hand.
5. At this point the phrase “and an additional representative of the President of the United States” is handwritten.
6. At this point “foreign” has been added.
7. The phrase “on the recommendation of the National Intelligence Authority” has been crossed out at the end of this sentence.
8. At this point “directive” was replaced with “executive order.”
9. At this point “additional” was added.
10. An attached organizational chart of the proposed National Intelligence Authority and Central Intelligence Agency is in the Supplement.